Under the gaze of the man in black armor, the individual felt a pressure as immense as Mount Tai descending upon him. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead as he cupped his hands respectfully, "Great mighty sir, I saw this gentleman some days ago in the South African region."

The man in black armor frowned. "The South African region?"

"Precisely." The man hastily nodded, thinking to himself, Judging by his physique, this fellow is definitely not from Earth. He must be from some ruin or elsewhere, and is likely unfamiliar with this planet. I should send him far away first.

The man in black armor nodded slightly. "For the sake of this intelligence, I won't kill you, but the others must perish!" Saying this, he turned to survey the surroundings, a cruel glint in his eyes. With a wave of his hand, an energy resembling ripples surged forth, shattering everyone else into fine ash...

In the gray-white sky, snowflakes drifted down, blanketing countless peaks in pristine white.

At the Light Base City, a large crowd, led by Lord Ziyun Island and the old man in white robes, was engaged in extensive excavation. Ye Chen, clad in the Holy Flame Armor, emerged from the ruins. His feet trod the void, walking leisurely as the snow fell around him, landing on his head and body, only to be silently vaporized...

Ye Chen left the ruin and headed elsewhere, soon arriving in the Xinjiang region. Looking out, he saw a vast expanse of white, the heavens and earth merging into a single color.

"I recall there's a princess's tomb in this area, and within it, a ruin. I wonder if the spatial rift connected to that ruin has loosened recently."

Ye Chen wandered around but couldn't pinpoint the exact coordinates. The ground below was solid ice, and he only remembered the general location. If he dug there, he might find the location was off by a lot, requiring him to dig again.

Whoosh!

In the distance, a faint whistling sound cut through the air.

"En?" Ye Chen looked up, his gaze focused.

On the horizon, a black dot rapidly expanded. It seemed to have spotted Ye Chen and was hurtling toward him at incredible speed. In an instant, the figure's features became clear from afar.

Ye Chen's expression shifted slightly. He glanced at the dark shadow and saw a man two zhang tall, entirely encased in black armor, with black horns protruding from his head—his appearance was entirely unlike a human's...

As Ye Chen's thoughts raced, the man in black armor arrived before him, looking down with disdain and an aggressive aura. He scrutinized Ye Chen from head to toe and sneered, "Not bad. It's been a while since I arrived here, and I finally see someone whose combat power exceeds 300,000. Boy, tell me, have you seen this person?" With a casual gesture, a black mist condensed to form the image of a man with an eerie, snake-haired appearance.

Ye Chen glanced at the image, his pupils contracting slightly before quickly regaining their calm. Neither servile nor overbearing, he shook his head. "Never seen him."

The man in black armor narrowed his eyes slightly. "Really?"

Ye Chen felt an invisible killing intent permeate the air, knowing the other party was serious about killing him. He was secretly shocked, pondering, This man must be from another dimension. I wonder what his connection is to the Dark Prince—whether he's an enemy or kin, I must deceive him for now.

From this man in black armor, even with Ye Chen's experience, he sensed an oppressive aura—one that ordinary Ghost God Realm powerhouses lacked. Even the Dark Prince, a seventh-tier Ghost God, hadn't given him such a strong sense of pressure!

"My Lord!" Ye Chen bowed slightly, cupping his hands. "Seeing your bearing, I know you must be a mighty expert, and the person you seek must be extraordinary. Someone of that caliber wouldn't be in an ordinary place. They are most likely in the Antarctic seas; I hear treasures are appearing there, attracting many experts..." His voice was earnest and utterly sincere.

The man in black armor nodded slightly, satisfied. "Good. This person is one of my nephews. Some time ago, for some unknown reason, the origin soul he kept in his palace suddenly dimmed. I suspect he met with misfortune, so I came looking. Boy, you seem perceptive. Come, accompany me to the South Pole!" With that, he extended a large hand, and a massive power enveloped Ye Chen.

Ye Chen remained outwardly calm but secretly mobilized his strength to struggle. To his surprise, this immense power was incredibly strange. Despite his own strength, he couldn't exert any resistance to it, as if punching cotton—unable to apply any force.

A light flashed in the eyes of the man in black armor. He chuckled, "Little fellow, not bad, you have some strength. But trying to resist with such meager power is overestimating yourself. Haha, I take a liking to you. Rest assured, I won't kill you. Let's go, come with me to the South Pole first!" Saying this, he controlled Ye Chen, keeping him trailing behind as they rushed south.

Ye Chen struck out twice with the peak strength of his tenth layer, but both attempts were futile. He realized the power enveloping him was profoundly esoteric, certainly not comparable to ordinary strength. It was like when he faced Ghost God Realm experts before—though his power was great, it couldn't harm them.

After two attempts, Ye Chen simply gave up struggling aimlessly, lest he provoke the man in black armor. He still didn't understand the latter's true strength and couldn't afford to be rash.

They flew onward.

Snowflakes danced and fell around them both.

The man in black armor's expression turned cold again. Looking at the vast white snow surrounding them, he scoffed, "A trash planet. I truly don't know why our ancestors fought so fiercely to secure it. The energy density in the air is so low that, under normal development, it couldn't even nurture a Glimpse-of-God Realm expert. Hmph!"

Ye Chen's expression remained unchanged; he stayed silent.

The man in black armor glanced at Ye Chen and nodded slightly. "Boy, you are quite good. You've reached a combat power in the hundreds of thousands. Looking at you, if you cultivate a bit deeper, you might become a Ghost God expert. Once you reach that realm, you can subsist on energy, have a long lifespan, possibly reaching a thousand years!"

Ye Chen nodded slightly, respectfully. "Thank you for your praise, Lord!"

The man in black armor looked at Ye Chen, his gaze flickering. "Boy, are you interested in becoming my sworn son?"

Ye Chen frowned slightly. Although he masked it well, the man in black armor noticed it. Ye Chen pondered internally, remaining silent.

The man in black armor snorted arrogantly, "What? You look down on me? Hmph, countless people in this world wish to become my sworn son, and I look down on them! Boy, if you call me Father now, I'll make you the master of this planet. How about that?"

Ye Chen cupped his hands. "Thank you for your consideration, Lord, but this junior fears I am not worthy of such an honor..."

The man in black armor sneered. "What nonsense is that? I see you just dislike me. Hmph, if you don't want to be my sworn son, I insist on taking you in, and I'll make you truly convinced! Saying this, he suddenly stopped and pointed a finger, pouring a massive surge of energy into Ye Chen’s body, circulating through every limb and bone.

Ye Chen's expression changed slightly, just as he was about to activate Superhuman Mode.

Boom! Boom!

The peak strength of the tenth layer within Ye Chen suddenly swelled, contracted, swelled again, and contracted again... This repeated over a hundred times before erupting violently. In an instant, it was like a massive river bursting its banks, flooding his entire body, causing his cells, genes, and flesh to undergo a massive metamorphosis. His energy was refined, reaching the first layer of the Qi Source Master realm!

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Every pore seemed to be breathing; his entire body felt incredibly comfortable.

Ye Chen's muscles twitched slightly. This transformation lasted for a long time before slowly stopping. Ye Chen checked his body and immediately discovered that after his energy broke through to the Qi Source Master level, his overall physique had increased significantly, reaching level 7900—just one step shy of 8000!

Ye Chen was astonished. He hadn't expected the bottleneck he'd faced for days to break so easily, leaving him stunned.

The man in black armor saw the astonishment in Ye Chen's eyes and smiled proudly, quite pleased with himself. "How about that? This is just my welcoming gift. If you follow me, there will be many more benefits down the road. Boy, are you convinced now?"

Ye Chen's thoughts raced as he deliberated: This person can advance my realm with a mere wave of his hand. He definitely isn't a Ghost God Realm expert. Could he be the legendary Demigod?

He looked up and pondered, "Lord, looking at your physique, you shouldn't be from this planet, right? How do you know the local language?"

The man in black armor glanced at him and chuckled. "I am from Planet Wuqing in the Great Dark World. Your current realm is too low to know this, but once you reach the Demigod realm, you'll understand. It only takes a tiny bit of divine power to steal someone's thoughts, so learning the local language is not difficult."

Ye Chen was secretly startled. It was exactly as he suspected!

Even though he was only a Demigod, and only a sliver of divine power manifested during his fleshly transformation, that tiny amount was enough to instantly kill any expert below the Ghost God Realm!

It must be known that even a peak Ghost God expert, despite their potent Ghost Qi, was still incredibly fragile against divine power. This showed how terrifying divine power was!

Ye Chen's heart grew heavy. If this man in black armor was truly a Demigod expert, even activating his Superhuman Mode might be ineffective, unless he possessed a weapon capable of countering divine power!

He did have such a weapon—the original body of the Xuanyuan Divine Sword!

However, truly wielding that divine sword required the state of mind of a Sage Realm cultivator, coupled with divine-level strength!

If my Light Maggot Divine Armor were to evolve into its second stage, the Divine Sound Armor, I could slaughter Demigod experts or even contend with God-level experts using the armor's might!

But this is only the initial stage of the Holy Flame Armor. To evolve it into the Divine Sound Armor, I probably need to slaughter tens of millions of Ghost Gods and millions of Demigods to temper it with their blood!

Ye Chen smiled wryly. This was a much more distant path...

With Ye Chen's current fighting strength, possessing even one Demigod-level weapon would allow him to activate Superhuman Mode and handle Demigod experts without issue.

In terms of raw strength...

His current energy had reached a more refined level, minuscule down to the nanoscale. He could handle Ghost God experts purely with his strength. Furthermore, using the Nine Palaces Secret Art, his current comprehension allowed for a threefold amplification, up to a maximum of ninefold. Even with only a threefold amplification, he could contend with a third-layer Ghost God expert!

Once he completely mastered the Nine Palaces Secret Art, upon reaching a certain realm, he would instantly be at the peak of that realm's ninth stage!

"What are you thinking about?" The man in black armor suddenly asked, seeing Ye Chen’s silence.