Ye Chen stood atop the towering palace, beckoning with his hand. The four Nine Palaces Guardians instantly exploded outward, hurtling toward the blue-haired woman. Their speed was like lightning, spanning the entire peak battle stage in nearly a single stride before detonating with a massive roar!
BOOM!!
A violent shockwave radiated outward, its ferocious power engulfing the entire peak battle stage like a nuclear blast. A mushroom cloud, resembling molten lava, billowed up, scattering the clouds in the sky.
Ye Chen was enveloped in a crystalline energy shield. The pores on his body tightened slightly as he effortlessly deflected the oncoming gale. He focused his gaze down toward the battle stage, where a faint breeze stirred, gradually revealing a deep crater at the center, surrounded by numerous fissures, with a hollow indentation at the pit’s core.
CRACK!
Several fragments of rock shot out from the crater’s opening, immediately followed by a bloody palm pressing against the edge of the chasm. Slowly, a figure crawled out of the pit: disheveled hair, body drenched in blood, tattered clothing, and his fair skin covered in burn marks—a truly tragic and wretched sight.
This figure was, naturally, the blue-haired woman. Malicious light flared in her eyes as she glared hatefully at Ye Chen on the Nine Palaces platform, snarling viciously, "Bastard!"
Ye Chen’s brow furrowed slightly. His expression remained indifferent as he casually waved his hand. The meager divine power remaining in his body circulated, coalescing into a spear of flame, nearly transparent, which he hurled out without a shred of pity or gentleness.
WHOOSH!
The flame spear sliced through the sky with lightning speed, rocketing toward the blue-haired woman's forehead!
The blue-haired woman’s eyes widened, desperately trying to evade, but the speed of the flame spear was like a gale—it pierced through before her retina could even register its passage. Her entire skull was impaled, blood spraying outward, dyeing the yellow sand red.
"Congratulations, Challenger, you have won!" A sweet system voice chimed in Ye Chen's ear.
Zing!
Ye Chen’s silhouette flashed, vanishing into thin air. The next moment, he was back in the bar of the leisure area, the glass of ice water still before him. His expression placid, he picked it up and took a sip.
The surrounding area of the bar fell utterly silent.
Everyone stared at Ye Chen, who had been teleported back by the system, their eyes revealing undisguised shock. They had never expected that even someone as formidable as the blue-haired woman would fall to him, and so decisively and miserably!
The silence in the bar lasted only a brief moment before it was broken by a few individuals leading the charge. All eyes sweeping toward Ye Chen were filled with deep apprehension.
Not long after, the second challenge match began..."
Flicker!
Ye Chen received the system notification, and his figure instantly vanished, reappearing on Peak Battle Stage No. 8. Soon after, another figure materialized before him: a handsome, white-haired youth whose silver locks draped elegantly over his shoulders. His eyes were clear as water, and an aura of profound serenity surrounded him.
"Battle commencing!"
As the system prompt sounded, Ye Chen moved without a word, bursting forward immediately. The battle raged on for 58 continuous hours. Over these two and a half days, Ye Chen fought without pause. Match after exhilarating match pushed the atmosphere within the Second Rank Genius Hall to an unprecedented height.
Even some Heavenly Ranking experts who were deep in seclusion within their cultivation chambers were stirred. Prompted by friends, they ceased their closed-door cultivation to watch the matches.
Through wave after wave of combat...
Ye Chen carved a path of destruction. Utilizing the effects of the Nine Palaces Secret Codex, the Blood God Mode, and the Heavenly Dao Scripture—a combined force amplification reaching 8 million times—he was virtually invincible, encountering almost no significant difficulty along the way.
However, the Second Rank Genius Hall was a place where talent lay hidden like dragons and crouching tigers. Even with Ye Chen’s strength, he fought three draws. These three opponents were Zhongyang Ming, ranked first on the Heavenly Ranking; Long Xiang, ranked third; and Qin Ji, ranked ninth.
These three had clearly concealed their true power and were far from simple. Furthermore, the third-ranked Long Xiang belonged to an exceedingly ancient race within the Dinosaur Civilization, capable of awakening the soul of an ancient Dragon God to merge with their body, resulting in a hundredfold amplification of combat prowess.
During this series of bouts, he accumulated 55 God Points. Since his return, everyone recognized Ye Chen's immense strength and dared not bet heavily against him anymore, wagering only a single God Point per challenge. If the challenge acceptance could be withdrawn, it was likely everyone would have canceled their claims.
After the challenges concluded, Ye Chen, without delay, took his God Points straight to the Heavenly Dao Stele. The Five-Star Diagram he had comprehended previously remained somewhat hazy, making further insight impossible.
Upon entering the Heavenly Dao Stele, he immediately entered a state of contemplation, casting aside all extraneous thoughts.
The first time, he viewed the Five-Star Diagram clearly, grasping its core essence. The second time, he cracked the Five-Star Diagram and glimpsed the Six-Star Diagram. The third time, he profoundly comprehended the Six-Star Diagram, reaping rich rewards. By the fifth attempt, he had thoroughly deciphered the Six-Star Diagram and gazed upon the Seven-Star Diagram. Although he could only vaguely perceive the light of the seventh star, he was significantly closer to true comprehension.
During this process of enlightenment, Ye Chen felt immense internal growth; his state of mind advanced further, bringing him nearer to the Second Stage of the Saint Realm, vaguely brushing against that final barrier.
After completing his contemplation, Ye Chen withdrew from the virtual world and sat quietly in the cultivation chamber of the Demon God Palace. He set the time flow to its maximum setting of 100x—one hour outside equated to four days inside.
Ye Chen accelerated his training of the close-combat fighting technique, Blind Heaven, while simultaneously seeking insight into the Seven-Star Diagram.
Roughly two months passed within the cultivation chamber when Zixiang’s prompt sounded: "Master, we have arrived at the outskirts of the Blazing God Empire."
Ye Chen immediately ceased his cultivation, wiping the sweat from his brow. He walked into the adjoining cleaning room, washed the sweat-drenched grime from his body, changed into a fresh set of clothes, and then exited the chamber. Outside, he saw Zixiang and the green-talisman old man talking about something.
Ye Chen approached, glanced at Zixiang, and instructed, “Shrink the Demon God Palace to its smallest size and keep it on standby.”
"Got it," Zixiang pouted, shooting a glare at the chuckling green-talisman old man beside her. She then moved to the center of the control station. Without any visible gesture, a purple light flashed in her watery eyes, and the exterior shape of the Demon God Palace began to contract rapidly.
Millions of kilometers, hundreds of thousands of kilometers, tens of thousands of kilometers..."
It continued to shrink until it was only a few dozen kilometers wide, at which point it stopped contracting. Zixiang turned, looking at Ye Chen with a face full of grievance. "Master, must it shrink further?"
"It best be small enough to carry on my person," Ye Chen murmured.
Zixiang shrugged, and a purple glow flickered in her eyes as the Demon God Palace shrank again.
Dozens of kilometers, several kilometers, tens of meters..."
Finally, the entire Demon God Palace contracted to the size of his palm. Though it occupied little space externally, it contained a universe within. All the major systems and structural buildings remained the same size as the original structure. Ye Chen entered the Rune Spaceship and departed from the Demon God Palace. Breaking through the energy shield above the palace, the Rune Spaceship instantly magnified tenfold, then a hundredfold, growing from the size of a mosquito to several kilometers in an instant.
Ye Chen beckoned, and the black palace floating in the void, now palm-sized, drifted over to the decelerating glass window.
Ye Chen held the Demon God Palace; the touch was cool. He saw that after shrinking, it was even more exquisite, entirely black, with towering, magnificent pavilions inside, masterfully crafted and imbued with mysterious energy throughout.
Ye Chen flipped his palm and stored it in his portable spatial pouch.
"To the Imperial Capital," Ye Chen commanded.
The green-talisman old man chuckled, squinting his eyes and revealing white teeth. His smile was deceptively honest, tinged with shrewdness, his occasionally flickering eyes radiating a strange light as he piloted the Rune Spaceship, accelerating toward the distant capital of the Blazing God Empire.
After several hours of travel, the Rune Spaceship arrived at the suburbs outside the Blazing God Empire. The area was expansive and boundless, dotted with numerous small markets and small cities. These minor cities covered areas spanning thousands of kilometers, bustling with people and thriving commerce. The streets were luxurious and clean, exuding a sense of culture.
Ye Chen knew that from this point onward, they were entering the range of the Blazing God Imperial City, so he instructed the green-talisman old man to follow the designated flight path and avoid erratic flying.
The green-talisman old man became noticeably more tense. Observing the cities below, he noted through the ship’s detector that many locations were equipped with signal jammers or anti-detection systems, obscuring visibility. On the few streets they could observe, they detected numerous auras belonging to Divine level entities.
These Divine level auras appeared uniformly red on the spaceship’s display screen!
Passing just one city revealed hundreds of red dots; Divine-level powerhouses were everywhere. This demonstrated the prosperity and might of the Imperial Capital, which had attracted all the ambitious, powerful figures of the Blazing God Empire seeking advancement here.
Before long, the Rune Spaceship reached a colossal city wall, soaring so high it pierced the clouds, with white mist swirling around its midsection, making it appear like a celestial city.
The Rune Spaceship docked outside the city wall. At the wall’s midway point was a space fortress, appearing overwhelmingly grand. Extending from this space fortress was a long spatial channel, marked with the ancient universal script reading: “Inspection.”
The Rune Spaceship slowly moved toward it.
Ye Chen had already shrunk the Demon God Palace into the rune space. As the Rune Spaceship passed through the inspection checkpoint, he felt a sudden lightness, as if he were about to float away. The sensation vanished shortly, and then, the entrance of the channel ahead of the spaceship lit up with a blinding white light.
When this white light completely dissipated, the Rune Spaceship settled onto the ship track rails. It was surrounded by staff members clad in white dust-proof suits, resembling a massive processing plant.
Ahead of the Rune Spaceship were two tunnels: the Energy Channel and the City Entry Channel.
"Please select a channel."
A mechanical system voice sounded within the Rune Spaceship without any prior warning. The green-talisman old man jumped, his eyes showing deep apprehension, and he said subtly, "City Entry Channel."
Whoosh!
The ship track rail carried the vessel into the City Entry Channel side.
The green-talisman old man muttered, "It dared to connect to my voice system without my permission—outrageous! When I upgrade this to a proper starship, I’ll blow up this shoddy fortress."
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