Venerable White Fang glanced at him and said, "Even if I told you, you wouldn't know. With your aptitude, although you are outstanding within the Blazing God Empire, having entered the First-Grade Genius Hall and possessing a 90% chance of breaking through to divinity in the future—potentially even becoming a High-Tier Divine powerhouse—you are still worlds apart from true geniuses."
"Those who can participate in the Ten Nations, Ten Halls Genius War are monstrous anomalies. Young as they are, they can easily vaporize Divine realm experts with their own power as mere Demigods!"
"Easily vaporize Divines?" Ye Chen's pupils contracted sharply.
Demigod realm, yet instantly kills a Divine?
What concept was that?
It must be remembered that this 'instant kill' referred to combat skill alone within the virtual world!
If fighting externally, with Ye Chen's current strength, he could already easily dispatch an Elementary Divine expert. Relying on the physical strength of a Peak Divine or activating the Transcendent Five-Stage Celestial Beast Transcendent Mode, killing an Elementary Divine would be child's play.
However, the Genius War was conducted based on the virtual world standard. The masters of these top geniuses from the ancient worlds were absolutely Divine Emperors. In reality, they would surely be even more formidable!
Therefore, Ye Chen felt no indignation, only profound shock.
To instantly kill a Divine purely based on combat skill, the amplification factor must be over one hundred million times!
Even the admission requirement for the Blazing God Empire’s Supreme Genius Hall was only a ten-million-times amplification! Yet, these monstrous geniuses participating in the Ten Nations, Ten Halls, every single one of them possessed a technique amplification factor reaching hundreds of millions?
Seeing Ye Chen's look of shock, Venerable White Fang smiled faintly. "You don't need to dwell on this. Just focus on cultivating yourself well. Some of these participating monsters are reincarnated bodies of major figures, possessing deep backgrounds far beyond the reach of ordinary geniuses. Don't just stare at the sky and neglect the path beneath your feet."
Ye Chen nodded. "I understand."
Venerable White Fang looked at him. "Where are you now? I'll come pick you up."
Ye Chen shook his head. "I am almost back to the Imperial Capital of the Blazing God Empire. I need to exchange my Genius Medals at the Genius Hall headquarters, collect the helmet chip for the First-Grade Genius Hall, and submit my trial mission report."
Venerable White Fang nodded slightly. "If you run into any trouble, just tell me. Within the Blazing God Empire, no one can touch you!"
A slight twitch pulled at Ye Chen's mouth as he glanced at the Venerable, said nothing more, exchanged a few brief words, and excused himself.
Leaving Venerable White Fang, Ye Chen returned to the Genius Hall. A cold fighting spirit ignited in his eyes as he opened his mail, pulling out a vast list of challenge letters. From top to bottom, he selected them all for challenge!
"Challenge!"
"Challenge!"
Email notification sounds were sent out sequentially. In the various corners of the Second-Grade Genius Hall, those listed on the challenge letters simultaneously received system prompts.
"A challenge?"
"Ye Chen actually challenged me?"
"He accepted the challenge."
"Didn't he go to the First-Grade Genius Hall?"
Instantly, the entire Second-Grade Genius Hall erupted. As this news spread ten-fold, then hundred-fold, almost everyone knew that Ye Chen had made a powerful return, accepting every single challenge issued!
The list of challengers included the top ten members on the Heavenly Rankings of the Second-Grade Genius Hall!
Ye Chen meticulously scheduled the challenge times. Just like last time, he arranged one challenge every hour, with automatic forfeiture if he failed to appear on time.
Such a tightly packed schedule was sheer self-destruction!
After arranging all the challenges, Ye Chen exited the virtual world and summoned Zixiang to his side, instructing her, "Slow down our progress. Once we approach the outskirts of the Blazing God Empire's Imperial Capital, stop for a while."
Zixiang looked at him curiously. "Why?"
Ye Chen glanced at her. "You don't need to know."
Zixiang pouted, giving him a puffed-up, resentful look, and snorted.
Ye Chen waved her away. If this little girl knew he wasn't a creature of Darkness, she might genuinely choke on her anger. Throughout this journey, the characteristics of the Demon God Palace were entirely derived from the technology of the Great Dark World. It was likely already being observed and scrutinized by many Divine Emperor experts using monitoring devices. If it weren't for the fact that he was human, the Demon God Palace would have long been confiscated.
Entering the Imperial Capital of the Blazing God Empire would mean even stricter scrutiny. If any problem arose, it would be a huge disaster.
After all, if the Imperial Capital’s scanners also registered him as a creature of Darkness—as the Demon God Palace mistakenly did—he would be instantly blasted to ash.
Sending Zixiang off, Ye Chen donned the virtual helmet again and headed to the Virtual Arena. He selected the God of War Tower and chose to enter directly at the 21st floor.
"Please select your opponent's civilization!"
In the pitch-black space, the cold system prompt sounded, bearing a masculine, magnetically cool tone that made the blood boil within.
Ye Chen remained silent for a moment. "Mental Civilization, Huaxia Human!"
"Select battlefield."
"Sun!"
Swish!
Ye Chen’s figure vanished instantly. Immediately, he felt the temperature surrounding his body sharply rise, becoming scorching hot, as if steel could melt.
Ye Chen opened his eyes and saw fire blazing everywhere, the air thick with fire poison, and the ground scorched and cracked dry. With his current physique, merely standing here was the limit; staying long-term would surely result in infection by fire poison, leading to the swallowing of his mind and descent into madness.
Whoosh~
Ripples surged in the void opposite him, and a man materialized out of thin air—a standard male height of 1.8 meters, yellow skin, black hair, with powerfully built muscles, wielding an ordinary battle saber.
"Countdown begins..." the system prompt echoed in his ear.
"3, 2, 1..."
"Begin!"
As the system prompt fell, Ye Chen suddenly roared and activated his Blood God Mode, instantly multiplying his power by 100 times, reaching an amplification of over ten thousand times under the Celestial Scripture within him.
"Nine Palaces!"
"Meteorite Profundity!"
Ye Chen instantly unleashed his strongest combat form yet. On the scorching surface of the Sun, where temperatures reached 5800 to 6200 degrees Celsius, the moment the Nine Palaces Secret Art was executed, the surrounding fire poison and scorching air currents surged violently, gathering towards him madly.
Rumble~~
A magnificent palace rose from beneath Ye Chen's feet, towering into existence—a palace grand and imposing, with ornate eaves and jade tiles, radiating magnificent aura.
Four Nine Palace Guardians burst forth from within the structure, howling as they charged toward the Huaxia man, exploding instantly upon contact!
Boom!
The entire void fell momentarily silent!
The Nine Palace Guardians, whose cores were about to detonate, bodies expanding and rupturing, suddenly froze in motion. Even the flames in the surrounding air and the magma on the ground became utterly still.
In the whole universe, only the Huaxia man in Ye Chen’s eyes slowly raised his head. His once pitch-black eyes had somehow turned blood-red, filled with tyrannical aggression, like a furious beast!
Yet, strangely, though the man's eyes were violent and filled with murderous intent, his expression remained extremely calm. He slowly raised his palm, aiming at Ye Chen atop the distant, majestic palace, and suddenly clenched his hand!
Crack!
Ye Chen’s body involuntarily exploded, squeezed to pieces by the ferocious pressure.
"Challenge failed!" the cold system prompt echoed before his consciousness vanished.
In the resting area of the God of War Tower, Ye Chen’s body regenerated amidst a shower of white light. He frowned, lowered his head in deep thought. "To be instantly vaporized? This person’s domain is much stronger than the average Divine realm expert on the 21st floor—at least twice as strong! Against other 21st-floor Divines, I would have had some resistance."
"This person is a true powerhouse of Mental Civilization, having awakened his inherent talent. Was that just the manifestation of his talent power?"
Ye Chen pondered for a long time, then chose to challenge the 21st floor again, this time selecting a different civilization’s race.
He proceeded to challenge ten times in a row.
Ten losses.
Although he lost every match, and lost thoroughly, he managed to gain a little experience each time. Progressing from being instantly vaporized upon entry to being able to hold out for a few more seconds was still a small improvement.
A night passed. The next morning, Ye Chen emerged from the arena and switched the virtual world to the Second-Grade Genius Hall. According to the schedule, the first challenge match was set for exactly 8:00 AM!
With ten minutes remaining until the match, Ye Chen ordered a glass of ice water at the bar to clear his mind. Time flew by, and the system prompt arrived precisely: "Do you wish to enter Battle Stage No. 3?"
"Yes!"
Swish!
Ye Chen’s figure instantly vanished, reappearing on Battle Stage No. 3, atop a mountain peak. He looked around; thin mists enveloped the platform, creating a hazy, beautiful scene.
Ye Chen took a deep breath, then clenched his fists, staring straight ahead.
Twenty Zhang away, ripples spread through the space, and a figure materialized out of thin air—a charming woman, petite and exquisitely proportioned, with a delicate face and eyes as clear as water. Her long, soft blue hair contrasted beautifully with her snow-white skin, and she wore a pair of earrings, captivatingly beautiful.
Ye Chen watched her with a detached expression, his features unchanging, as if looking at a block of wood.
After appearing, the charming woman gazed at Ye Chen, her delicate eyebrows slightly furrowed. She tightened her slender fingers and drew a snow-white longsword from behind her back. The blade shimmered like autumn water, imbued with a faint cyan light that was not glaringly bright.
"Heavenly Sword Civilization, Jian Xiang!" the blue-haired woman stated coldly.
Ye Chen remained indifferent, paying her no heed.
"You!" The blue-haired woman was stunned that she had been completely ignored, a trace of anger rising on her pretty face. "Too arrogant! I will definitely make you regret this!"
System prompt: "Countdown begins..."
"Match begins!"
The moment the system prompt sounded, Ye Chen's long black hair flew wildly backward, his eyes turning blood-red. Malice swelled throughout his body; his internal aura was like a surging ocean, wrapped in a violent aura. Beneath his feet, the ground rumbled like an earthquake as a magnificent palace rose up from the earth.