The golden "Heavenly Forbidden Flame" floated in front of Ye Chen.
With each day of refinement, the "Heavenly Forbidden Flame" seemed to undergo a subtle transformation. Though outwardly, it remained a golden fire, internally, its connection with Ye Chen grew ever closer!
During the refinement process, Ye Chen even brought out the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" and seven other Extreme Heavenly Divine Fires.
In the end, unexpectedly, Ye Chen, using an unknown method, managed to drive the "Heavenly Forbidden Flame" to completely devour the other seven Extreme Heavenly Divine Fires!
In the blink of an eye, more than twenty days had passed.
On the day before the "Extreme Spirit Martial Land" selection began, Ye Chen, who had been sitting and refining the "Heavenly Forbidden Flame," finally opened his eyes.
Ye Chen pointed a finger, and the "Heavenly Forbidden Flame" hovering in front of him flashed with a burst of golden light, transforming into a golden firebird.
The golden firebird flew through the void, performing various marvelous attack moves. Its magical feathers unfolded gently, erupting with terrifying golden flames.
After gazing at the golden firebird for a few breaths, Ye Chen seemed to sense something, nodding in satisfaction. Then, with a pinch of a spell, the firebird transformed back into its original flame form.
Ye Chen then opened his mouth and inhaled, drawing the entire "Heavenly Forbidden Flame" into his body!
Yet, peering into Ye Chen's body, no trace of the "Heavenly Forbidden Flame" could be found!
"The 'Heavenly Forbidden Flame,' truly worthy of being the second-ranked 'Unsurpassed Divine Fire' on the 'Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List,' I thought it would be difficult to refine. Little did I expect that its high rank would mean an extremely strong resonance with its master. In just over twenty days, I managed to refine a tenth or so of this 'Heavenly Forbidden Flame.'
"Moreover, by harnessing the devouring might of this 'Heavenly Forbidden Flame,' I fully integrated several other acknowledged divine fires into this cluster of the 'Heavenly Forbidden Flame,' significantly improving my control over it. Not only can I fully unleash the power of a tenth of the refined 'Heavenly Forbidden Flame,' but I can also absorb it into a nameless space within my body, completely undetectable by anyone!"
"With the tenth of the attack power of this second-ranked 'Heavenly Forbidden Flame' on the 'Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List,' I've gained another trump card!"
Although Ye Chen has yet to truly utilize the "Heavenly Forbidden Flame" in a confrontation, he can sense that even a tenth of its attack power is definitely on par with the "Starry Origin Power" methods triggered by the two stars within his most powerful Stars Tower.
Additionally, due to the unique nature of the "Heavenly Forbidden Flame," Ye Chen would never casually reveal it in front of others unless absolutely necessary, and he plans to further enhance its refinement.
When the time comes for him to actually wield this divine fire in a critical moment, it will undoubtedly provide him with immense support!
After properly securing the "Heavenly Forbidden Flame" and sensing it within his body once more, Ye Chen then looked beyond the space of the extreme heaven-grade divine ring.
"Just one more day until the 'Extreme Spirit Martial Land' selection, and over half a month has passed without word from the elder Sovereigns of the 'Extreme Spirit Clan.' I wonder when they will respond." Ye Chen frowned.
"Oh well, let's first get through the 'Extreme Spirit Martial Land' selection and enter the 'Extreme Spirit Sea,' where the 'Extreme Spirit Clan' resides." Ye Chen murmured to himself as he closed his eyes to cultivate within the extreme heaven-grade divine ring.
When the second day arrived, the day of the Extreme Spirit Martial Land selection, Ye Chen flew directly from the extreme heaven-grade divine ring back to his room early in the morning.
When Ye Chen deactivated the formation defense barrier, unblocked the prohibitions, and opened the door, he found the young girl, Yin Ling'er, already waiting outside his door.
This time, Yin Ling'er was dressed in a white robe, which complemented her fair complexion, making her appear even more delicate.
Upon seeing Ye Chen, the young girl beamed with crescent-shaped eyes, her bright eyes twinkling as if she had great news. She excitedly called out to Ye Chen, "Brother Ye Chen!"
Upon a closer look at Yin Ling'er, Ye Chen immediately understood the source of her joy.
In just over twenty days, Yin Ling'er had advanced from the Lower God King Realm to the Middle God King Realm.
"Ling'er, you've made a breakthrough in your cultivation." Ye Chen smiled at Yin Ling'er as he stepped out of the room.
"I've broken through, Brother Ye Chen, I've broken through!" Yin Ling'er chirped excitedly, her hands folded behind her back as she jumped in front of Ye Chen, "Thanks to the 'Divine Milk' you gave me, I took it and immediately broke through the bottleneck, advancing to the Middle God King Realm!"
"If it weren't for you, Brother Ye Chen, without finding anything in the 'Shallow Blue Sea Area' to break through, I don't know how long I would have been stuck in the Lower God King bottleneck!"
Seeing Yin Linger's excitement, Ye Chen couldn't help but smile as well, "While the 'Divine Milk' does help in breaking through bottlenecks, it also requires one to cultivate to the peak of a minor realm and sense the bottleneck approaching. Your breakthrough is mainly due to your good foundational cultivation."
"However, Ling'er, though you've advanced to the Middle God King, don't become complacent. The journey from the Middle God King to the Upper God King is also a lengthy one, and you'll need to continually refine your tactics."
"Mm." Listening to Ye Chen's guidance, Yin Linger quickly nodded, "Brother Ye Chen, I definitely won't slack off."
"Brother Ye Chen, you're only three years older than me, yet you're already at the Upper God King Realm. Moreover, Brother Ye Chen, your tactics are so powerful, you can even defeat a Two-Star Sovereign. Such mastery must take a lot of time to cultivate; Brother Ye Chen, your level of combat power is something Ling'er is far from reaching."
"With you as an example, Brother Ye Chen, Ling'er doesn't dare to slack off at all!"
The young girl's words brought a smile to Ye Chen's heart.
"Ling'er probably doesn't know how many crises I've gone through, how many fortuitous encounters I've experienced to reach my current stage. Otherwise, breaking through from Lower God King to Middle God King would take at least several decades to a hundred years, and breaking through from Middle God King to Upper God King would take an even longer time."
Ye Chen's breakthrough to the God King Realm mainly happened in the "Heavenly God Mountain." The Heavenly God Mountain is an opportunity left by the power of the "Ancestral God Temple" in the Cosmic Sea, an opportunity that is extremely rare in this universe.
"However, breaking through from Upper God King to the 'Earth Divine Venerable' in the God Venerable Realm is another major hurdle."
It has been several months since Ye Chen broke through to the Upper God King Realm at the Heavenly God Mountain, and he has been steadily advancing towards the pinnacle of the Upper God King.
Compared to other God Kings, Ye Chen's cultivation speed is extraordinarily fast.
But the process of breaking through from Upper God King to Earth Divine Venerable, even with Ye Chen's rapid speed, is still a major hurdle moving from the "God King Realm" to the "Divine Venerable Realm." It is not possible to complete in just a few months or a year or two.
Ye Chen has yet to sense the arrival of the breakthrough bottleneck.
"Back then, Long Li broke through from Upper God King to Earth Divine Venerable because we merged the 'Blue Extreme Iceflame' in the 'Nine Suns Ancient Land,' aided by the 'Heavenly Union Flame' and a special training between us, which led to a successful breakthrough."
"Such a breakthrough opportunity is just like when I trained in the 'Divine Transformation Pool' at the 'Heavenly God Mountain,' these are circumstances one cannot force."
"There's no rush to reach the 'Divine Venerable Realm,' actually."
"In a few years, I will represent 'Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom' as a God King for the 'Stellar Domain Genius Battle' in this universe. Before participating in the 'Stellar Domain Genius Battle,' even if I reach the peak bottleneck of the God King Realm, I will refrain from using the 'Divine Milk' to break through, stay in the God King Realm stage, and strive for excellent results in the 'Battle of the God Kings' for the 'Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom' first!"
Participating in the "Stellar Domain Genius Battle" is the third requirement of Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King for Ye Chen.
Although Ye Chen breaking through to the Earth Divine Venerable Realm before the Stellar Domain Genius Battle won't draw any objections from both sovereigns, it was originally due to him that Long Li advanced early to the Earth Divine Venerable Realm and could not represent "Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom" in the Stellar Domain Genius Battle's "Battle of the God Kings."
The results of the Stellar Domain Genius Battle are also related to resource distribution between the "Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom" and other divine kingdoms.
Ye Chen certainly has the obligation to complete this task for Long Li!
Once he breaks through to the Earth Divine Venerable Realm, although his combat power will undoubtedly reach a higher level, competing in the Stellar Domain Genius Battle's "Battle of Divine Venerables" and becoming one of the leading figures among all the "Divine Venerables" in this universe will not be an easy feat.
Ye Chen knows that many "Divine Venerables" from powerful clans are certainly capable of battling a Sovereign, possessing high-level sovereign combat power!
With confidence representing the God King Realm in the fight, Ye Chen is certain he can at least secure a top position in the Stellar Domain Genius Battle's "Battle of the God Kings"!
This would far exceed the initial requirement mentioned by the two sovereigns for him to reach the final round of the Stellar Domain Genius Battle's "Battle of the God Kings"!
"Currently, whether it's a great divine kingdom like the 'True Spirit Divine Kingdom' or relatively smaller divine kingdoms like the 'Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom,' there should be no God King who can compare to me. The ones potentially stronger than me are only from the most powerful clans in this universe—the 'Moke Ancient Clan,' 'Netherworld Ancient Clan,' such clans of God Kings!"
Ye Chen knew from the "Heavenly Spirit Rankings" on the fifth floor of the Stars Tower that high-level life forms such as the Moke Ancient Clan and the Netherworld Ancient Clan are clans transmitted to this universe from the Cosmic Sea.
In the Cosmic Sea, the Moke Ancient Clan is even stronger than the human race.
With the human race capable of producing strong figures like the "Zi Ji Star Lord," the Moke Ancient Clan certainly also has strong "Star Lord" figures.
It's possible there are God Kings among those ancient clans who obtained "Star Lord" inheritances.
Even if Ye Chen's current combat power could transcend the major realm of "Divine Venerable Realm," Ye Chen would never be arrogant enough to claim he could surpass all the God Kings in this universe.
Even though he decided to restrain his realm before the Stellar Domain Genius Battle's "Battle of God Kings," Ye Chen would never slacken for even a moment. He is determined to enhance his combat power as much as possible within the God King Realm, striving to face any opponent in the Stellar Domain Genius Battle's "Battle of God Kings"!
"Brother Ye Chen, Brother Ye Chen..."
Yin Ling'er's white hand waved in front of Ye Chen's face, bringing him back from his thoughts.
"Brother Ye Chen, what are you thinking about?" Yin Ling'er asked curiously.
Ye Chen smiled, "It's nothing, just thinking about some matters concerning the God King Realm."
Looking outside, quite a few people from foreign races were heading towards the selection area, and many were greeting him, Ye Chen nodded back at them.
Then, Ye Chen said to Yin Ling'er, "Ling'er, let's go. It's about time to see what the selection at the 'Extreme Spirit Martial Land' is like."