Within the grand and spacious hall, the floor was carpeted with fresh blooms, their fragrance thick in the air. Handmaidens of the Angelic Civilization stood respectfully on either side, smiling faintly. Across the crimson carpet, at the far end, lay a soft, enormous bed piled high with all manner of charming plush dolls.

Nestled within this mound of stuffed toys lay a maiden with hair the color of fire, her skin as crystalline as snow, fine as the most exquisite porcelain. Her toenails were perfectly clear, smooth, and bright.

From outside the hall entered a man of imposing stature and robust health. He approached the edge of the great bed, bowed slightly, and said, "Your Highness, the Samsara Temple cannot ascertain this person's whereabouts."

"Hm?" The fiery-haired girl arched a delicate eyebrow. "Cannot ascertain? What kind of joke is that? Some of the elders in the main hall of the Samsara Temple can vaguely touch upon the movements of even my Imperial Father. And the Saint King of Reincarnation sits at the very core of the universe, commanding all things in heaven and earth, omniscient about everything on the Ancient Continent. How could they fail to calculate the coordinates of a mere demigod ant?"

The imposing man offered a wry smile. "The elders of the Samsara Temple’s Elder Hall could not deduce it. As for the Saint King of Reincarnation, they claim the Saint King has no time."

The fiery-haired girl’s large, liquid eyes widened. "What do they eat for sustenance that they can't even calculate this? A bunch of useless gluttons!"

The imposing man quickly interjected, "Your Highness, perhaps you shouldn't say such things, lest they overhear you..."

The red-haired girl let out a cold laugh. "What is there to fear? With their capabilities, do they dare investigate my whereabouts? I only need to report this to the Emperor, and they will face severe consequences! Besides, do you think deduction requires no effort? The Heavenly Dao of Reincarnation—to dare peer into others within the cycle of rebirth is a great taboo! If they feel their lifespan is too long, they are welcome to come and look at me more often."

The imposing man managed a weak smile.

The red-haired girl gazed toward the hall's exterior, a thoughtful glimmer appearing in her eyes. After a moment, she said dismissively, "You may leave for now."

"Yes!" The imposing man quickly bowed and retreated.

"Strange..." The red-haired girl frowned. "How could they fail to calculate it? By rights, upon hearing my name, the Elder Hall members should exert every effort, yet they cannot find him. Could it be that some supreme expert, like my Father, is guarding this person? How is that possible? If so, that supreme expert could simply toss down a few manuals, and he could immediately become a member of the Top-Tier Genius Hall."

"What exactly is going on in this..."

"Never mind it! This insolent brat dared to provoke this Princess. He's tired of living. Let's see if I can conjure up some trouble to wear him down!" The red-haired girl muttered under her breath and donned a virtual helmet.

Three days passed in a flash.

Hoo!

Ye Chen let out a sigh of relief. After engraving the secret mark for the tenth time in his hand, he finally succeeded. This was an intricate secret mark, its lines subtle, difficult for ordinary eyes to discern. Every line's size, every curve, matched exactly what Ye Chen held in his mind, without the slightest deviation.

When this secret mark was branded onto the Flame Totem Pillar, the entire three-zhang column instantly flared crimson like fire, its radiance dazzling, emitting light ten thousand ways, illuminating the entire room. The temperature of the fire column soared, and its might amplified tremendously. The ugly secret marks coalesced into a single pattern, seemingly a profound star map that stirred the very soul upon viewing.

"Yan God Hammer, First Tier, complete!"

The weariness in Ye Chen’s eyes vanished, replaced by vibrant energy. He looked at the handle of the Yan God Hammer in his hand, feeling as if the entire flame handle were a fiery crystal—crimson and translucent, capable of shrinking to any size. Its surface was intricately carved with 252 glowing dots; upon closer inspection, he realized these dots were individual secret marks.

Ye Chen clenched his hand, and the three-zhang crimson crystal pillar shrank to the size of a needle, integrating directly into his flesh and blood. He felt as if a surging, explosive flame power had been infused into his very fist, boosting his strength by one or two times!

Ye Chen's mood soared. Although the first level of the Yan God Hammer was divided into seven tiers, and he had only mastered the first, given the difficulty of this set of secret methods, achieving mastery of the first tier in just half a month was an astonishingly swift pace.

"Once the Yan God Hammer and the Netherflame Shield are fully mastered, I can summon the soul of the Primordial Flame God to possess my body, amplifying my combat power by a hundredfold. When layered with the Heavenly Dao Scripture and the Blood God Secret Codex, I can directly enter the Top-Tier Genius Hall!"

Ye Chen yearned to find a place to enter seclusion for several millennia, focusing solely on cultivating this Secret Codex of the Yan Gods. However, this was clearly impossible. If given enough time, it would be better for him to cultivate several more layers of the Heavenly Dao Scripture.

Ye Chen stretched his limbs and entered the virtual world. Upon logging in, numerous emails flickered incessantly. Ye Chen quickly scanned them and immediately noticed that several thousand of these messages were curses.

"You bastard son of a—"

"I—@&...)!"

"Apologize to Her Highness immediately, or we'll kill you!"

"Don't let me meet you in reality, or I'll beat you every time I see you!"

A wave of angry emails washed over him. Ye Chen raised an eyebrow. "Princess? What Princess?" Seeing the curses in these emails, his expression darkened slightly. At the same time, he noticed that the challenge letters had increased again, from the previous hundred-plus to a staggering total of over three hundred!

A cold glint flashed through Ye Chen's eyes, and a cruel curve formed on his lips. "Seeking death." He swept his gaze across the emails, quickly selecting the weakest opponent among them. Name: Lan Dao! Strength: Peak Demigod! Secret Technique Amplification: Ten Thousand Times! Race: Member of the Blue Blood Clan from the Ruotian Civilization!

"It'll be you." Ye Chen tapped his finger. "Accept Challenge Invitation!"

Simultaneously, in a luxurious room within the Second-Tier Genius Hall residential area, a tall, slender youth stood by the window. Dressed in elegant white robes, with handsome blue hair and bright eyes, he looked down from the window onto the entire residential area, experiencing the feeling of standing atop a high mountain, surveying the world.

He thoroughly enjoyed this sensation.

Suddenly, drip, drip!

A system notification chimed: "The Spirit Civilization Ye Chen has accepted your invitation. The challenge time is set for 8 AM tomorrow!"

The blue-haired youth’s eyes moved slightly, and a faint smile curved his lips. "He’s been gone so long, he finally deigned to answer the challenge. I will teach him a lesson on behalf of Her Highness! If I defeat him and earn the Princess's favor, capturing her heart will be far too easy..."

He raised a scarlet wine glass, drained it in one gulp, then casually tossed it away. The glass shattered on the floor, dissolving into the most beautiful crystalline light fragments, which were then automatically cleared by the system as mere debris.

At this moment, Ye Chen had not stopped. He clicked continuously, selecting challenges based on these people's strength, either from reputation or according to the virtual rankings, from the lowest to the highest, accepting them in sequence.

He accepted over a hundred challenges consecutively!

Email responses flew out to each one. System prompts sounded in the minds of these hundred people. Some were chatting in small groups when suddenly two of them received system notifications almost simultaneously, both showing surprised smiles. They glanced at each other, recognizing the understanding in their companions' eyes.

News that Ye Chen was wildly accepting challenges spread almost instantly throughout the entire Genius Hall. Everyone who received a response from Ye Chen proactively announced it. When the final tally was made, everyone was shocked to discover that Ye Chen had ultimately accepted over a hundred challenge matches!

Furthermore, the scheduling for these challenges was simple: starting tomorrow morning at eight, one challenge match would occur every hour thereafter.

Insane!

Everyone felt utterly stunned. Such a frenetic frequency of challenges was rarely seen in the entire history of the Genius Hall, across countless epochs—it was simply too wild!

"Is this guy a pervert?"

"Challenging a hundred geniuses back-to-back!!"

"He's gone mad!"

Everyone was astonished. The entire Second-Tier Genius Hall area erupted, and even some figures with extraordinary strength ranked within the top 30 on the Heaven List slightly turned their gazes, watching this spectacle in surprise.

"This newcomer is too arrogant!"

"How long has he been in the Genius Hall? Even though he defeated Lan Rou and Tian Long, that doesn't mean he can claim the number one spot on the Heaven List!"

"I heard that those about to enter the First-Tier Genius Hall personally challenged this man!"

"Tsk, tsk. Apparently, he offended a certain Princess from above!"

"What a pity. If only we had the power, we could do a service for the Princess. Heh heh, the benefits would be immeasurable..."

Everyone was talking animatedly.

Ye Chen casually selected a hundred challenge matches, then stopped. Fighting a hundred bouts consecutively would sharpen his combat skills significantly. He needed to leave time for careful contemplation; blind, reckless advancement would only lead to self-destruction, which would not be worth the gain.

Whoosh!

Ye Chen exited the Genius Hall area directly and headed to the Arena Zone, entering the War God Tower to engage in frantic training, fully deploying the Nine Palaces Secret Method and his somewhat accomplished Yan God Hammer.

Along the way, one email box kept flashing incessantly, but Ye Chen directly shielded it, ignoring it to avoid disturbing his cultivation.

"Your emails have been shielded."

The system notification chimed in the ear of a red-haired girl. She immediately froze in stunned silence. After a moment, a thunderous roar echoed across the entire floating island: "I will kill you!!!"

Time flowed by, and the next day arrived.

At dawn, the sky began to show the first light. The virtual world was constructed to be incredibly realistic, beautiful as a fairyland. Ye Chen took a shower, changed into clean clothes, washed himself thoroughly, then walked to an area of green hills and lush forests, breathing deeply and looking toward the distance, his chest filled with soaring spirit.

Eight o'clock arrived quickly. Ye Chen received the system prompt and immediately teleported to the battle stage on Peak No. 1!

Whoosh!

His figure materialized out of thin air.

Ye Chen, clad in white robes, stood ramrod straight, like a javelin, in the center of the mountain peak stage, coldly observing the opposite side. There, a flash of light appeared, revealing a blue-haired youth.

"I didn't expect you to actually dare to accept a hundred consecutive fights!" As the blue-haired youth appeared, his expression was arrogant and disdainful as he looked at Ye Chen, a slight smile playing on his lips. "Unfortunately, you won't get the chance. For this first match, let's bet bigger. Whatever Divine Points you have, I'll bet them all!"

Without Divine Points, all subsequent challenges would be automatically canceled.