As Ye Chen's words fell, You Yue and Nan Tian both choked, then flared up in furious rage, their eyes gleaming with an icy cold light as they stared fixedly at Ye Chen.
A martial artist at the Ghost God Realm dared to shout down a powerhouse at the Half-God Realm?
You Yue took a deep, slow breath. "Good, good, good! A fine 'Get out'!"
Nan Tian looked down from above, regarding Ye Chen with icy eyes. "I know you rely on that secret manual to be practically unmatched within the Ghost God Realm, but below Half-God, everyone is an ant. Don't think that killing a few ants gives you the right to be so arrogant!"
Ye Chen looked at the two of them coolly, seemingly unconcerned.
You Yue glanced at Ye Chen, let out a cold snort, and flung his sleeve, stating in a low voice, "Let's go! This is Scarlet Perish Mountain; the intelligent system monitors all activity. We don't want to incur major demerits from the Sect just for crushing an ant!"
Nan Tian seemed to grasp the deeper meaning of her words, nodding slightly. He cast one last indifferent look at Ye Chen before saying no more, turning to leave. Inside, however, he felt a surge of pleasure; seeing You Yue suffer a slight was repayment enough for their last encounter!
As for Ye Chen, he wasn't taking him seriously. Even an invincible Ghost God expert wielding a million points of Ghost Qi could be crushed easily before a Half-God powerhouse.
The two left as swiftly as they arrived, without unnecessary lingering.
Ye Chen watched their retreating backs with a cold gaze, his eyes suddenly flashing, a cruel arc curving his lips. You Yue and Nan Tian left Blue Moon Lake and returned to the inner disciple residences atop the mountain peak.
"Outrageous!" You Yue slammed the table, his face ashen. "Simply despicable! To dare mock me! If it weren't for acquiring that secret manual, I would have dealt with him long ago on the Star Fragment Continent!"
Nan Tian chuckled slyly. "It seems the brat isn't entirely stupid; he knows that manual is a priceless treasure. You were really something just now. That single manual you showed him, capable of boosting combat power fivefold, is comparable in value to a Pseudo-God Realm weapon! And you just gave it up. What a pity." A single Pseudo-God Realm weapon is enough to purchase two or three sets of peak Half-God equipment!
You Yue's expression grew darker, and he snorted coldly. "I must have it, or I want nothing! He thinks entering the Scarlet Perish Sect grants him immunity, that we can't touch him? Humph! Outer disciples have a mandatory trial mission once a month. All I need to do is inform the Elder of his whereabouts, and I'll see how he survives my torment!"
For an inner disciple, making trouble for an outer disciple was too easy.
Nan Tian nodded slightly, a sliver of cold light flashing in his eyes. "That wretched thing dared to yell at us. A mere ant! When he goes out for his trial mission this month, we’ll not only make him hand over the manual, but we'll torment him to death!"
"En!" You Yue nodded heavily.
As a Half-God powerhouse, this was the first time he had ever been yelled at by an ant from the Ghost God Realm. It was like an emperor being spat upon by a beggar—a complete and utter disgrace!
After soaking in the Blue Moon Lake to restore his strength, Ye Chen returned to his quarters to rest.
For the next few days, just as Ye Chen expected, You Yue and Nan Tian did not seek him out again. Within Scarlet Perish Mountain, surveillance equipment was everywhere, everything governed by the intelligent system. Any fighting or brawling would result in major demerits! If lives were lost, severe punishment would follow!
He welcomed the quiet. During these days, mining daily, he felt his strength increase significantly, his constitution subtly improving by hundreds of levels! Seven days passed in this manner, and Ye Chen had essentially familiarized himself with the terrain of this Three-Star Ghost Stone Mine, even identifying the placements of many surveillance cameras.
"There are spatial refraction monitors inside the mine shafts; they are products of the prehistoric mechanical civilization. They can observe every spot within range, capable of checking from any angle. Therefore, faking anything is nearly impossible."
"However, these spatial refraction monitors cannot observe underground."
A plan slowly formed in Ye Chen's mind. On the eighth day, after passing security checks, he shouldered his pickaxe and headed into his designated mine shaft, finding a dimly lit corner to begin digging.
"First, I'll dig a deep pit. Any actions taken inside this pit can evade the monitors."
Thud. Thud. Thud!
Ye Chen worked like a diligent farmer, swinging the pickaxe that weighed tens of millions of kilograms. Laboring diligently, a full day passed, and with his strength, he managed to excavate a deep pit only two zhang high.
Ye Chen wasn't discouraged. He spent the next few days focusing his efforts on this one spot. After ten consecutive days, he had excavated a massive pit eighty meters deep!
Standing inside the pit, Ye Chen was enveloped in dim light. Within the coverage range of the monitors, even if they sensed activity here, they couldn't see clearly.
Ye Chen knew it was time to begin his real work.
Thud!
His pickaxe struck a hard object. Ye Chen, now highly experienced, quickly grabbed his ore shovel and brushed away the dirt and sand, clearing the soil around the Ghost Stone mineral as the center point.
After a moment of hurried work, Ye Chen soon unearthed this piece of Ghost Stone mineral, about a foot in diameter, its surface pitted and uneven.
A scorching light flashed in Ye Chen's eyes. He reached out and placed his hand on the Ghost Stone mineral, activating the Devouring power within him. Surging torrents of power, like whales at play, were drawn out of the Ghost Stone and injected into his body. This essence was mixed with countless other energies—Earth elementals, Fire elementals, and various physical elements like carbon and zinc.
For ordinary people, having so many chaotic energies flood their bodies would typically result in instant death by explosion or ruptured meridians.
However, these energies, upon encountering the Devouring power inside Ye Chen, were immediately shredded into pure essence. The useless energy was expelled through Ye Chen's pores.
In just a few breaths, this massive, top-grade Ghost Stone mineral was stripped of its Ghost Qi by Ye Chen, shattering into a pile of ordinary sand and stone.
Ye Chen noted that the Ghost Qi in his body had increased by about 5,000 points—equivalent to the entire Ghost Qi reserve of a peak sixth-tier Ghost God expert!
Ye Chen continued to excavate more Ghost Stone minerals but did not absorb them. Instead, he piled them up inside the cave. When his eight hours of work were complete, he proceeded to the security checkpoint.
"Pass."
"Pass."
"Pass."
Streams of figures passed the inspection platform without incident. Ye Chen felt a slight tension as he stepped onto the platform. A beam of light swept over him, followed by a green light flashing.
"Pass."
As the system prompt sounded, Ye Chen felt a wave of relief wash over him, relaxing his guarded posture. After returning to Scarlet Perish Mountain via the shuttle ship and soaking in the Blue Moon Lake, Ye Chen returned to his quarters for the night. The very next morning, Ye Chen diligently took the reception shuttle to the Three-Star Ghost Stone Mine, retrieved his pickaxe and shovel, and entered his assigned shaft.
Ye Chen moved swiftly, leaping into the deep pit he had dug. He retrieved the Ghost Stone minerals buried inside and began a frantic process of devouring them. He extended his palm, pressing it against a piece of Ghost Stone mineral, absorbing the energy like drawing water with great force.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Piece after piece of Ghost Stone mineral exploded as their Ghost Qi flowed entirely into Ye Chen’s body, causing his internal Ghost Qi reserves to surge wildly!
Originally, when he returned from Star Fragment C-0986, his Ghost Qi was 200,000—placing him at the ultimate stage of the Ghost God Realm. After rapidly absorbing more than ten pieces of top-grade Ghost Stone minerals just now, his Ghost Qi instantly surged by forty to fifty thousand points!
Feeling the explosive increase in his internal Ghost Qi, Ye Chen’s spirit grew fervent, and he swung his pickaxe, continuing to dig. The previous ten-plus pieces of Ghost Stone were all minerals he had hidden yesterday and hadn't been transported away by the foreman.
Time passed swiftly; a full day went by.
With Ye Chen's work rate, he could excavate over a hundred pieces of Ghost Stone mineral daily! Given his constitution level of over 50,000, swinging the pickaxe was only slightly strenuous, not difficult, allowing him to move quickly, whereas others with weaker constitutions could barely manage a few swings before becoming breathless.
Ye Chen deliberately left ten Ghost Stone minerals outside the shaft for the foreman to haul away, absorbing the remaining ninety-plus pieces into his body.
These Ghost Stone minerals contained incredibly pure Ghost Qi. Even in their unprocessed state, most of them could increase his Ghost Qi by four to five thousand, or even ten thousand points!
By the end of the day, Ye Chen's internal Ghost Qi had skyrocketed to an astonishing level—1.6 million points of Ghost Qi!
With his current Ghost Qi, applying a 30x amplification from the Nine Palaces Secret Manual would unleash a destructive force equivalent to 18 million points of Ghost Qi!
Even Ye Chen felt a chill run down his spine hearing that number. Ordinary first-tier Ghost God experts possessed only 100 points of Ghost Qi!
When passing security, no anomaly was detected. Perhaps the Scarlet Perish Sect never expected such an absurd situation to arise; otherwise, they would never have sent Ye Chen to mine here.
After all, the Devouring Talent was ranked second among the 3,000 dark-attribute talents. In the entire vast Ancient World, there were fewer than 100 people who possessed the Devouring Talent!
Given the population of the Ancient World, the probability of a Devouring Talent appearing was roughly one in a hundred billion!
The very next day, Ye Chen continued digging in the deep pit. He discovered that the deeper he dug, the higher the chance of finding mineral deposits. Consequently, that day he managed to excavate over 120 pieces of Ghost Stone mineral.
Ye Chen "generously" selected the ten smallest Ghost Stone minerals, tossing them near the entrance of the outer shaft, and then devoured the remaining 110-plus pieces into his body.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Ghost Qi was extracted from piece after piece of Ghost Stone mineral; their color changed from pitch black back to ordinary pale yellow, turning them into common sand and dirt. Simultaneously, Ye Chen's internal Ghost Qi surged uncontrollably!
700,000, 750,000, 800,000...
Upon devouring the ninety-ninth piece, Ye Chen's internal Ghost Qi exploded, reaching 1 million points of Ghost Qi!
A full one million!
In the Ghost God Realm, ordinary people reaching the peak of the tenth stage—around 50,000 points of Ghost Qi—would begin searching for Heaven and Earth spiritual medicines to temper their bodies and attempt to break through to the Half-God Realm!
Only a select few could surpass the Ghost God peak and reach 100,000 points of Ghost Qi, earning the title of Ultimate Ghost God expert!
Exceeding 300,000 points of Ghost Qi classified one as an Extreme expert; among one million Ghost God Realm martial artists, only one or two would ever reach this level. As for 1 million points of Ghost Qi, that was called Invincible!
Completely invincible!