Chapter 354: The Length of Life

Within the gray, dim world.

The air still held the hazy dust produced in the aftermath of battle.

The earth was in utter shambles; within the cracked fissures of the ley lines, scorching magma reflected a crimson glow upon the high heavens.

The glacier had fallen silent, and that boundless, massive giant lay once more in the cold river water, a pair of ferocious eyes remaining open and shut.

Lu Xunyang, dressed in white, descended upon the mountain of corpses; his entire body shimmered with a layer of incandescent light, appearing extremely sacred.

Since Chen Yan had already entered the Xunyang Tower, there was no need for this battle to continue.

The Xunyang Tower on the third level of the Dream Abyss was also a Xunyang Tower.

Chen Yan reached the edge of the Xunyang Tower, and the flow of time was forcibly corrected by the Xunyang Tower.

That was Lu Xunyang's territory; the Xia Lord had no way to enter the Xunyang Tower at all.

"Greetings, Xia Lord."

Lu Xunyang slowly bowed to the old man before him.

Fury still roiled in the old man's eyes; he stared fixedly at Lu Xunyang as if wanting to say something, but in the end, he sat down cross-legged, one hand stroking the cold face of a Xue Qi corpse beneath him.

"Lu Xunyang, I do not like you; you are too arrogant, always pinning your hopes on some ridiculous things."

The old man spoke in a low voice, his gaze distant and profound.

Lu Xunyang stood neither servile nor overbearing, his posture straight:

"It is precisely those ridiculous things that have allowed me to live until now."

A trace of severity appeared in the Xia Lord's eyes, but Lu Xunyang spoke again from the side:

"Xia Lord, you are the founding sovereign, our benefactor."

"Is this how you treat your benefactor!" the Xia Lord erupted in rare rage.

If Lu Xunyang were a nobody, he wouldn't even bother to glance at him; on the contrary, he valued Lu Xunyang highly.

Yet, it was precisely this junior he valued most who, time and again, walked a path contrary to his own.

Lu Xunyang spoke with a calm expression:

"Xia Lord, you have walked too far under the sorrowful gaze of flickering ghost fires, unaware that you yourself may have become a ghost fire."

His voice showed no emotional fluctuation, but the moment the words fell, they caused a terrifying coldness to emerge in the old man's eyes.

"You are scolding me, saying I am the same as the Ancient Gods?" the Xia Lord barked.

Lu Xunyang looked down at the Xue Qi corpse below; he appeared to be standing on the mountain of corpses, but in reality, his feet were hovering, a finger's width of distance between them and the Xue Qi corpse.

"Regarding the Slaughter Village..."

Lu Xunyang's gaze was also somewhat cold:

"To the Slaughter Village of the Eighteen Provinces' College Entrance Exam Secret Realm and the Xue Qi who cycle through generations, the Xia Lord is no different from an Ancient Beast."

The Xia Lord let out a low hum:

"Those I kill have always been only my own descendants."

In his calmness, he stated the most chilling fact.

Lu Xunyang was silent; whoever became the Xia Lord's descendant truly had the worst luck in eight lifetimes.

The Xia Lord snorted coldly:

"Do you really think that Chen Yan can rely on his own strength to break through the malicious barrier of the Dream Abyss's third level?"

"It is enough that he has obtained the Immortal Body; he currently has two hundred and seven Extreme Satin Patterns, and reaching two hundred and sixteen is not far off," Lu Xunyang said.

The Xia Lord did not speak.

Lu Xunyang added:

"Will is the thing I revere most, because until now, I have never seen its limit."

The Xia Lord's eyes were profound, as if stars were falling into a dark pool, yet mockery still flickered in the depths of his gaze.

He had studied for a long time, calculated for a long time; what he was doing was the absolutely correct thing.

Whether it was Chen Yan or Lu Xunyang, both were too naive.

He was happy to begin this game with these two.

He wanted to let this greenhorn Chen Yan know just how ridiculous his own stupidity was.

…………

The eighty-fifth level.

This was an ancient city under a setting sun, the clouds on the horizon exceptionally brilliant.

The stone-built ancient houses were unique, and the river flowing through the city was clear and babbling.

However, such vivid colors appeared gray and hazy in Chen Yan's vision.

Chen Yan appeared on a stone arch bridge, and energy radiance emerged, condensing into a human figure before him.

This was a young man with white hair in a crew cut; he did not look handsome, but he was very resolute.

This was the young version of Lu Xunyang.

At this time, Lu Xunyang should not yet have risen to prominence; his aptitude was too poor, and it had taken him a long time to alter his own physical constitution.

"Chen Yan."

Opposite him, the young Lu Xunyang suddenly called out Chen Yan's name.

Chen Yan's expression flickered; this energy avatar should have developed some connection with Lu Xunyang's consciousness.

"Greetings, Master."

Chen Yan bowed respectfully; this person was the guide who had changed his life.

On that afternoon when he saw Lu Xunyang's bronze statue at Qingshan High School, Chen Yan had officially entered the Dao.

"Just call me Master Lu."

Lu Xunyang spoke, his attitude calm, unsmiling:

"You need to break your limits; simply clearing the tower will not allow you to truly break the deadlock."

As Lu Xunyang's voice fell, Chen Yan's expression shifted slightly.

"Strive to reach three times the number of Extreme Satin Patterns to obtain the Immortal Body; perhaps you won't even need to reach the two hundred and fifty-second floor of the Xunyang Tower, and you could walk out of the third layer of the Dream Abyss on your own."

As Lu Xunyang spoke, golden light surged over his entire body, and he smashed toward Chen Yan.

Chen Yan raised one hand, twisted Lu Xunyang's arm, and slammed a fist into the other's heart, causing the latter's figure to instantly dissipate.

"A person's life is like a spring; only by constantly stretching it will you have the chance to see the true length of life."

Lu Xunyang's voice drifted throughout the entire eighty-fifth floor.

In the vast ancient city, only Chen Yan remained.

Chen Yan took a deep breath and began to introspect.

Those two Morning Star-grade high-tier tempering treasures had already been mostly digested by Chen Yan.

Within the Martial Dao Dharma Image diagram behind Chen Yan, the structural outline of the entire Yunmeng City was already extremely clear.

If Chen Yan wanted to enter the Origin Realm of the tempering path here, it would be a matter of course.

However, it was not enough.

Chen Yan stirred his strength, and two hundred and seven Extreme Satin Patterns appeared on his body.

With the target being three times seventy-two, which is two hundred and sixteen, Chen Yan only had the final nine Extreme Satin Patterns left.

That is to say, by breaking his realm limits nine more times, he could obtain the Immortal Body.

Chen Yan looked at the Saint-Breaking Realm again.

【Saint-Breaking Tree (Level 7): 356/500】

The two treasures had allowed Chen Yan to produce ten 【Strength】 Saint-Breaking Fruits and fifteen 【Body】 Saint-Breaking Fruits.

Following that was the progress of the 【Break】 Saint-Breaking Fruit.

【Break: 86/100】

Two realm limit-breaks had increased the progress of the 【Break】 Saint-Breaking Fruit by ten percent.

This did not mean that one realm limit-break would allow Chen Yan's 【Break】 Saint-Breaking Fruit to grow by five percent.

The calculation of limit-breaking energy was related to Chen Yan's own state.

That is to say, the greater the difficulty, the more limit-breaking energy would be generated afterward.

Because Chen Yan would find it increasingly difficult.

Chen Yan collected his thoughts.

Now, if he wanted to leave the third layer of the Dream Abyss, there were two ways: one was to reach the two hundred and fifty-second floor.

The other was to obtain the Immortal Body.

Chen Yan took a deep breath.

Since he started clearing the tower, he had basically been at full power.

Fist Intent, protective patterns, as well as Yin-Zhe and Xun-Ting provided too massive a boost to Chen Yan's combat power.

This caused his tower-clearing speed to be extremely fast.

Especially the Word Realm.

The five-fold combat power boost of the Word Realm made Chen Yan rely on it too much.

"Since I want to break my realm limits, I need to restrict my own combat power output.

I will clear the levels relying solely on physical combat power without using other means."

Chen Yan murmured, having made his plan.

Very soon.

He rushed up to the eighty-fifth floor.

On this floor, Chen Yan met someone he had seen a few times.

An Yunan.

At this moment, An Yunan was still fighting a man wearing armor, covered in blood.

That armored man was not using his full strength all at once, but rather playing around, constantly increasing the power of his strikes.

With a 'Puff' sound!

An Yunan spat out a mouthful of blood and was sent flying backward by a punch from the man in front of him.

He lay on the ground with extreme difficulty, his body trembling.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it!!!"

An Yunan growled:

"Damn you, Yu Changsheng!!!"

He was furious to the extreme; Yu Changsheng had previously kicked him off a high building, causing him to have to clear the tower again.

An Yunan struggled to stand up, his eyes bloodshot as he threw a punch with all his might:

"I, An Yunan, am a person who breaks realms, a person Lu Xunyang wants to see; all the geniuses in the world are my..."

An Yunan was still roaring, unaware that this pathetic scene of his was being watched by Chen Yan in another world.

Chen Yan could not be bothered to pay attention to a character like An Yunan.

In the gray-black world, a man wearing armor also appeared before Chen Yan.

He quickly threw a punch at Chen Yan.

Chen Yan caught the opponent's punch with one hand and swung a leg out; the man's body shattered, turning into Dao-Slashing Points that flowed into the Dao-Slashing Bamboo behind Chen Yan.

"Still very simple."

Chen Yan murmured:

"I need to find an opponent who can put me under pressure."

Chen Yan climbed the tower continuously.

His speed was extremely fast.

Every time he cleared a floor, the Dao-Slashing Bamboo behind him would grow by a fraction.

However, the points were not many.

By the time he reached the 100th floor, the Dao-Slashing Bamboo behind Chen Yan had only absorbed 500 million points.

The points for clearing the first 100 floors of the Xunyang Tower were not many.

500 million was an astronomical figure for other examinees, and a large number even for top-tier prodigies like Yu Changsheng.

But for Chen Yan, it was actually a bit indifferent.

500 million points were just enough to exchange for a high-quality Morning Star-grade Grade A Blood-Qi Treasure Medicine.

Now, Chen Yan's Horizontal Refining Martial Dao Dharma Image Diagram had been completely outlined.

As for condensing the Extreme Satin Pattern, it didn't require much body-tempering energy at all.

Therefore, it was useless for Chen Yan to consume any more horizontal refining treasure medicines now.

Chen Yan exchanged 500 million points for a Morning Star-grade Grade A Blood-Qi Treasure Medicine and began to store and forge his own blood-qi.

Inside the origin space of the blood-qi path.

The origin divine body was like a majestic deity, with a hulking divine frame, as if carved from the mysterious power of the primordial era.

Chen Yan operated the 【Illusionary Ripple Abyss Domain】, and his physical body began to simultaneously absorb the blood-qi treasure medicine and the 【Blood】 character Saint-Breaking Fruit born from it.

The surging blood-qi energy poured into the origin divine body, beginning to store and forge the wrist of the divine body's right arm.

Chen Yan stepped toward the higher floors once again.

His speed was incredibly fast.

Even relying solely on physical strength, he still killed instantly on the subsequent floors.

However, as Chen Yan climbed the tower, the difficulty was visibly increasing drastically.

The Dao-Slashing points obtained on each floor were also becoming more and more.

After reaching the 120th floor, Chen Yan basically gained 20 million Dao-Slashing points for every floor he cleared.

By the 130th floor, for every floor passed, the Dao-Slashing points Chen Yan obtained became 30 million.

However, Chen Yan's heart was not here.

He wanted to seek an opponent who could make him feel pressure.

…………

What Chen Yan did not know was.

Outside.

Because the speed at which his points were skyrocketing was too terrifying, sounds of shock rose one after another.

"Isn't he still in the third floor of the Dream Abyss? How are his points skyrocketing so fast?"

"6.5 billion points! How many resources can be exchanged for so many points?"

"Let me put it this way: over 6 billion points are enough for a family to rise and become a top-tier noble clan spanning an entire city."

"Chen Yan is still alive; it's simply unbelievable. Examinees who entered the third floor of the Dream Abyss in the past didn't have this happen."

…………

Xiaoyang City was in shock.

Previously, the military personnel had even caused a scene because of Chen Yan's matter.

Citizens vaguely knew that Chen Yan had entered a dead-end zone of the college entrance examination secret realm, with almost no hope of survival.

Many people sighed that it was Chen Yan's time and fate; he rose too fast and fell too fast.

But just after everyone had concluded this, Chen Yan's Dao-Slashing points began to skyrocket.

Many eliminated examinees spoke righteously, saying they had not seen Chen Yan in the Xunyang Tower.

In other words, Chen Yan had obtained such a massive amount of points in that dangerous place.

Many people sighed in their hearts.

Chen Yan was still in danger, still struggling, but it was indeed shocking.

Within the Military Guard.

Shen Yiwei looked at the leaderboard high in the sky from time to time, his expression extremely complex.

"The Xia clan has already said it's impossible to interfere with the college entrance examination secret realm; whether Chen Yan lives or dies is entirely up to himself."

In the room, Zong Heng spoke in a low voice.

At this moment, the only thing that made people happy was that Chen Yan seemed to have found some great opportunity in the college entrance examination secret realm.

Now the points were rising very fast.

Shen Yiwei was also very frustrated.

He himself seemed to have awakened something incredible a while ago, but he was in no mood to pay attention to it right now.

Chen Yan's matter was the big thing.

"Little Shen, what should we do now?" Zong Heng spoke, looking at Shen Yiwei, who was sitting on the sofa, feeling extremely depressed:

"Those people in the Noble Clan Alliance are indeed too asking for a beating; someone has been spreading the rhetoric among the public that Chen Yan is bound to die."

It was actually very normal for the Noble Clan Alliance to do this.

Chen Yan's influence was growing, and he had previously borrowed others' mouths to say "The Noble Clan Alliance should be destroyed" in front of Xiaoyang City.

These words had been kept in mind by quite a few people.

The current propaganda from the Aristocratic Family Alliance claiming that Chen Yan will undoubtedly die is a counterattack against Chen Yan's reputation.

As it happens, Chen Yan is indeed in a perilous situation right now.

Shen Yiwei shook his head:

"If Chen Yan can survive, then everything can be resolved."

He said nothing more.

That young man who only entered the Dao this year has progressed too quickly and encountered too much.

He stood up.

Zong Heng hurriedly spoke:

"What are you going to do?"

"Seclusion," Shen Yiwei said in a deep voice.

"You're going into seclusion at a time like this?"

"Yes, nothing I do now can change Chen Yan's outcome." Shen Yiwei took a deep breath:

"I have a premonition that I might be able to return to the peak of my strength."

As Shen Yiwei spoke, brilliant sword shadows rose from his body, incomparably sharp.

A flash of killing intent crossed his eyes.

He had learned the sequence of events from the words of some examinees.

Chen Yan went to the third layer of the Dream Abyss to save San Jin, and San Jin had been entangled with Yu Changsheng before entering the third layer of the Dream Abyss.

If something happened to Chen Yan, Shen Yiwei did not have the confidence to suppress his own killing intent.

Therefore, he had to become stronger.

He had mastered a special power.

Perhaps he could become even stronger, strong enough to kill Chen Changyuan.

…………

"Is he going to die or not!"

With a 'snap'.

A crystal glass was rudely thrown against the wall and shattered.

Chen Xiyuan's expression was incomparably ferocious; looking at that dazzling name on the college entrance examination leaderboard, her brain felt somewhat dizzy.

She unconsciously let her Spear Realm leak out, her entire body turning lustrous white, her aura terrifying.

Great Elder Chen Qi had already entered the Great Xia, and the Second Elder had previously told her that Chen Qi had gone to Yunmeng City.

It was clearly with the intention of having Chen Yan acknowledge his ancestors and return to the clan.

This must absolutely not happen.

Chen Xiyuan's breathing was extremely heavy; whether Chen Yan had been harmed by her, the Great Elder would be able to tell at a glance.

By then, for the Great Elder to crush her would be no different from crushing an ant.

Terror struck.

Chen Xiyuan sat on the sofa, hoping in her heart that Chen Yan would die sooner.

She admitted that she had indeed once had a sliver of affection for Chen Yan.

But that was only a sliver.

As long as her own interests were ensured to rise, she could bestow favors upon Chen Yan.

But the Great Elder coming out of seclusion had disrupted all her plans.

…………