Chapter 1200, The Two Join Forces

Translator: Silavin

  

At Qin Yichen’s words, the entire space fell silent, and the faces of the many experts present became animated.

 

At the mountain’s midpoint, Zhao Xueqi had already formed a considerable grudge with him. One could say that, at this moment, pledging himself to Zhang Qun was the most prudent course available to Qin Yichen.

 

Yet, in no more than two brief exchanges, he had sealed off his only avenue of retreat, and the manner in which he said it was clearly a direct provocation.

 

To offend two Peak Stage Martial Ancestors simultaneously, one would need the audacity of a Saint to dare such a thing.

 

Even knowing that Qin Yichen’s strength was formidable, not a Soul present could fathom what this young man, who was no more than a Late Stage Martial Ancestor, was relying upon to be so recklessly arrogant. Did he truly believe that having defeated a few Peak Stage Martial Ancestors meant he possessed the strength to contend with these two colossuses?

 

Furthermore, under the enticement of the Sacred Energy Fruit, no one believed Zhao Xueqi and Zhang Qun would preserve any pride, and it was entirely possible they would strike together.

 

“Amusing!”

 

At this juncture, Zhao Xueqi could not help but let out a cold laugh.

 

He had originally been worried this fellow would abandon all principles and pledge himself to Zhang Qun, leaving him to eat a loss with nowhere to vent it. However, the latter’s arrogance had clearly surpassed his expectations. It seemed his concern had been unnecessary.

 

Having dwelt at the Peak Stage of Martial Ancestor Realm for more than twenty years, his strength had long since reached the pinnacle. Had it not been for the grave hidden affliction left behind by his once-forceful cultivation breakthrough, he would have long since become a Saint.

 

More than ten years of tempering in the Myriad Beasts War Domain had given Zhao Xueqi the confidence that, beneath the Saint Realm, even Peak Stage Martial Ancestors from the most Top Tier Races, could not best him.

 

“It seems you refuse to shed a tear until you see your coffin!” Zhang Qun’s expression was equally unsightly, his grim voice slowly rising. “In that case, I will claim your life today. Otherwise, I will have no face left.”

 

“That depends on whether you possess the ability.” Qin Yichen laughed softly, having already stored the Sacred Energy Fruit within his ring. As his Yuan Energy surged outward, a powerful aura quietly spread forth, leaving him entirely unaffected, despite standing beneath the imposing presence of the two Peak Stage Martial Ancestors.

 

“You will regret this!” Zhang Qun’s grim voice rose slowly. Then, with a slight flick of his palm, a massive pitch-black blade materialised in his hand.

 

With the appearance of this blade, a shockingly murderous aura instantly pervaded the space around them.

 

The lustre upon the blade’s face left one uncertain whether it had been forged from some material of this very colour, or whether it had turned this colour from the sheer volume of blood it had drunk over the years.

 

Zhao Xueqi wasted not a single word either. With a tremor of his arm, a clawed gauntlet appeared over his palm. From it emanated a sharp and scorching fluctuation, making it clear that this clawed gauntlet was an extraordinary object.

 

The Sacred Energy Fruit had been snatched away from under their very noses. This was absolutely intolerable. Moreover, below the lake, the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon was still laying in waiting with hungry eyes. They could not drag this any further.

 

*Whoosh!*

 

Blade in hand, Zhang Qun’s arm swept out, and that black blade immediately swept, creating blade shadows aimed at enveloping Qin Yichen.

 

*Swish!*

 

Zhao Xueqi gave a cold snort in turn and sent his palm in motion. That clawed gauntlet, gleaming with cold light, as though it would tear space itself apart. It interwove through the sky-filling blade shadows and tore toward Qin Yichen.

 

The two men had battled one another so many times they were thoroughly familiar with each other’s moves. Thus, even though this was the first time they had joined forces, their very first strike carried a startling degree of coordination.

 

Facing this fearsome offensive, Qin Yichen’s expression solidified slightly as well. The muscles along his arms tensed and bunched. One after another blue vein rose, and a powerfully domineering force gathered steadily his arm.

 

*Boom!*

 

The next instant, Qin Yichen hurled his fist directly into the blade shadows crashing down upon him. The air itself seemed to burst apart beneath that single punch, and a visible ripple of force swept outward with terrifying breadth.

 

*Bang! Bang!*

 

The moment that visible ripple made contact with the blade shadows, a crisp succession of sounds erupted. One blade shadow after another was obliterated entirely, like duckweed caught in a surging tide.

 

Yet Zhang Qun appeared to have anticipated this. He let out a cold laugh. The blade shadows converged at tremendous speed, finally condensing into a single enormous blade shadow three metres in size, which tore through those waves of force and came chopping down upon Qin Yichen with staggering momentum.

 

This technique gave Qin Yichen some slight surprise. That punch just now had not carried the power of the Demon Execution Palm Technique when stacked to its very limit. He only dished out attacks enough to obliterate those blade shadows.

 

He had not expected Zhang Qun’s mastery over those blade shadows to be so high. He could freely control them, and condense them into a single point to break through his offensive.

 

Yet before that awe-inspiring giant blade shadow had even descended, a sudden sense of danger welled up in Qin Yichen’s heart.

 

*Whoosh!*

 

Before him, five subtle flashes of cold light abruptly appeared. The momentum of these cold gleams was not impressive, yet Qin Yichen could sense that, compared to that majestic large blade shadow, these few cold gleams posed the far greater threat.

 

It seemed that Zhang Qun’s dramatic display had been a deliberate feint to conceal this strike of Zhao Xueqi’s.

 

These two were truly worthy of being experts who had roamed the Myriad Beasts War Domain for decades. Even holding such an overwhelming upper hand, they could still act with such utter shamelessness, seeking nothing but a single, decisive kill.

 

At this moment, Qin Yichen was nearly moved enough to summon the Myriad Dao Divine Armour. Had he done so, these two offensives would have been entirely beneath his notice.

 

However, Qin Yichen was equally aware that, though no one knew the true nature of his Myriad Dao Divine Armour, it had by now practically become the emblem of his identity.

 

Once this information spread, it would inevitably draw the attention of powerful experts from countless Races.

 

At that point, an innumerable host of experts would come seeking him in the Myriad Beasts War Domain. Some would perhaps wish to use him as a stepping stone to greater heights. What concerned Qin Yichen most, however, were the Forces that stood behind the talented young figures he had slain.

 

Once they learned he was no longer in the Myriad Beasts City, any number of them would exhaust every means available to eliminate him.

 

Though the Myriad Beasts War Domain only permitted entry to Martial Ancestors, Qin Yichen understood that beings as powerful as Supreme Experts could likely tear space apart by brute force and escort a contingent of Saints inside.

 

And within the Myriad Beasts War Domain, there were no small number of Saints. As long as someone was willing to pay the price, enlisting these Saints, who held dominion over a territory within the Myriad Beasts War Domain, was not anything difficult.

 

After all, they had never entertained any intention of leaving the Myriad Beasts War Domain. They had no reason to concern themselves with the Myriad Beasts Domain, even a Disciple of a Supreme Expert from there did not worry them.

 

Chapter 1201: The Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon’s Triumph

 

*Hmph!* In the end, Qin Yichen gritted his teeth. A torrent of vigorous Yuan Energy roared outward and condensed into a seemingly indestructible shield before him.

 

*Swish!* Almost in the very instant the shield finished forming, those five dreadful cold gleams had already pierced through it. The shield that had appeared impregnable was punctured as easily as brittle paper.

 

Blood Hand Zhao Xueqi was by no means a name without foundation. According to accounts, his gauntlet had been obtained during one great stroke of fortune within the Myriad Beasts War Domain, and was purpose-forged for shattering all manner of Yuan Energy shields.

 

How many experts had fallen with bitter hearts beneath this sharp and insidious offensive of his, and how many bleached bones had it taken to build the reputation of the ‘Blood Hand’, that chilling and skin-crawling title.

 

In the instant the cold gleams pierced through, sharp-eyed experts among the onlookers spotted the sight of blood scattering into the air.

 

*Boom!*

 

At virtually the same instant, that enormous blade edge came chopping down. The already-pierced Yuan Energy shield was shattered entirely in a single moment, and then, still carrying considerable remaining momentum, the blade edge continued its descent, chopping downward toward Qin Yichen below.

 

The dangers exchanged in no more than a few brief breaths left hearts shuddering with dread.

 

These two experts who held dominion over thousands of kilometres within the Myriad Beasts War Domain, when combined, were far more fearsome than anyone had anticipated.

 

Qin Yichen, who had appeared quite comparable to them in strength, had seemingly been left with no room to resist before being struck by that terrifying offensive.

 

*Bang!*

 

Under the gaze of the crowd, a figure was sent flying backward beneath that fearsome blade, and in mid-air, dazzling blood seemed to trail down in its wake.

 

“*Hmph!* Overestimating yourself!”

 

Zhang Qun let out a cold laugh, then stepped forward and went chasing after that figure sent flying, Zhao Xueqi’s intention clearly mirroring his as well, his figure also turning to a streak of light and shooting in pursuit.

 

After all, Qin Yichen still had both the Sacred Energy Fruit and a precious Beast Core on him.

 

*Bang!*

 

However, at the very moment the two of them were almost upon him, the lake below erupted in a tremendous wave. The Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon thrust its enormous head up from the lake, opened its great maw, and swallowed Qin Yichen’s figure whole.

 

*Splash!*

 

In the instant it swallowed Qin Yichen, the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon’s pair of enormous eyes swept coldly over Zhao Xueqi and Zhang Qun. Then, under their expressions of stunned outrage, it submerged once more into the lake, sending cascades of mist surging skyward in all directions.

 

This sudden turn of events left every expert present completely dumbstruck.

 

Though everyone had been aware that the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon had been lurking within the lake, not a single soul had imagined that this beast would strike at this precise moment, and in a single move, succeed entirely.

 

Its Beast Core was on Qin Yichen, and so was the Sacred Energy Fruit.

 

With this, the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon had in fact become the final victor.

 

“Damn it all!”

 

At this instant, even Zhang Qun could not help but roar in fury, driving a massive Blade Qi downward in a relentless tearing of the lake’s surface. The lake water churned as if boiling, roiling in endless agitation.

 

Zhao Xueqi struck out in equal fury, driving stream after stream of ferocious claw shadows plunging into the lake below.

 

Yet to the disappointment of both men, while their onslaught carried every appearance of intending to churn the entire lake dry, it sank in the end like stones dropped into a vast sea. The Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon showed absolutely no sign of surfacing again.

 

Zhao Xueqi and Zhang Qun, though supremely self-assured, and despite the extreme urgency they felt over the Sacred Energy Fruit in Qin Yichen’s possession, still had their reason. They knew they absolutely could not enter the lake to seek out the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon.

 

The latter’s strength already naturally surpassed theirs. To enter its territory on top of that would be no different from a sheep walking into a tiger’s den, a journey with no chance of returning.

 

…

 

At this moment, within the lake, the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon’s enormous body was descending at lightning speed.

 

This Demonic Beast of considerable intelligence was clearly in exceedingly high spirit.

 

It had originally supposed it would require considerable effort to reclaim the Sacred Energy Fruit and its Beast Core.

 

Even it had not anticipated that the same figure who had taken its Beast Core would also seize the Sacred Energy Fruit.

 

This had undeniably spared the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon a great deal of trouble.

 

Moreover, the three-way battle had been a case of the sandpiper and the clam fighting one another while the fisherman took the gain.

 

What delighted the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon most was that Qin Yichen’s physical body held a peculiar attraction for it. It could sense that consuming and refining this person would likely prove more effective than that not-yet-fully-matured Sacred Energy Fruit, and might even, perhaps, allow it to cross that final step and enter the Saint Realm.

 

In the depths of the lake, the endless water seemed to blot out all light, leaving only darkness.

 

The water here was colder than ice itself, as though capable of freezing all things, yet it showed no sign of actually icing over. Instead, it flowed in dim, eerie eddies, profoundly strange.

 

As for Qin Yichen, though his physical body was extraordinarily powerful, he had refrained from fully revealing his identity. The combined assault of two Peak Stage Martial Ancestors had still sent the qi and blood within him churning.

 

In that single moment of distraction, he had been swallowed whole by the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon.

 

In the surrounding darkness, Qin Yichen sensed a constant devouring force pressing upon him, as though seeking to absorb and refine him.

 

Moreover, the Beast Core within his ring was trembling faintly, as though it too had been roused by some summons.

 

“What a plan!” Qin Yichen gave a cold inward laugh. The Demonic Beasts of the Myriad Beasts War Domain, it seemed, were utterly incomparable to ordinary Demonic Beasts outside, whether in strength or in cunningness.

 

This time, had it been an ordinary Peak Stage Martial Ancestor instead, the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon’s scheme would undoubtedly have succeeded. Not only would it have reclaimed its Beast Core, it would have claimed the Sacred Energy Fruit as well.

 

Unfortunately, he was by no means any ordinary Martial Ancestor.

 

With dozens of experts watching outside, he had been unable to display the Myriad Dao Divine Armour. But here, he had not the slightest concern.

 

The Myriad Dao Divine Armour, which had proven capable of withstanding even remnant divine techniques strong enough to annihilate Saints, could naturally resist this devouring force with laughable ease.

 

Before long, Qin Yichen sensed that the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon had apparently come to a halt. One could only assume that the latter had also perceived something amiss.

 

A moment later, Qin Yichen felt a powerful force drive into him. His figure, carried along by a massive surge of air, was expelled from the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon’s maw in a great burst.

 

Before Qin Yichen had time to survey the dark surroundings, the first thing that met his gaze was a pair of azure, piercingly cold eyes.

 

“Why have you stopped refining me?” Qin Yichen’s lip curved into a playful smile, his tone entirely unhurried.

 

Such a manner showed not the slightest trace of fear or panic before a Half-Saint Realm Demonic Beast.

 

Chapter 1202: The Lake Bottom

 

Upon the summit of Vibrant Vermilion Peak, figures clustered thickly, yet without much clamour.

 

With the conclusion of the Sacred Energy Fruit’s contest, most of the original crowd had already departed in a gradual stream. Only a number, either wholly unwilling to give up or simply intent on watching the excitement, still kept their posts here without leaving.

 

These experts had their gazes fixed tightly upon the lake at the centre of the peak, its surface undisturbed and serene.

 

At the fore of this group, Zhao Xueqi and Zhang Qun stood upright, their expressions dark.

 

The faces of both men were thoroughly grim, and from their persons emanated a faint, barely-concealed killing intent.

 

Around them, the gazes of the many experts drifted over from time to time, and occasionally they exchanged whispered conversation with one another.

 

“Word is Zhao Xueqi has had his eye on this Sacred Energy Fruit for quite some time now. Who could have imagined such chaos would erupt at this juncture.”

 

“That Demonic Beast is truly cunning, having proactively expelled its own Beast Core to put them off their guard…”

 

“Now that both the Beast Core and Sacred Energy Fruit have been reclaimed by it, getting them back again would be next to impossible.”

 

A succession of hushed exchanges arose, and they only served to make the already-unsightly expressions of Zhao Xueqi and the other man grow still darker.

 

They were fully aware, of course, that extracting something a Half-Saint Realm Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon had taken back was by no means a straightforward matter.

 

Certainly not something within their individual means.

 

Yet the temptation of the Sacred Energy Fruit was simply too immense, and even knowing full well it was an unworkable endeavour, they were unwilling to abandon it just like that.

 

…

 

At this moment, within the lake, in a depth so pitch-black that not even light could penetrate, a slender figure stood erect.

 

Opposite him, an enormous shadow, nightmarish in its dimensions, fixed him with a predatory stare.

 

Despite the completely disproportionate scale between the two, staring at this creature before it, no larger than an ant, the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon felt a deep and unsettling palpitation in its heart.

 

Moreover, it was this very human who had taken its Beast Core and Sacred Energy Fruit, yet from the latter’s person it could not detect the fluctuation of either object.

 

This was precisely what unsettled it most.

 

Having cultivated to the Half-Saint Realm, the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon had heard more than a few closely-guarded secrets.

 

To be capable of shielding its perception, this person must have an exceedingly precious treasure.

 

Though it had never laid eyes on such a treasure, it knew that an ant possessing such a thing would command a position of the utmost esteem among the Myriad Races.

 

*Roar!* The Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon did not strike immediately, but rumbled in a low growl as though in warning. Yet in that enormous pair of pupils, a restless and vicious gleam had begun to surface.

 

Though it held some wariness toward the figure before it, that was entirely insufficient reason to abandon the matter. Its Beast Core was still in his hands.

 

Moreover, by instinct, the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon knew that if it could consume the one before it, it might be able to fully cross that threshold and become a Saint Realm Demonic Beast, ascending to the pinnacle.

 

The difficulty was, looking at things now, consuming him would first require killing him.

 

“If you wish to eat me, are you not afraid of breaking your teeth?”

 

Qin Yichen seemed to have seen through the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon’s intentions and gave a cold smile.

 

*Boom!*

 

The Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon let out a thunderous roar, opened its great maw, and several pillars of ice-cold water shot forth like frozen swords. Within the depths of the lake their speed was not diminished in the slightest, and even the surrounding currents seemed to lend them assistance, sending them hurtling toward the latter with lightning speed.

 

These few frozen blades were far less imposing in presence than the sky-filling barrage of ice swords the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon had unleashed in its fury previously.

 

Yet any expert with keen perception could sense that the dreadfulness of these few strikes bore no comparison whatsoever to those scattered ice swords.

 

Even the offensive unleashed in fury by Zhao Xueqi and Zhang Qun had not been so terrifying as this.

 

“Meaningless.”

 

Yet facing those offensives shooting toward him like lethal vipers, Qin Yichen’s face showed not the slightest trace of fear. With a single thought, an ancient armour materialised across his body.

 

*Roar!*

 

To Qin Yichen’s words, the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon gave another roar in response. Those several streams of cold water, at the very instant they were about to strike Qin Yichen, suddenly merged into a single form, twisting into a spiralling shape that tore through the lake water and slammed with full force into the centre of Qin Yichen’s chest.

 

*Clang!*

 

Under this strike, the surrounding lake water rolled outward like waves breaking in all directions. At the precise location where Qin Yichen stood, the water had been driven away entirely into open air.

 

At that instant, the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon’s eyes contracted sharply. The scene of blood spraying in all directions that it had anticipated did not materialise. Not even a single step backward had been taken by the ant before it.

 

That massive cold torrent dissipated slowly. Upon the ancient armour Qin Yichen wore, not even a single mark had been left.

 

“Want to try again?”

 

Qin Yichen smiled with a wicked ease. With the Myriad Dao Divine Armour activated, he was in a state of near-invincibility.

 

Formidable as a Half-Saint Realm Demonic Beast was, it posed absolutely no threat to him whatsoever.

 

Staring at the smile on Qin Yichen’s face, a creeping unease welled up in the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon’s heart. Those enormous eyes of its fixed tightly upon the armour on the latter’s body.

 

That armour appeared entirely unassuming, covered in the marks of ages past, very much resembling a half-spent and discarded item.

 

Yet this inconspicuous armour had effortlessly stopped an attack it had unleashed without the slightest restraint, and had not even left a single scratch behind.

 

“Return the Beast Core and Sacred Energy Fruit to me, and I shall pardon your impertinence!” A moment later, a halting voice abruptly rang out within Qin Yichen’s mind.

 

Qin Yichen’s brow rose slightly, and the corner of his lips curved into a faint smile.

 

Among the Human Race, Demonic Beasts who had cultivated to the Martial Emperor Realm or even the Martial Ancestor Realm had the potential to speak. This Demonic Beast was already half a step into the Saint Realm, so it being able to transmit a mental message was not the least bit surprising to him.

 

“If you want those things, you are welcome to come and take them yourself.”

 

Qin Yichen gave a light laugh, his gaze fixed steadily on the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon, those eyes of his causing the latter’s heart to stir with an involuntary unease.

 

*Splash!*

 

As the rampaging afterwaves gradually settled, the icy lake water poured back down once more.

 

Yet these lake waters were not calm. Rather, as though drawn by some force, they churned and billowed incessantly, as if forming a vortex of sorts.

 

Within this vortex, a terrifying power was dimly coalescing.

 

[This ant… could he have allowed himself to be swallowed on purpose?!]

 

At this moment, a dreadful notion abruptly surged up in the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon’s heart.

 

The Beast Core and Sacred Energy Fruit had both already come into his possession. Could it be that this person had now set his sights upon its very own Blood Essence and hide?!

 

Chapter 1203: Ten Thousand Year Old Earth Vein Liquid

 

*Whoosh!*

 

Majestic Yuan Energy erupted from Qin Yichen’s body. The astonishing wave of power left even the Half-Saint Realm Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon with a sudden, inexplicable palpitation.

 

What unnerved it most was the enormous vortex rapidly taking shape around him, enveloping the entire area within its sweep.

 

From within that vortex, the beast sensed a terrifying energy coiling and building, one that made its very scales crawl.

 

At that moment, Qin Yichen stood cloaked in a set of ancient, unadorned armour. What drew the eye most, however, were his arms.

 

His arms had grown significantly larger than usual, covered in black arm guards. Around those arm guards, a chilling black energy coiled and writhed without cease.

 

Along the bursting veins and swelling muscles, a frightening power was stacking at terrifying speed. Once unleashed, it would surely be akin to a mighty Dragon rousing from slumber, obliterating Heaven and Earth.

 

The enormous vortex engulfed the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon’s colossal body entirely. And yet, for all its legendary ferocity, the beast stared at that ant-like silhouette before it and found its expression rather difficult to maintain.

 

“Friend, there is no great enmity between us. Why not let this end peacefully?” The Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon let out a howl of bitter indignation, its voice echoing through Qin Yichen’s mind with a distinctly pleading edge.

 

“End peacefully?” Qin Yichen regarded the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon with a faint smile. The terrifying force stacking upon his arms showed no sign of stopping.

 

With his current strength, bolstered by the Myriad Dao Divine Armour arm guards, he was fully capable of stacking force sufficient to threaten even a Half-Saint, or perhaps even an Early Stage Saint.

 

Most crucially, with the Myriad Dao Divine Armour’s pieces on his person, he had already placed himself in an unassailable position against this Half-Saint Realm Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon.

 

“What more do you want?” The Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon gritted its teeth, its expression deeply uncomfortable.

 

Brief as their exchange had been, it had already understood. This ant was a bone it simply could not chew through.

 

That earlier attack, even had it tried to block it personally, could not have been so effortlessly deflected. What was more, the ancient armour had not so much as a scratch upon it, proving its own attack was nowhere enough to breach it.

 

“Heh, anyone who knows my secret, I am afraid I cannot allow you to leave.”

 

Qin Yichen’s voice was utterly calm, yet the chill that flickered in his gaze sent a cold shiver through the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon’s heart.

 

“Brat, I know you have no shortage of tricks. But if you push me, I can still make you pay a considerable price!”

 

The Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon glared daggers at Qin Yichen, its voice carrying a slow, deliberate threat.

 

“Is that so? Dealing with you is admittedly somewhat troublesome. But, I am not in any hurry. Even if I do nothing, losing your Beast Core means you cannot maintain this state for more than three days, right?”

 

Qin Yichen regarded the snarling Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon with an easy smile.

 

“Brat, you are ruthless!” The Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon heard this and let out a furious roar.

 

“Since you wish to drag this out with me, then let me help you shorten that time.” A cold smile curled at Qin Yichen’s lips. The enormous vortex churned relentlessly, spinning like a great devouring maw, a terrifying power quietly manifesting within.

 

“Wait!” At the sight of this, the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon hurriedly called out.

 

For all its apparent dominance at this moment, the truth was precisely as Qin Yichen had described. It was all exterior bluster and no substance within. Even without Qin Yichen lifting a finger, it could endure for three days at most before its cultivation would collapse.

 

Once it fell from its cultivation realm and lose its strength, even if it were not captured by the experts of the Myriad Races, the many Demonic Beasts of Vibrant Vermilion Peak would not let such a good opportunity slip by.

 

And if it chose to fight someone who was already in an unassailable position at such a juncture, it would only accelerate its own fall from that realm.

 

“I will tell you a secret, and you let me go!” The Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon spoke through gritted teeth.

 

“Speak.” Qin Yichen raised an eyebrow, mild curiosity evident in his expression.

 

“Return my Beast Core and the Sacred Energy Fruit to me first.” A sly glint flickered in the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon’s eyes, its voice reverberating through Qin Yichen’s mind.

 

“Do you really think you are still in a position to negotiate with me?” Qin Yichen’s lips curved into a playful smile as he asked lightly.

 

“You…” Seeing that Qin Yichen was immovable, the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon’s expression grew exceedingly unpleasant.

 

“Are you going to speak or not?” Qin Yichen cast it a glance. His arm trembled ever so slightly, as though that terrifying force might come pouring out at any moment.

 

The Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon’s expression shifted through several colours before it finally slumped in defeat. “The greatest treasure here is not the Sacred Energy Fruit…”

 

“Then what is it?” Qin Yichen’s pupils contracted slightly as he asked.

 

“It is the Ten Thousand Year Old Earth Vein Liquid beneath this lake!”

 

When it reached those final words, the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon seemed to spend every last ounce of its strength, its face suffused with bitter reluctance.

 

“Ten Thousand Year Old Earth Vein Liquid?”

 

Upon hearing of this rare treasure, even Qin Yichen could not help but let his expression shift.

 

The Ten Thousand Year Old Earth Vein Liquid was extraordinarily rare. For Martial Ancestors, it was nothing short of a divine object, containing the most pure and primordial energy between Heaven and Earth. If absorbed and refined, it could effortlessly stabilise one’s cultivation realm, and even provide a smooth path for a future Saint Realm breakthrough, leaving no unbridgeable chasm in one’s way.

 

Furthermore, the Ten Thousand Year Old Earth Vein Liquid was unlike the Sacred Energy Fruit. Those who broke through to Saint Realm using a Sacred Energy Fruit were, more or less, condemned to that as the ceiling of their achievement for this lifetime. They could still breakthrough but their weakened foundation meant that was highly unlikely. But the Ten Thousand Year Old Earth Vein Liquid was entirely different. As the most pure World Energy, it left no aftereffects that would impede future breakthroughs.

 

Had the news that spread earlier mentioned not merely the Sacred Energy Fruit, but the Ten Thousand Year Old Earth Vein Liquid as well, the experts who had gathered here would not have been of Zhao Xueqi’s calibre. It would have drawn those who had already stepped into the Saint Realm, the true masters of this domain.

 

Against Saints, even the current Qin Yichen would have no option but to retreat, unless he cast all care for consequences aside and invoked the Myriad Dao Divine Armour.

 

Once his identity was exposed, the dangers he would face would become all the more frightening.

 

“This place being able to birth Sacred Energy Fruit is presumably because of the Ten Thousand Year Old Earth Vein Liquid?” Qin Yichen narrowed his eyes slightly, murmuring inwardly. Then his gaze snapped back to the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon, and he asked suddenly, “You knew there was Ten Thousand Year Old Earth Vein Liquid down there. Why have you not taken it yourself?”

 

Such a precious thing the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon would surely covet desperately. If it truly existed, how could it possibly sit on its paws?

 

When traversing the world, no matter how great the temptation, Qin Yichen could not afford to lower his guard. Otherwise, he might not even know how he had been done in.

 

“The Ten Thousand Year Old Earth Vein Liquid is at the deepest point of the lake, surrounded on all sides by a flow of lava. I cannot enter.”

 

The Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon ground its teeth. Had it been able to enter, it would have long since advanced to the Saint Realm. Why would it have stayed here, guarding the Sacred Energy Fruit through their long wait until they ripened?

 

Had it reached the Saint Realm, would this crowd of ants not have been dealt with effortlessly? Would any of this trouble have been necessary?

 

Chapter 1204: Heaven Burning Array

 

“Once I have confirmed it is true, I will naturally return the Beast Core to you.”

 

Qin Yichen’s gaze remained fixed on the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon. Then his arm gave a sharp tremor, and he threw a punch sideways.

 

*Whoosh!*

 

Beneath that single punch, the enormous vortex seemed to compress into a single thread, flashing through the black lake in an instant. The lake water was split apart completely under that blow, and vaguely, where that attack passed, ripples radiated outward through the very fabric of space.

 

“If you are deceiving me…” At the same moment, Qin Yichen’s voice, ice-cold and brimming with threat, rang out.

 

Hearing that voice, for reasons it could not quite name, the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon felt a chill that seeped straight down to its bones.

 

*Whoosh!* After a long moment, the lake water came pouring back down, filling the vacuum-like space once more. Yet a fearsome aura continued to permeate every inch of the lake.

 

With that said, Qin Yichen’s figure moved through the water like a gliding fish, trailing a ripple behind him, shooting downward at tremendous speed toward the unfathomably deep lakebed.

 

Viewed from the mountaintop, this lake had not appeared particularly large. But upon diving in, one discovered its true scale. What was visible from above was merely the tip of the iceberg.

 

Submerged in the lake, gazing deeper, the profound darkness resembled a demon’s gaping maw, instilling a sense of dread that was difficult to shake.

 

As he plunged ever deeper, Qin Yichen also noticed that there was not a single living creature to be found anywhere in the lake. Not so much as a fin.

 

The energy here was extraordinarily dense, making it, by all rights, the most suitable environment for life to thrive. And yet, aside from himself and the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon, he had not spotted even a single fish. Even when he extended his Spiritual Energy outward, all he perceived was a silence as complete as death.

 

This eerie scene put Qin Yichen on high alert. His Yuan Energy flowed like a river within his body, churning ceaselessly, while his Spiritual Energy spread throughout his surroundings, ready at any moment to respond to whatever might arise.

 

*Whoosh!*

 

As his body cut through the water, bringing with it the faintest sound of movement, Qin Yichen kept his gaze fixed on the unfathomable darkness of the lakebed below. Then, in one particular moment, his eyes abruptly narrowed.

 

Here, he could feel that the lake’s temperature was no longer quite so icy. And at the very edge of his vision, in that boundless darkness, a thread of faint, reddish light had begun to emerge.

 

*Gurgle!*

 

As Qin Yichen descended further, the surrounding lake temperature climbed steadily higher, and that thread of red glow grew wider and wider in his sight.

 

In no time at all, Qin Yichen saw that the reddish colour was, in fact, a stretch of lava extending to the very limits of his vision.

 

Fiery red lava spread across the lakebed, and as the lava gurgled and bubbled upward, the icy lake water above it had grown scalding hot.

 

Faced with this peculiar sight, Qin Yichen could not help clicking his tongue. This extraordinary coexistence of water and fire was something he had never witnessed before.

 

“Where is the Ten Thousand Year Old Earth Vein Liquid?”

 

Qin Yichen quickly collected himself from his astonishment, sweeping his gaze around while rapidly extending his Spiritual Energy outward.

 

Yet even after his careful search, he detected no trace of the Ten Thousand Year Old Earth Vein Liquid.

 

“Is it really beneath this lava?” Qin Yichen frowned, his gaze settling on the roiling lava. What the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon had described as being encased in lava, the treasure was very likely down there.

 

Even so, Qin Yichen knew the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon’s words could not be fully trusted. The lava was surely no simple matter, otherwise the beast would have retrieved the treasure on its own long ago.

 

Qin Yichen fixed his gaze on the bubbling, seething lava and brooded for a moment. Then he raised his palm and sent a stream of Yuan Energy howling downward.

 

*Plop!*

 

That stream of Yuan Energy met almost no resistance, sinking smoothly into the lava without any unusual reaction whatsoever.

 

After scrutinising it for a short while, Qin Yichen shook his head, wrapped his body in Yuan Energy, and shot himself downward.

 

*Plop!*

 

Just as Qin Yichen had expected, the boiling lava posed no obstruction. With his Yuan Energy as a barrier between himself and the heat, he slipped inside without difficulty.

 

However, after passing through the lava for a brief moment, Qin Yichen’s eyebrows gave a sharp twitch, for his Spiritual Energy had discovered that the lava ahead seemed to be coming to an end.

 

*Whoosh!*

 

In the span of a single breath, Qin Yichen emerged from the lava, and the scene before him left him momentarily stunned.

 

Here, behind the lava, lay an extraordinarily open expanse, a vast underground plaza. There was no lava here, no lake water at all. The red lava stretched overhead like a ceiling, stopped as though by some invisible force, unable to penetrate downward.

 

Faced with this plaza, Qin Yichen could not help but let his expression shift slightly.

 

A plaza hidden beneath the lava at the bottom of a lake, the craftsmanship behind such a creation was far beyond the reach of any ordinary person.

 

His gaze fell directly upon a particular spot in this vast underground plaza.

 

There, a stone pool several metres across sat in plain sight. It was not deep, its bottom visible at a glance, and what set Qin Yichen’s heart stirring was the rippling, milky white liquid it contained.

 

Ten Thousand Year Old Earth Vein Liquid!

 

Even from a distance, gazing upon it, Qin Yichen seemed already to catch a fragrance in his nostrils. That fragrance sent every pore of his body into a state of blissful, involuntary contentment, as though his very body had already grown impatient to absorb those contents.

 

“It seems it  did not deceive me after all.”

 

Qin Yichen stared at that pool of Ten Thousand Year Old Earth Vein Liquid, and even his breathing grew, without his willing it, faintly hurried. Then with a flash of his figure, he shot downward.

 

Yet no sooner had Qin Yichen flown barely several metres than his figure came to an abrupt halt. The Yuan Energy that had been wrapping his body had, astonishingly, ignited directly into rising flame.

 

“This is…” Qin Yichen’s pupils contracted sharply. He even felt that the Yuan Energy within his body seemed to be drawn by something, on the verge of spontaneously combusting.

 

At once, Qin Yichen hurriedly steadied his mind and suppressed the scorching heat rising within him. Then, casting his gaze down at the plaza below, his eyes filled with solemnity.

 

Under careful observation, he finally discerned that the air ahead was threaded with subtle, hidden patterns drifting through it. They were faintly forming the outline of a vast Array.

 

“The Heaven Burning Array!”

 

Gazing at those flowing patterns, Qin Yichen’s body gave a faint tremor, his expression filling with grave seriousness.

 

In that moment, he finally understood why this place held the extraordinary sight of water and fire coexisting, and why the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon, knowing full well there was Ten Thousand Year Old Earth Vein Liquid below, had not dared descend to claim it.

 

Chapter 1205: Yuan Burning Lightning

 

The Heaven Burning Array was an extraordinarily domineering Array.

 

Within its bounds, fierce flames burned without ceasing. Yet these were no ordinary flames. They were fires condensed from the World Energy of Heaven and Earth.

 

Even a Peak Stage Martial Ancestor could not endure these flames for very long.

 

What made it most fearsome was this: for any expert below the Saint Realm who entered the Array, a single moment of carelessness could ignite the Yuan Energy within their body, causing it to burn from the inside out. It was a form of self-immolation which there was no return from. The sheer savagery of it was enough to make one’s tongue click in disbelief.

 

Perhaps it was for precisely this reason that the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon, not yet having broken through to the Saint Realm, had halted here and refused to go any further.

 

Without Saint Prestige, one simply could not withstand the flames of the Heaven Burning Array. Had it dared enter, it would have been reduced to a smear of ash in no time at all.

 

For all its greed, the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon was, it had to be said, rather self-aware of its own limitations.

 

As for why it had told Qin Yichen about the Ten Thousand Year Old Earth Vein Liquid, the reason was surely to get its Beast Core and Sacred Energy Fruit returned. In its estimation, with the Heaven Burning Array present, no matter how many strange tricks Qin Yichen possessed, he would be unable to enter and claim the prize.

 

What the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon did not know, however, was that while the Heaven Burning Array was a tricky business, Qin Yichen cultivated both Spiritual Energy and Martial Arts. Using Spiritual Energy to resist the invasion of the Heaven Burning Array’s flames was, for him, nothing short of child’s play.

 

And so, Qin Yichen gathered his aura, suppressing the Yuan Energy within his body entirely. Beneath an invisible Spiritual Energy barrier, his figure shot swiftly downward toward the plaza below.

 

Having entered the Heaven Burning Array, Qin Yichen kept his Spiritual Energy spread wide, alert at every moment to the movements around him. Using the Heaven Burning Array as the outermost layer of protection, in a place of unknown nature such as this, no one could say whether any other dangers lurked within.

 

“Oh?”

 

And sure enough, Qin Yichen had not been overly suspicious. Barely had he slipped into the Heaven Burning Array when a subtle disturbance stirred in the surrounding space.

 

The disturbance was detected by Qin Yichen in the same instant it arose. His gaze sharpened, and then he saw it: throughout the space around him, flickers of firelight were coalescing one after another. Within those flickers, what appeared to be round, reddish spheres, each roughly the size of a fist.

 

From those spheres, an explosive, violent wave radiated outward, one that caused even Qin Yichen’s expression to shift slightly.

 

“Yuan Burning Lightning!”

 

Qin Yichen recognised these spheres with their ferocious aura.

 

The Yuan Burning Lightning was condensed from the most pure World Energy, yet it was extraordinarily volatile. The lightest touch would cause it to explode, and its destructive power was immense. Even a single one carried enough force to inflict grievous injury upon a Peak Stage Martial Ancestor. With enough of them, even a Saint would be unable to walk away unscathed.

 

And by all appearances, the number of Yuan Burning Lightning spheres surrounding Qin Yichen had already reached a truly fearsome count.

 

Qin Yichen’s gaze swept the Yuan Burning Lightning scattered in every direction around him, his expression growing exceptionally grave.

 

Without clearing away these Yuan Burning Lightning spheres, he simply could not advance any further.

 

“There is only one thing for it.” He cast his gaze down at the plaza, gritted his teeth, slowed his pace, and continued to descend.

 

Even with all of Qin Yichen’s care, however, avoiding every single Yuan Burning Lightning sphere was an impossibility. Within just a few metres, he brushed against one of the small red spheres.

 

*Bang!*

 

The force of the explosion sent the blood and Qi within Qin Yichen’s body churning violently. What was more, inside the Heaven Burning Array, he dared not invoke Yuan Energy to suppress the upheaval.

 

It was just fortunate that Qin Yichen’s physical body far surpassed that of experts in the same realm. Had it been otherwise, that single explosion would have been enough to strip an unprotected peak Martial Ancestor of all capacity to act.

 

“Oh?”

 

But even as Qin Yichen strained to suppress the churning blood and Qi within him, he suddenly became aware of a mighty, vast Yuan Energy flowing into his body from within the explosion’s aftermath.

 

This Yuan Energy did not enter his meridians. Instead, it spread through every limb and bone, with traces of that violent energy still laced within it, sending a numb, prickling sensation through his entire body.

 

This Yuan Energy was, in fact, tempering his physical body from the inside out.

 

A look of delighted surprise washed over Qin Yichen’s face. He immediately guided the energy that had surged into his body along the Supreme Tyrant Body’s circulation route, and beneath that influx, he could even sense his physical body, which had already reached what he had thought was a limit, now carrying the feeling of growing ever stronger.

 

After resting for a brief moment, Qin Yichen drew a deep breath and descended once more. This time, however, he no longer made any deliberate effort to dodge the Yuan Burning Lightning spheres drifting in mid-air. Instead, he let them be triggered freely.

 

*Boom! Boom!*

 

The thunderous roars rang out one after another without cease. The blood and Qi within Qin Yichen’s body was sent churning repeatedly by the blasts. At one point, three Yuan Burning Lightning spheres detonated simultaneously, sending him spewing a mouthful of blood.

 

But each explosion, and the flood of energy it brought pouring into him, left Qin Yichen all the richer for it.

 

“He is using those terrifying things to temper himself?”

 

At that moment, above Qin Yichen, beyond the curtain of lava, the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon stared in bewilderment at the plaza overhead, where the rumbling never ceased, its heart filling with nothing short of horror.

 

In an earlier time, when it had first discovered there was Ten Thousand Year Old Earth Vein Liquid below, it had charged in without a second thought.

 

But the Heaven Burning Array had delivered it a profound lesson for its recklessness. Even after it had managed to detect the Array’s strange nature in time, suppressing the spontaneous combustion of its Yuan Energy, it had narrowly escaped being buried within those terrifying Yuan Burning Lightning spheres.

 

For those deceptively innocuous-looking spheres, whose explosive power was nothing short of horrifying, the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon had already developed a deeply ingrained dread for them.

 

And yet, here was Qin Yichen, charging through like some rampaging beast, making no effort whatsoever to dodge. He had not even invoked that armour with its terrifying defensive capability, simply crashing his way through.

 

Dishevelled and wretched-looking as he appeared at this moment, the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon could nonetheless sense that Qin Yichen had not sustained any truly grievous harm. Extraordinarily, beneath those very explosions, his physical body seemed to be growing stronger.

 

“Just what Race is he?”

 

The Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon’s expression was profoundly grim. It had originally calculated that by sending Qin Yichen down there, the best outcome would be for him to perish within it, at which point the Beast Core and Sacred Energy Fruit might still be recovered.

 

But as things stood, this young man’s performance had completely unturned its every expectation. There was a real chance he might actually break through that peculiar Array and reach the place inside.

 

Chapter 1206: The Terrifying Yuan Demonic Burning

 

*Boom! Boom!*

 

The great rumbling roars resounded endlessly beneath the lake.

 

Had an ordinary person witnessed this, their eyes would surely have gone wide with stupefaction. The Yuan Burning Lightning was a thing even Saints were loath to provoke, and yet Qin Yichen was treating it as a rare opportunity for training.

 

This jaw-dropping ‘cultivation method’ continued for nearly an hour. Though Qin Yichen had the support of Pills, this sustained battering still left him in considerable distress. What was more, it seemed that because so much energy had been poured in, its effect upon his body had grown exceedingly slight.

 

“Oh?” Just as Qin Yichen was preparing to abandon this reckless approach and instead weave his way around the Yuan Burning Lightning spheres ahead to descend, his figure came to an abrupt halt in mid-air, his gaze fixed rigidly on what lay directly before him.

 

Perhaps it was his utterly uninhibited crashing about that had triggered something far more dangerous within the Heaven Burning Array.

 

Before him, a cluster of Flaming World Energy burned in a fierce blaze, and what left one startled was the colour of this flame. It was no longer the familiar red. It was a peculiar, eerie black.

 

The black flame hung suspended in mid-air, utterly still, as though it were burning a hole through the very fabric of space itself.

 

What made Qin Yichen’s expression grow grave was that this flame seemed to possess a life of its own, writhing and rippling ceaselessly. Within that black fire, the shapes of strange beasts and human faces flickered in and out of existence, extraordinarily eerie.

 

Gazing at that cluster of black flame, Qin Yichen felt his scalp crawl. The corner of his mouth twitched sharply, and after a long moment, a faintly dry, low murmur finally escaped from between his lips.

 

“Yuan Demonic Burning…”

 

The Yuan Demonic Burning, like the Yuan Burning Lightning, was a product of the Heaven Burning Array, likewise condensed from the most pure World Energy.

 

However, compared to the Yuan Burning Lightning, the Yuan Demonic Burning was a full tier more fearsome.

 

This flame did not explode casually as the Yuan Burning Lightning did. But it possessed a capability that gave even Saints cause to dread it.

 

Whatever the Yuan Demonic Burning touched, be it Yuan Energy or even a Saint’s Saint Prestige, would be consumed and dissolved by it.

 

And so, even Saints who encountered the Yuan Demonic Burning had no choice but to yield three paces and take the long way around.

 

At this moment, Qin Yichen faced it as though facing a great enemy, his face set in complete solemnity. His Spiritual Energy spread across the surface of his body, suppressing the fluctuation of energy within him to its utmost. His body hung motionless in mid-air, not daring to shift by a fraction.

 

He knew that if he moved so much as an inch at this juncture, the Yuan Demonic Burning before him would very likely come sweeping toward him at once. Even if he had every confidence in his physical body, he could not guarantee that flesh alone could withstand its fearsome power.

 

“This thing is absolutely not to be provoked!” Qin Yichen murmured inwardly. Something that even Saints dared not provoke, he had no interest in the arrogance of believing he could endure it.

 

In this deadlock, after a long moment, Qin Yichen gritted his teeth and quietly summoned the Myriad Dao Divine Armour again. Right now, only by invoking it could he feel any measure of safety.

 

Only, even with the Myriad Dao Divine Armour’s defence being the sort to induce despair in one’s opponents, he had no way of knowing whether it could truly withstand that peculiar and dreadful Yuan Demonic Burning.

 

But just as Qin Yichen had barely donned the Myriad Dao Divine Armour, the Yuan Demonic Burning ahead suddenly seemed to sense something. That cluster of black flame shuddered violently, and in the next instant came shrieking outward, trailing a long black streak through space like a black meteor, hurtling straight at Qin Yichen.

 

Seeing the Yuan Demonic Burning stir, Qin Yichen felt cold sweat immediately break out across his back. At once, with barely a moment’s hesitation, his mind moved, and majestic Spiritual Energy came roaring out, rapidly condensing into a thick Spiritual Energy barrier before him.

 

However, this Spiritual Energy barrier, one sufficient to withstand a single blow from a Peak Stage Martial Ancestor, offered not the slightest resistance against that single cluster of black flame.

 

*Siii… Siii…*

 

The moment they made contact, the thick Spiritual Energy barrier Qin Yichen had laid down crumbled like beancurd, effortlessly torn apart, dissolving away at a terrifying speed.

 

*Siii…*

 

It was at this moment that Qin Yichen was given a first-hand lesson in the dreadfulness of the Yuan Demonic Burning. If it could even dissolve Spiritual Energy, then for an ordinary expert to be touched by it would mean certain death upon contact.

 

“Damn it!”

 

Qin Yichen’s expression changed, and he retreated explosively. Much as he coveted the Ten Thousand Year Old Earth Vein Liquid, set against his own life, the choice was clear, He remained entirely level-headed about it.

 

*Bang!*

 

And yet, contrary to Qin Yichen’s expectations, on the path he had come through, several Yuan Burning Lightning spheres had appeared at some unknown point. Upon contact, before he could so much as react, his body was sent hurtling forward by that terrifying force.

 

*Siii…*

 

In nearly the same instant, that cluster of black flame struck Qin Yichen in the chest. Fortunately, in the moment of contact, the Myriad Dao Divine Armour chest plate did not dissolve as his Spiritual Energy had.

 

Qin Yichen discovered that beneath the erosion of that flickering, writhing flame, the armour, which even remnant divine techniques had been unable to leave so much as a mark upon, was now undergoing some form of change.

 

*Hum…*

 

With a faint vibration, row upon row of white runic patterns emerged upon the ancient armour’s surface. And as those runes appeared and grew clearer, that black flame was, astonishingly, suppressed, unable to dissolve it after all.

 

As the white runes grew sharper and more defined, Qin Yichen’s entire being was bathed in that white radiance. The armour, which had looked plain, even battered, became imposing and magnificent at this moment. Viewed from afar, Qin Yichen clad in that armour resembled nothing so much as a Divine Deity, immense and commanding.

 

At this moment, Qin Yichen had no leisure to examine the armour’s changes. His gaze was locked, unmoving, upon the black flame adhered to the armour’s surface.

 

What astonished him was this: the Yuan Demonic Burning, which seemed capable of dissolving all things, had begun to settle and grow quiet. Evidently, it was being suppressed by those white patterns.

 

At last, under Qin Yichen’s watchful and wary gaze, that cluster of black flame ceased its writhing, and like something tamed, it floated in perfect stillness before Qin Yichen’s chest.

 

Staring at that black flame, a look of puzzlement rose in Qin Yichen’s eyes. He could sense that within the flame, the dreadful dissolving power was still present. But beneath those white runic patterns, it seemed to have submitted, not stirring in the slightest.

 

Chapter 1207: A Mysterious Vision

 

“This…”

 

Qin Yichen’s brow furrowed deeply, his gaze carrying a flicker of wariness as he stared at the black flame hovering quietly before him, though inwardly he could not help but feel a wave of astonishment.

 

And as he scrutinised it, the white markings upon the Myriad Dao Divine Armour check plate gradually dimmed, fading away in the span of a few breaths, after which the Myriad Dao Divine Armour chest plate returned once more to its ancient, battered appearance, looking rather worse for wear.

 

“Has this thing actually been tamed?” Qin Yichen frowned slightly. His entire focus had been on the Yuan Demonic Burning just moments ago, and though he was vaguely aware that something had changed with the Myriad Dao Divine Armour chest plate, he had no clear idea what. From the scene before him, however, it seemed that this Yuan Demonic Burning, which had even the Saints approaching it with apprehension, now posed no threat to him whatsoever.

 

“Come here…” Qin Yichen fixed his gaze on the black flame. For reasons he could not quite explain, a thought stirred within him, and he suddenly extended his palm toward the cluster of flame and called out in a low voice.

 

To his astonishment, at his low call, the black flame appeared to understand his words perfectly, shifting ever so slightly before drifting to rest upon Qin Yichen’s palm.

 

The moment it landed, Qin Yichen very nearly flung it straight back out. After all, his palm was not protected within the Myriad Dao Divine Armour.

 

Yet what startled him was that from the Yuan Demonic Burning, there came none of that terrifying, dissolving sensation he had braced himself for. Instead, a faint and peculiar chill seeped through, almost cooling.

 

“What a treasure!” Qin Yichen turned the Yuan Demonic Burning over in his hand, and once he had satisfied himself that it posed no threat to him, he tucked it away into his Space Ring.

 

Though the black flame appeared entirely harmless at a glance, Qin Yichen knew full well that once it erupted, even a Saint would be left in a wretched state.

 

With this in his possession, even if he were to face a Saint head-on, he could catch them completely off guard in an instant they would never see coming.

 

“This trip has been rather rewarding!” With the Yuan Demonic Burning safely stowed away, Qin Yichen let out a long breath of relief and stretched his body, whereupon every joint cracked and popped in a lively chorus.

 

Even without the Ten Thousand Year Old Earth Vein Liquid, this trip had already netted him a handsome gain.

 

Qin Yichen’s gaze fell once more toward the square below, and in the next moment his figure shot downward in a streak.

 

This time, Qin Yichen made no reckless charges, avoiding the clusters of Yuan Burning Lightning wherever possible. And beyond the obstruction of those flames, no further Yuan Demonic Burnings appeared to impede him. After roughly a quarter of an hour, he finally broke free from that vast and overwhelming sea of Yuan Burning Lightning.

 

But the moment he stepped clear of the Heaven Burning Array, the scene before Qin Yichen lurched and shifted in an instant. The square he had known vanished entirely without warning, replaced by a scene completely alien to him.

 

Qin Yichen’s pupils contracted sharply at this sudden transformation.

 

Below him, there was no square to speak of, nor any trace of that enticing stone pool filled with Ten Thousand Year Old Earth Vein Liquid. In its place spread a field of magma spanning over a thousand metres, roiling and churning in shades of crimson, its terrifying heat more than sufficient to reduce an ordinary Martial Ancestor to ash without a moment’s resistance.

 

“An Illusion Array?”

 

Qin Yichen’s brow creased, and he spread his Spiritual Energy outward, only to find, with some surprise, that the magma here was no illusion at all, but entirely and undeniably real.

 

At that moment, Qin Yichen’s heart swelled with bewilderment. Why, at the very bottom of a lake, would there exist such a profoundly strange place?

 

Most troubling of all, this location still lay within the Heaven Burning Array, which meant that the searing heat and unknown dangers here could not be repelled with Yuan Energy. To deploy Yuan Energy here would be to turn one’s own greatest weapon into one’s executioner.

 

“Impossible. Such an elaborate and painstaking Heaven Burning Array, all for the sake of a single pool of magma?”

 

Qin Yichen’s brow remained knotted, his gaze sweeping ceaselessly across the expanse of this magma lake.

 

Though neither his vision nor his Spiritual Energy could make sense of what sort of Array this was, he had a certain intuition that this magma lake was far from as simple as it appeared.

 

The space here was subtly warped from the ferocious heat, and Qin Yichen’s line of sight was hampered as a result.

 

Without first understanding what dangers this magma lake concealed, he dared not plunge in recklessly. The sheer scale and craftsmanship of the Heaven Burning Array alone was testament enough to what lay within.

 

Under this careful observation, Qin Yichen’s Spiritual Energy had already spread silently outward, feeling its way across the surface of the magma lake inch by inch.

 

Then, in one particular moment, Qin Yichen’s pupils abruptly contracted, and his gaze snapped toward a specific direction. His Spiritual Energy had detected something extraordinarily unusual.

 

There, amid the churning magma, something was amiss. A crimson crystal drifted quietly atop the roiling surface, perfectly still.

 

The crimson crystal appeared almost indistinguishable from the magma itself, and yet the two were, upon closer inspection, undeniably distinct.

 

As Qin Yichen’s gaze lingered upon it, a vision seemed to emerge from the crystal’s surface. Within that crimson radiance, Qin Yichen caught a glimpse of a powerfully built man, his features handsome, his eyes closed, his brow carrying a lofty, imposing authority. His hair blazed a vivid red, burning like a living flame.

 

At the sight of this vision, Qin Yichen’s heart lurched abruptly. He suddenly realised that under his prolonged gaze, the Yuan Energy within his body had begun to seethe and boil.

 

Only when he tore his eyes away from the crystal did that sensation, as though he were about to combust from within, slowly settle back down.

 

“What on earth is that crystal? And who is the figure within it?”

 

Once the boiling within him had stilled, a look of genuine shock crept across Qin Yichen’s face.

 

A mere glance, and his body had nearly ignited of its own accord. And that was nothing more than a dormant vision. If the figure within were ever to open those eyes and turn that gaze upon him, would he not simply burn to cinders on the spot?

 

*Huu…*

 

Qin Yichen exhaled a long breath. By now he no longer dared to probe any further into what lay below.

 

The dangers here had far exceeded his expectations. In the entirety of the Myriad Beasts War Domain, there were perhaps few who had the qualifications to even attempt exploring this place.

 

But then, in the very next instant, Qin Yichen’s expression shifted drastically.

 

He had just realised, to his mounting alarm, that at some point unknown to him, what lay behind him was no longer the Heaven Burning Array through which he had come, but a vast sky blazing with roaring flames in every direction.

 

At the same moment, a terrifying wave of force began to seep silently upward from the magma below, spreading and enveloping the entirety of this space.

 

Chapter 1208: A Strange Token

 

This wave of force felt very much as though some dreadful entity was beginning to stir from slumber.

 

*Gulp.* Qin Yichen could not help but swallow quietly, and he became aware that cold sweat had broken out all across his body.

 

This space was simply too uncanny and too terrifying.

 

And this spreading wave of force was very likely connected to the vision Qin Yichen had glimpsed moments before.

 

Though he had no idea who that figure in the vision was, the reaction provoked by that single glance alone was more than enough to tell him that the entity in question was a being so far beyond his current reach that he could not even begin to measure it.

 

If even the faintest stirring of its consciousness could do this, there was nothing he could possibly do to withstand it.

 

“Wait a moment…”

 

All at once, Qin Yichen seemed to catch on to something, and his heart gave a violent lurch.

 

This wave of force radiating outward did not seem to be asserting dominance. That all-encompassing spread of it, rather than pressing down like a declaration of power, felt far more like something suppressing, holding down whatever lay beneath.

 

Suppressing?

 

Qin Yichen’s pupils contracted sharply, and his gaze swept once more toward what lay below.

 

Only then did he notice it: this entire field of magma appeared to be sealing off precisely the square he had glimpsed before. And at the furthest edges surrounding the magma, there was a spread of deep and impenetrable darkness.

 

A darkness that not even the brilliance of the magma could penetrate.

 

“Could there be something sealed beneath all of this?”

 

As he stared into that darkness, a chill rose from somewhere deep in Qin Yichen’s bones, making his entire body feel profoundly unsettled. It was as though something unspeakably malevolent and terrible was lurking within that blackness, staring directly at him.

 

“This wretched place is not somewhere I should linger in!”

 

In the next instant, Qin Yichen’s expression turned gravely serious. The place was far too strange. What had seemed from the surface to be a harmless square, complete with a pool of Ten Thousand Year Old Earth Vein Liquid and a Heaven Burning Array of extraordinary scale, had now revealed something more: a blurred vision of an incomprehensibly powerful existence.

 

Even though his curiosity toward this place was immense, Qin Yichen was self-aware enough to recognise that whatever treasures might lie here were beyond anything he could covet at his current level.

 

And so, suppressing the curiosity churning within him, Qin Yichen turned decisively and prepared to plunge into the seemingly boundless sea of flame that raged behind him.

 

Frightful as that might be, it was still far less unnerving than the terrible darkness below and the crushing pressure that smothered the very sky. If he was to die, at least he would die knowing why.

 

But just as Qin Yichen was about to depart, his body gave a sudden shudder. And then, to his complete disbelief, the Yuan Energy he had been keeping suppressed within his Dantian suddenly surged outward with a howl, flooding every limb and bone throughout his body in the span of a mere two breaths.

 

“This…”

 

Sensing this abrupt change, Qin Yichen’s expression darkened at once.

 

To deploy Yuan Energy while still within the Heaven Burning Array was nothing short of suicidal.

 

Yet even as Qin Yichen’s alarm was rising, within his Dantian, a pair of silver eyes suddenly surfaced. At the same moment, a strange and mighty surge of force erupted from within Qin Yichen’s body and swept outward in every direction.

 

This force was filled with a magnificent and righteous might, a supreme and all-dominating dominance that stood paramount above all of Heaven and Earth.

 

Under this surge of force, the terrifying pressure that had blanketed the entire space was sent scattering into disorder.

 

“Huh?” In the midst of Qin Yichen’s stunned bewilderment, he seemed to hear a faint sound of quiet surprise ring out through the space.

 

And then Qin Yichen could see it clearly: the heart-chilling blackness at the edges of the magma below had begun, under the force radiating from his body, to dissolve rapidly away.

 

In no more time than it takes to drain a cup of tea, every trace of that terrible blackness had dissolved entirely, and the crimson radiance of the magma flooded every corner of the space.

 

As that black light faded away, the pair of silver eyes within Qin Yichen’s Dantian quietly extinguished as well, and the magnificent righteous might that had felt like the very Master of Heaven and Earth dispersed swiftly, as though it had never existed at all.

 

*Whoosh!* And just as Qin Yichen was puzzling over why this sudden change had occurred, a streak of red light shot up from the magma below and came hurtling straight toward him.

 

In a matter of a few breaths, that streak of red light had come to hover before him.

 

After a moment of hesitation, Qin Yichen finally extended his palm, and the red light settled into it.

 

When the radiance faded, Qin Yichen found resting in his palm none other than the crimson crystal he had been looking at before.

 

Yet the vision he had seen within it was now entirely gone. As it was now, it looked far more like a fiery red token, carrying a faint warmth in his hand.

 

Upon its surface, ancient markings had been carved, lending the entire token an air of venerable grandeur.

 

Qin Yichen turned it over and examined it from every angle. Beyond those markings, the token bore no writing of any kind. He could also sense that within it lay an extraordinarily fearsome energy, yet no matter what method he tried, he seemed unable to activate it.

 

After a prolonged examination, Qin Yichen could only shake his head and finally tuck the token away into his Space Ring.

 

He understood that the magnificent might that had felt like the very sovereign of Heaven and Earth had emanated from the True Dragon within the Heaven Earth Spirit Pearl inside his body.

 

Though he did not know precisely what had unfolded just now, Qin Yichen was certain that the things capable of stirring that presence within him were few and far between.

 

As for this token, it had perhaps sensed the aura of the True Dragon Martial Soul, and that was why it had flown to him of its own accord.

 

He did not know what it was, but something summoned by the True Dragon Martial Soul would most certainly prove useful in due time.

 

“No more blundering around down there!”

 

Qin Yichen drew a deep breath, cast a final, lingering look downward, and with great effort suppressed the curiosity in his heart before swiftly turning and flying off in the direction he had come.

 

…

 

“Where on Earth has that brat gone?”

 

Deep within the lake, the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon swept its enormous eyes ceaselessly across the sea of fire at the far edge of its vision.

 

From the moment the Yuan Demonic Burning had appeared, it had lost all track of Qin Yichen’s whereabouts.

 

Whether he was alive or dead was, frankly, none of its concern. Even if he had been blown to fragments, it would feel not a shred of sentiment over it.

 

What the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon cared about were its own Beast Core, and the Sacred Energy Fruit.

 

“Damn it! Dying is one thing, but don’t go dragging me down with you, you bastard!”

 

The Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon groaned inwardly with considerable anguish. If it lost its Beast Core, it would have no hope of holding its territory, never mind entertaining thoughts of breaking through to the Saint Realm and exploring what lay below.

 

That dream, at present, looked rather dim indeed.

 

*Whoosh!*

 

And just as the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon was lamenting its troubles, the water beside it surged violently, and a figure that sent a chill through its very heart abruptly materialised within its field of vision.

 

Chapter 1209: The Opportunity to Break Through

 

At this moment, Qin Yichen looked worse for wear. His robes had been torn apart by the explosions of the Yuan Burning Lightning, exposing the solid, chiselled contours of his muscles in considerable abundance.

 

“He!”

 

The Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon’s enormous eyes contracted sharply at the sight of that tall figure reappearing so suddenly. From the moment Qin Yichen had vanished to now, less than an hour had passed, and yet it could already sense that his aura seemed to have grown several degrees more formidable.

 

“Can it be that he actually used those things as cultivation resources?”

 

The Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon could not help but draw in a deep breath. For reasons it could not quite pin down, it found itself feeling a trace of wariness toward the young man before it, even something approaching apprehension, and this despite the fact that it had already entered the Half-Saint Realm.

 

“I didn’t deceive you, did I? Did you obtain the Ten Thousand Year Old Earth Vein Liquid?”

 

After a long pause, the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon’s somewhat cautious voice finally drifted out.

 

“Ten Thousand Year Old Earth Vein Liquid?”

 

Qin Yichen’s brow lifted slightly. Reading the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon’s expression, he could detect no trace of deception. It was clear that the creature had never set foot inside the Heaven Burning Array, and had no notion of the horrors lurking within.

 

“That was nothing more than an illusion. Had I not been lucky, I would have met my end there.”

 

Qin Yichen shook his head, his voice tinged with lingering unease.

 

“How can that be? With all those methods of yours, you still couldn’t get through?”

 

The Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon’s expression shifted at once upon hearing this. Though it had half-anticipated this outcome, or rather had simply assumed from the start that Qin Yichen would die there. The youth’s many remarkable abilities had left it genuinely astonished.

 

He even had that terrifying suit of armour that even the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon could not shatter, yet Qin Yichen had nearly lost his life in there?

 

And furthermore, according to what Qin Yichen said, there was no Ten Thousand Year Old Earth Vein Liquid at all. Surely its own eyes couldn’t be deceiving it?

 

Yet the young man’s bearing did not resemble that of someone lying.

 

“If you don’t believe me, you’re welcome to try it yourself.”

 

Seeing the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon’s expression, Qin Yichen smiled lightly. His mood was quite good after having obtained such unexpected fortune below, and after a brief pause he added, “I would advise you, though, that even if you reach Saint Realm, going in there would be a journey with no return.”

 

A Saint was already a figure of considerable renown even within the Myriad Beasts War Domain. Those words were unpleasant to hear, but they were not empty.

 

The Yuan Demonic Burning alone was enough to give a Saint a tremendous headache, to say nothing of the magma field beneath the Heaven Burning Array, which was even more terrifying.

 

More critically, Qin Yichen had an intuition that the blackness within that sealed lower region was no ordinary entity. Even if one managed to clear both trials and reach the very bottom, whether that would prove a blessing or a disaster remained entirely unknown.

 

The Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon’s expression grew unusually grave at Qin Yichen’s rather weighty words.

 

It had originally planned to wait for the Sacred Energy Fruit to ripen, draw upon the fruit’s power to break through to Saint Realm, and then venture below to see if it could get its claws on the Ten Thousand Year Old Earth Vein Liquid.

 

But looking at Qin Yichen now, it began to feel somewhat uneasy in its heart.

 

Could it be that the Ten Thousand Year Old Earth Vein Liquid below was truly nothing more than a trap?

 

“About that, my Beast Core and the Sacred Energy Fruit…” In the end, the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon shook its head and brought its thoughts back to the most pressing matter at hand.

 

If Qin Yichen did not return its Beast Core, it would not even be able to hold its own territory, let alone speak of anything so lofty as breaking through to Saint Realm.

 

“The Beast Core, I can return to you.” Qin Yichen considered briefly, then smiled and said, “The Sacred Energy Fruit has yet to ripen, so it isn’t of much use to you right now. I’ll hold on to it.”

 

A Beast Core of a Half-Saint, though precious, was not something Qin Yichen was unwilling to part with.

 

More importantly, there was still a considerable secret lurking below this place. The Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon had already glimpsed some of its formidable nature, and would not be so reckless as to gamble its life blindly barging in.

 

Leaving the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon here as a guardian was, in fact, a rather sensible arrangement. At the very least, it would keep others from blundering in carelessly.

 

Though the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon was a little displeased upon hearing this, for it, recovering its Beast Core was already more than satisfactory.

 

“So you’re leaving? There are a few worms waiting outside for you. I don’t expect they’ll let you go without a fuss.”

 

After a pause, the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon remarked.

 

“Heh, I’ll break through first before going out to deal with them.”

 

A cold gleam flickered in Qin Yichen’s eyes, and he smiled. “Help me stand guard while I cultivate. Once I’ve broken through, I’ll naturally return your Beast Core.”

 

Were he to invoke the Myriad Dao Divine Armour, Qin Yichen would have no fear of Zhao Xueqi and Zhang Heng whatsoever. Even if they joined forces, he could move freely against them both.

 

However, Qin Yichen had no wish to draw a relentless tide of powerful pursuers the very moment he entered the Myriad Beasts War Domain. To avoid revealing his identity, he had no choice but to elevate his own strength, so that even without borrowing the power of the Myriad Dao Divine Armour, he would possess the means to protect himself.

 

He had been at the Late Stage Martial Ancestor Realm for quite some time now. In the eyes of most, that amount of time would barely be enough to stabilise one’s foundations, yet having been refined and tempered, hardened further through the massive battle in the Thunderous Blessings Mountain Range, Qin Yichen’s foundations were already as solid as could be.

 

In the Yuan Burning Lightning tempering he had endured just moments ago, he had felt the very opportunity for a breakthrough stir to life. All he needed now was time for quiet cultivation, and the breakthrough to the Peak Stage Martial Ancestor Realm would come naturally, as water found its course.

 

Once he had finished speaking, Qin Yichen drew a deep breath, closed his fist, and several Beast Cores appeared in his palm at once.

 

In his time within the Myriad Beasts War Domain, he had encountered no shortage of ambushes, yet not a single one of those assailants had succeeded. They had all been stripped of everything they possessed instead.

 

From those would-be killers, he had also pried loose quite a few fine things, including these Beast Cores, every last one of which had been taken from those who had come hunting him.

 

Without further delay, Qin Yichen sat cross-legged and, as though the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon simply ceased to exist, hovered quietly within the lake. The Beast Cores in his hand dissolved at once into pure energy and came flooding into his body in a surging torrent.

 

“You…” The Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon’s pupils contracted sharply at the sight of the Beast Cores in Qin Yichen’s hand. It could tell perfectly well that while those Beast Cores were far inferior to its own, they were still unmistakably from Peak Stage Martial Ancestor Demonic Beasts.

 

While Qin Yichen was in the midst of cultivation and breaking through, he would surely be at his most vulnerable. If it launched a surprise attack at that moment, there was a chance it could cut him down.

 

Yet as it stared at the faint, composed smile on the young man’s face, the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon hesitated.

 

Since Qin Yichen dared to break through right here before its eyes, could it be that he had never even considered this possibility?

 

If it struck now and succeeded, all would be well. But if it failed, the consequences, even imagining them, made the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon feel a chill creeping through its very bones.

 

Chapter 1210: Bursting Free from the Lake

 

A full day had passed since Qin Yichen was swallowed into the belly of the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon.

 

Upon the summit of Vibrant Vermilion Peak, the gathered experts had long since dispersed. No one could say whether the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon, now that it had reclaimed its Beast Core and Sacred Energy Fruit, might surface once more and bring slaughter upon all of them.

 

The only ones who remained by the lakeside now were a sparse handful of figures, each of them subordinates under the command of Zhao Xueqi and Zhang Heng.

 

“That brat was blasted with heavy injuries and then swallowed whole by the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon. By now he’s probably been digested down to nothing.”

 

“The Sacred Energy Fruit was seized by the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon, how could it possibly reappear?”

 

“*Haa…* Heaven only knows how long we’ll be stuck waiting in this wretched place.”

 

Several of the subordinates grumbled and muttered amongst themselves as they kept their tedious watch.

 

Though they wished to be elsewhere, not one of them dared venture down to probe the situation. Each of them kept a careful distance from the lake, for no one could predict whether the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon might burst out at any moment. To hover too close was to risk perishing without ever understanding why.

 

“Let’s wait a while longer. Brother Heng is still waiting at the mountainside and wouldn’t abandon us to head down first.”

 

“What a damn pain. We did all that work and there’s nothing to show for it. Let’s just hope that Demonic Beast rests quietly in the lake for a good while longer and doesn’t come charging out.”

 

The few of them whispered amongst themselves for a moment, and then the summit of the mountain returned to stillness, broken only by the howling fury of wind and snow.

 

…

 

Deep within the lake, the darkness stretched without end, and a lone figure hovered silently within the frigid water.

 

That figure was none other than Qin Yichen in the midst of cultivating. A terrifying devouring force surged ceaselessly from his body, and the surrounding lake water formed an enormous vortex, as wave after wave of pure Yuan Energy came flooding into his frame in a torrent.

 

Beneath this relentless infusion of Yuan Energy, Qin Yichen’s figure trembled faintly, and with the Supreme Tyrant Body cycling at full tilt, all this convergent energy was ceaselessly refined and absorbed.

 

As the immense Yuan Energy poured in with reckless abandonment, a full three days passed before his aura at last began to climb, slowly but unmistakably. The pace was unhurried, yet the rise could be felt with perfect clarity.

 

Gradually, the devouring force from within Qin Yichen began to wane, and the lake water around him began to settle back into calm.

 

By now, the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon was growing rather impatient. Without its Beast Core, it could already feel its cultivation beginning to recede bit by bit.

 

If this continued, even if it recovered its Beast Core after a little while longer, it might still drop a cultivation realm, and any hope of glimpsing that higher realm would grow even dimmer.

 

In the darkness of the lake, the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon’s eyes were fixed unblinkingly on Qin Yichen. Finally, it let out a long, slow breath and closed its eyes.

 

Whether Qin Yichen’s breakthrough succeeded or not, it could not quite determine from his current state, but from him came an impression of great danger that kept it from daring to make any rash moves.

 

Time flowed quietly in the silence. How long had passed, it was impossible to say, when the figure hovering so still in the water gave a sudden, slight shudder.

 

By now his aura had become exceptionally formidable. The sheer abundance of Yuan Energy within him was fully on par with that of a Peak Stage Martial Ancestor.

 

Yet this degree of power was not what Qin Yichen sought. He wanted to truly take that final step forward, to break through to the Peak Stage of Martial Ancestor in every sense.

 

“Just one more step!” In the next moment, with a low roar rising within him, Qin Yichen’s Yuan Energy erupted into a sudden boil, and over a dozen Beast Cores floated up from within him, hovering in a ring about his body.

 

*Whoosh!*

 

Those Beast Cores dissolved into pure Yuan Energy almost instantaneously and came pouring in a torrent into that lean frame.

 

Under this terrifying influx of Yuan Energy, Qin Yichen’s body began to tremble ceaselessly, and a strange, pulsing force spread outward from within him. Beneath that force, the very flesh and blood of his body stirred and crawled as though alive.

 

When the last of the floating Beast Cores crumbled to dust and the final thread of energy streamed inward, Qin Yichen’s tightly shut eyes snapped open at once.

 

A piercing brilliance blazed from between his eyes, as though it could cleave straight through the surrounding darkness. In that instant, Qin Yichen felt it within his body, a subtle yet profound metamorphosis taking shape, the sensation of having become something altogether more powerful.

 

At the same moment, an extraordinarily mighty aura came surging forth, impossible to conceal.

 

Peak Stage Martial Ancestor Realm.

 

“You’ve broken through?!” Sensing his formidable aura, the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon’s enormous body swept down in an instant, its urgent voice ringing out within Qin Yichen’s mind.

 

“More or less.”

 

Qin Yichen closed his fist, feeling the strength that flowed through him, several degrees more potent than before, and smiled faintly.

 

“When you were at the Late Stage Martial Ancestor Realm, you could already barely hold those two worms off. After this breakthrough, going up against them directly shouldn’t pose any real difficulty to you.”

 

The Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon remarked with something approaching admiration.

 

Though it had already entered the Half-Saint Realm, its own path of cultivation had been arduous beyond measure. Every single breakthrough had demanded years upon years of painstaking accumulation. Where in any of that was there anything so effortless as what Qin Yichen had just accomplished?

 

The corner of Qin Yichen’s mouth curved into a faint smile. He gave a single nod. It was time to head out.

 

Even knowing that Zhao Xueqi and the others were very likely waiting outside, he was not in the least bit afraid.

 

With the strength of a Peak Stage Martial Ancestor, even without invoking the Myriad Dao Divine Armour, he now possessed the means to stand against the two of them.

 

“Time to settle accounts.”

 

Qin Yichen smiled lightly, swept his arm through the water, and a Beast Core radiating a powerful aura shot from his hand and was swallowed in a single gulp by the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon, which had been waiting for this very moment with barely restrained eagerness.

 

*Whoosh!*

 

At once, Qin Yichen’s toes pressed lightly against the water, and his figure shot upward like a bolt, the frozen lake water parting around him without offering the slightest resistance. He streaked toward the surface above like a beam of flowing light.

 

…

 

Upon the summit of Vibrant Vermilion Peak, the icy wind shrieked and wailed, dragging curtains of snowflakes across the sky in a relentless howl.

 

Within that bitter wind, a handful of figures, their expressions a picture of misery, huddled and hid amongst the ice and snow as best they could.

 

*Whoosh!*

 

Without any warning, into the wind-swept world that had known nothing but silence, a sharp sound of something cutting through the air rang out, and in the next breath a figure burst from the surface of the lake.

 

The figure was tremendously swift. In no more than a few breaths’ time it had vanished into the boundless swirl of wind and snow like a phantom dissolving into mist.

 

“Oi, did you see that? That figure just now?!”

 

“It’s not my eyes tricking me, that’s him, absolutely him!”

 

“Heavens, how is he still alive!?”

 

“Get word to Blood Hand at once!”

 

Almost at the very instant Qin Yichen emerged, several figures concealed beneath the wind and snow cried out in alarm. One after another, urgent messages went flying outward in every direction.