With a slight shift of his body, Ye Chen immediately returned to normal. From the stone door, a vast will radiated, hovering over his mind, speaking in a low tone, "This is not a place you should come to; leave immediately!"

The same words...

A smile touched the corner of Ye Chen's mouth. "I will not leave. Please allow me to undergo the assessment here!"

The voice fell silent for a moment. "Since that is the case, I have the first test here that you must pass. If you fail, leave on your own accord, or you will surely be reduced to ashes!" Ye Chen nodded gladly. "Yes!"

At this moment, a golden light shield radiated from the stone door, enveloping Ye Chen entirely, carrying a mysterious and profound aura. Waves of extremely powerful sounds and presences invaded Ye Chen's brain, disrupting his nervous system.

A fierce pressure permeated from the golden light shield, engulfing Ye Chen’s body, enough to crush him into powder. Ye Chen gritted his teeth, struggling to hold on. After several hours, this crushing force receded like the tide. The low voice from the stone door spoke, "You have passed the test and may proceed with the assessment."

Ye Chen's expression was indifferent.

"Here are elixirs for tempering the body, and a teleportation talisman. You can come here whenever you wish." The stone door flashed with light, and many items floated out, falling into Ye Chen's hands.

"When you are ready to accept the next assessment, you may enter here again," the low voice from the stone door instructed. A beam of light shot towards Ye Chen’s body, tearing open space, arbitrarily pulling out a spatial channel and throwing him into an unknown location.

Whoosh!

On a mountain peak, a black hole materialized out of thin air, and a figure drifted out—it was Ye Chen. His expression was detached as he gazed at the scenery before him, feeling an abundance of energy within, as if he had broken through to the Pseudo-God Realm!

"So it's here!" Not far away, a voice sounded, which turned out to be that of the majestic man, who looked at Ye Chen with great surprise. "I’ve been looking for you for so long; I’ve finally found you." Ye Chen frowned slightly and waved his hand.

Bang!

The world before him shattered like fragments of glass, including the charging majestic man, who broke apart into pieces. With a flash of light, he returned to the stone door inside the cave dwelling.

Hush~~

The golden light shield on his body slowly receded. The low voice from the stone door sounded: "Not bad. To pass the illusionary test, your willpower is firm enough. You are qualified to undergo the assessment!"

Ye Chen's demeanor was calm. In reality, he knew he had entered an illusion from the first glance because the pressure released by the golden light shield was too immense. From his past life’s experiences, he knew this golden shield was not assessing one's physique, but one's disposition!

"Hmm?" Ye Chen suddenly frowned, a cold light flashing in his eyes, and he fiercely threw a punch forward.

Thump!

His fist struck the void, causing ripples. The entire world shattered again, returning him to the front of the stone door in the cave dwelling. The low voice slowly spoke, "Passing the illusion test grants qualification for the assessment."

Ye Chen remained composed, but he felt a touch of emotion within. This illusion was too realistic—illusion within reality, reality within illusion; it was impossible to distinguish clearly. He thought he had shattered the illusion, but who knew that he was still... [provided by DaAi_TingTing] In the illusion, if he hadn't realized it in time, this illusion could simulate that majestic man because it must know his thoughts, know the contents of his memory banks.

Thus, based on his past life’s memories, the illusion could intentionally let Ye Chen break it once, but it was still an illusion!

If he hadn't noticed, he would have been forever immersed in the illusion, just like an extremely satisfying dream, constantly defeating enemies, growing stronger, eventually becoming a divine powerhouse, or even a more terrifying existence.

By that time, his physical body, in this nameless cave dwelling, would have existed for countless years. When his life force was exhausted and he could no longer maintain his consciousness, the world before him would suddenly go dark, and he would completely lose awareness.

Immersed in reincarnation and death...

If his willpower were not firm, Ye Chen might even feel that his rebirth itself was a dream, that he was still in the cave dwelling of his previous life, undergoing the assessment.

However, the heartbreaking sensations from before were so real...

The figure clad in white as snow was so clear...

If this were a dream, he would rather remain asleep forever!

Ye Chen shook his head, feeling his consciousness becoming somewhat muddled. However, from the stone door's judgment, he vaguely guessed something, and he asked the stone door, "How can one enter the structures on either side of that thing?" The stone door took a moment before replying, "It requires the Half-God Realm to open!" Ye Chen felt a wave of relief; he was somewhat reassured. Because if this were an illusion, the structure of the world would be based on what he knew, combined with the deepest fantasies of his heart. Yet, deep in his heart, Ye Chen had absolutely no fantasy about those two buildings.

His mind had reached the level of the Sage; he saw his own heart clearly.

Therefore, he was certain that he had broken free from the assessment and returned to true reality.

"Next is the assessment..." The low voice from the stone door stated, "Here are 10 points of Demigod Power. If you can temper them completely, you can accept the real assessment!" "This is just a foundation. If someone accepting the assessment hasn't even reached the Half-God Realm, they should cultivate for a few more years before returning."

Ye Chen smiled wryly in his heart. In his previous life, when he accepted this assessment, he was merely a novice with a physique level of 3000.

"The time limit is one day!" the stone door intoned. "If you don't reach it, please cultivate for a while longer." As it spoke, 10 golden light spots floated from the stone door, shimmering like fireflies, hovering around Ye Chen's body.

"In my past life, it took me nearly a century to temper just 1 point of Demigod Power. After failing, I could try again after a ten-day interval. After repeatedly trying for over a hundred years, I [provided by DaAi_TingTing] barely managed to temper one point of Demigod Power, allowing my physique to break through to the Ghost-God Realm. I was originally planning to continue tempering, but when I reached the limit of the test attempts, I was forcibly ejected."

Recalling the fragility of his past life, Ye Chen shook his head with a faint smile. With a grab of his hand, the power of Devouring enveloped these 10 points of Demigod Power, and like a whale playing in water, he directly drew them into his body, incinerating and refining them. In the blink of an eye, they were completely metabolized.

"Huh?" Ye Chen was somewhat surprised. "After these 10 points of Demigod Power were tempered, they actually divided into 100 points of Demigod Power?" At this moment, the low voice from the stone door sounded: "The basic requirement has been met. Now, accept the assessment. Please prepare..." Ye Chen sighed inwardly. In his past life, he had failed at the basic test. It was said that this nameless cave dwelling held five tiers of inheritance, but he realized the basic test he just passed was not the first tier.

"Begin!"

The voice from the stone door held a trace of coldness. A black hole emerged before Ye Chen, and a powerful force sucked him in.

"Huh?" Ye Chen's vision blurred, and immediately afterward, he saw himself suspended above a continent made of magnificent star fragments. Below him was utter darkness, where he could vaguely see undulating mountains and rocks, and terrifying roars echoed from within, chilling the bone.

"This is the Half-God Realm assessment ground. Pass this assessment, and you can proceed to the next. Failure means death!" The stone door's voice was somewhat icy. "Assessment requirements: First, staying here for 1000 years counts as passing! Second, kill 1 million spirit beasts within 10 years!"

Ye Chen frowned. "Stay for 1000 years? That's definitely impossible. Then I only have the option to kill 1 million spirit beasts within 10 years. Moreover, I still need to go to the Ancient Continent, and I only have a little over 4 years left. This means I must kill 1 million spirit beasts within four years!" (Half-God Realm creatures are called Spirit Beasts, Pseudo-God Realm are Divine Beasts, and Divine Spirit Realm are Super Divine Beasts!)

Just then—

Buzz hum~ In the distant sky, many buzzing sounds emerged, and a large patch of black light spots faintly shot toward this area. Upon closer inspection, they turned out to be giant hornets. They were covered in bizarre blood-red markings, possessed sharp and keen mouthparts, and their eyes gleamed with bloodlust.

Ye Chen sensed the divine power within his body and immediately discovered that the majority of these swarming bee-race spirit beasts were early-stage Half-Gods, with some being mid-stage Half-Gods. Judging by their numbers, there were about four to five thousand!

"To kill 1 million spirit beasts in 10 years, I must kill over 270 beasts per day. If I complete it in four years, that must double!"

"Not enough, it must triple!!"

A terrifying light shone in Ye Chen's eyes. He turned around, the fierce savage aura within his body rising, fixing his gaze on the swarm of spirit beasts. He raised his wrist, and the divine power within him surged out.

"Treading Heaven Song!" Ye Chen looked like an ancient Demon God, his black hair wildly dancing, his eyes cold and sharp, staring at the horde of spirit beasts. He raised his hand and pointed abruptly. His divine power tore through the clouds, condensing into a massive finger that struck out towards the spirit beast swarm.

Pfft pfft pfft~

"Screech!"

Many bee-race spirit beasts were struck by the golden finger, their bodies collapsing into streams of blood mist that rushed upward. The remaining bee beasts became enraged and charged forward with sharp cries.

Ye Chen's expression was cold. With a touch of his hand, he plunged into the midst of the bee beasts, activating the Ant Superman Mode within his body, which increased his strength sixtyfold, reaching 6 million points of power!

He dragged one of the bee beasts, gripping its sharp wing, and forcibly tore it apart. Divine blood splattered everywhere, falling into his body, and under the circulation of the True Dragon Art, it was frantically absorbed, causing his physical body to slowly transform.

However, since reaching the Half-God Realm, the speed of physical transformation had become extremely slow.

Ye Chen flung his arm, and the body of that bee beast shot out like a cannonball towards the other spirit beasts. With booming crashes, it continuously smashed into other beasts. Because of the immense strength gained in Ant Superman Mode, the force of the throw sent that bee beast flying extremely far, crushing and killing several hundred other beasts in its path!

"Die!" Ye Chen darted into the swarm like a hungry tiger, tearing these bee beasts apart as if they were toys, crushing them to death. Even their bones and muscles were squeezed into pulp.

Throughout the sky, blood rain fell heavily, and severed limbs and broken remains rained down from the mid-air.