Chapter 370: The Appointment Ceremony That Is About to Shake the World!

Chen Yan had only just managed to control the constantly evolving Myriad Prison Nether Thunder.

This thunder was incomparably tyrannical and fierce; even the Thunder-Sealing Array cast by San Jin could not completely suppress it.

Crackle.

Streaks of flashing pitch-black electric light kept slashing out from the spherical array, and the surrounding air carried a foul, scorched scent.

Origin martial artists like Cheng Zizhen had already rushed over, but because of the aura leaking from the Myriad Prison Nether Thunder, they could only watch longingly from a thousand meters away, not daring to approach in the slightest.

This divine seed had already evolved to the Bright Moon grade.

"I cannot refine it for the time being; if I put it into my Qi-Blood Origin space, I worry my Qi-Blood divine body will be devoured."

Chen Yan murmured; he had obtained a massive treasure that he was currently unable to control at all.

"How about... I help you... hold onto it for now?"

Beside him, San Jin spoke; her dark hair was like a waterfall, her eyes bright and teeth white, and now she wore a smile, having lost all of her previous sorrowful air.

Chen Yan shook his head:

"I am stronger than you."

San Jin pursed her red lips, revealing a very radiant smile:

"I will... I will work hard."

San Jin spoke with extreme certainty; she had high aptitude and had never had much motivation to cultivate before, but now she was full of drive, wanting to shock Chen Yan in the future.

She was inherently a person of extreme self-deprecation, which did not match her appearance and strength.

Perhaps because she had been close to Chen Yan for a long time and was influenced by the will Chen Yan possessed, the light in her eyes was now exceptionally bright, making her look stunningly beautiful.

Chen Yan nodded, and he stored the spiritual items left behind by Yu Changsheng into his space ring.

One fire spirit, one earth spirit, and two gold spirits.

These were Morning Star grade heaven and earth spiritual items; Chen Yan could not absorb them, but they had immense value, and if traded for precious medicines, they could help Chen Yan's strength advance further.

Chen Yan's Qi-Blood and tempering were both currently at the initial stage of the Origin realm, requiring a vast amount of resources.

Subsequently, Chen Yan carefully placed this Myriad Prison Nether Thunder, which was suppressed by the array, into his tempering path's Origin space.

Crackle...

The moment the pitch-black Myriad Prison Nether Thunder appeared in the Origin space, tiny threads of thunder pierced through the array and slashed against Chen Yan's tempering divine body.

Chen Yan's gaze tightened; fortunately, his own tempering divine body was incomparably powerful.

This single tiny thread of thunder could easily annihilate a peak Origin realm expert.

What terrifying Myriad Prison Nether Thunder.

Chen Yan took a deep breath; the emergence of this Myriad Prison Nether Thunder would definitely cause the heavens and earth to tremble.

Its value was perhaps no less than his own Immortal Body.

But unlike the Immortal Body, the Immortal Body was Chen Yan's own, whereas the Myriad Prison Nether Thunder was not yet.

The reason Chen Yan had exposed his Immortal Body was because he wanted to display his potential.

To let the Xia Clan see, to let the Military Martial see.

He had originally worried that the Xia Clan did not care about him, but the arrival of the State Overseer's personal attendant had changed Chen Yan's perspective.

Jiang Yuan and San Jin being arranged by the State Overseer and Xia Hanzhou respectively to protect him made Chen Yan understand his own value.

Perhaps he did not need to keep hiding anymore.

He already possessed sufficient strength and status to protect his family.

After the college entrance examination, his strength had greatly increased, and he already had the ability to stand firm in Qinzhou.

But for the Myriad Prison Nether Thunder, Chen Yan still planned to hide it for now, until this thunder spirit was completely refined by him.

Things not yet mastered by him were not his own.

Chen Yan sensed the violent aura leaking from within the Myriad Prison Nether Thunder, perceiving it with his will.

Immediately following, Chen Yan's gaze flashed; he actually felt a trace of imperceptible emotion.

This thunder spirit had produced a sliver of self-awareness and needed to kill.

If Chen Yan did not kill within a short period, this Myriad Prison Nether Thunder would become increasingly irritable and would directly break through Chen Yan's Origin space, choosing to flee.

This short period would definitely not exceed five days.

Chen Yan frowned; since he wanted to refine the Myriad Prison Nether Thunder, it was impossible for him to let another consciousness exist within his body.

He needed to completely erase the consciousness within it while refining the Myriad Prison Nether Thunder.

How to refine it?

Chen Yan continued to perceive and reached a conclusion.

It was still killing.

The Myriad Prison Nether Thunder could devour the flesh and blood of living beings to strengthen itself, but in the process of strengthening, it would also create opportunities for others to refine it.

Chen Yan narrowed his eyes; since he had to refine the Myriad Prison Nether Thunder as soon as possible, he would have to kill once he left the college entrance examination.

Who to kill?

This hardly required a choice; naturally, it was the Aristocratic Family Alliance.

The Aristocratic Family Alliance was almost like a blood-sucking parasite lying on top of the living beings of Qinzhou.

The Chu family, the Gong family, and the Luo Chen were all organizations of the Aristocratic Family Alliance.

Because they were too massive, they had actually grown to the point where they could stand in opposition to the Martial Suppression Division, becoming the greatest factor for future chaos.

Chen Yan felt his blade sharpening in his heart; the appearance of the Myriad Prison Nether Thunder just gave him a small bit of motivation.

He had already wanted to take action against the Aristocratic Family Alliance.

As Yu Changsheng had said, Chen Changyuan was wrong.

The other party should have completely eliminated him, Chen Yan, from the very beginning.

Subsequently, Chen Yan looked at his hand, where a light orb overflowing with pale white radiance and endless chill was slowly floating.

This was a Morning Star-grade, C-tier Ice Spirit.

Among the spiritual objects left behind by Chen Changyuan, this was the only one that Chen Yan could absorb.

Chen Yan began to absorb and refine it on the spot.

His entire body bloomed with icy mist, and a dense white fog shrouded his physical form.

Within the Saint-Breaking Realm, ink-colored flames representing elemental energy emerged and surged.

Chen Yan's Yin-Zhe grade was originally only Morning Star-grade, D-tier; now that it was about to be upgraded, his strength would increase greatly.

The third layer of the Dream Abyss.

Lu Xunyang and the old man watched this scene quietly.

"The second realm of the Will Path is stronger than other martial paths."

Lu Xunyang spoke, his face carrying a smile:

"When striking, one can annihilate the enemy's will and directly weaken the enemy's combat instincts."

He sighed in admiration; this was a powerful martial path.

One must know that the direct combat power of the three major physical martial paths—Mind Power, Qi-Blood, and Hard-Refinement—is all exerted in weakening the enemy's physical body or spirit.

But the Will Path can weaken the enemy's will.

"As the fight goes on, one loses their will to fight more and more, and it becomes easier to make mistakes; how can one still fight like this?"

Lu Xunyang's eyes bloomed with golden light:

"Most crucially, it can also erase malice."

He kept sighing in admiration, constantly lamenting that his true self was not here; if he could borrow the momentum to enter the Will Path, it would be absolutely powerful!

The old man atop the Mountain of Corpses remained silent for a long time, not saying a word.

He was already within the College Entrance Examination Secret Realm, constantly conducting his own experiments.

Even if he saw something like Yu Changsheng slaughtering tens of thousands of examinees, he would not interfere.

The reason he was paying attention was only because of Chen Yan.

But the more he paid attention, the more silent he became.

It was as if he himself were the enemy the world had always faced, wanting to erase the future of powerful martial paths.

He took a deep breath and said:

"When he creates the third realm of the Will Path, I will lead the consciousnesses of all Martial Path Lords to appear in the human world to lecture for him."

Lu Xunyang was surprised:

"Lord Xia, you are practically wishing for his death; if you do this, his identity as the Lord of Will will no longer be hidden."

The old man pursed his lips:

"At his second realm, he can already rival the fourth realm of the Qi-Blood Martial Path.

Then his third realm will likely be able to rival the seventh realm, the Creation Realm, of other martial paths.

At that time, no one among the human race will be able to destroy him."

Lu Xunyang shook his head:

"The Five Clans still have some old things that might have reached that unknown, terrifying ninth realm."

The old man gave a disdainful sound:

"That is why you juniors have such shallow horizons; what ninth realm or not, isn't it still within the martial path?"

The old man did not want to speak anymore.

Those in the world who can truly transcend the Great Era will only be the Martial Path Lords.

The ninth realm is the peak of the martial path and the world.

But it will not be the peak of the Martial Path Lords.

The old man glanced at Lu Xunyang; the other party was able to create something like the Immortal Body in this era.

In fact, he already had the initial demeanor of a Martial Path Lord and might have approached the Will Path earlier than Chen Yan.

But Lu Xunyang ultimately did not take that step, whereas Chen Yan became a Path Lord.

Lu Xunyang pondered for a moment and also smiled:

"My true self will definitely not die; even if an alien existence of the ninth realm emerges, my true self can shake it!

I alone can protect Chen Yan until he reaches the absolute peak."

His whole body overflowed with terrifying might; he was very confident and very arrogant.

Even though Chen Yan was a Martial Path Lord and more talented than he was back then, he did not feel that he would necessarily be weaker than Chen Yan.

He was one who would never admit defeat.

It was also at this moment.

In the sky, a radiance appeared, and the clouds were pushed aside by an invisible force, as if something were about to enter.

Lu Xunyang was surprised, and the old man narrowed his eyes:

"Good-for-nothing things, my descendants have actually become weak to this extent!"

Lu Xunyang frowned, but did not speak.

Lord Xia was too cruel to his own descendants.

It was simply extreme.

Chi!!!

A pillar of light descended from the high sky, incomparably brilliant.

A thin, black-clothed figure stepped onto the vast earth and appeared.

Xia Qi looked around and, across a great distance, saw Chen Yan far away.

His eyes revealed astonishment; the chill on Chen Yan's body was so intense.

"Xia..." San Jin saw Xia Qi at first glance, and Xia Qi smiled and nodded:

"Don't disturb him; I am merely a projection of a soul fragment."

San Jin nodded. Xia Qi glanced at Cheng Zizhen, who was not far from Chen Yan, frowned slightly, then quickly shifted his gaze to Chen Yan and gave a wry smile:

"It seems I have come at a bad time."

This was his first time seeing Chen Yan, but that someone of such an age could absorb an Ice Spirit of such quality still surprised him somewhat.

He sighed softly; it would likely take Chen Yan a few more days to completely absorb this Ice Spirit.

Yet, at this very moment.

The young man sitting cross-legged in cultivation opened his eyes, and two rays of white light spilled out. Chen Yan stood up and bowed to Xia Qi:

"Greetings, State Master."

Xia Qi was taken aback:

"Have you seen my portrait?"

"No, but I know that there cannot be many people who can change the rules of the College Entrance Examination Secret Realm and enter it."

Chen Yan spoke. He had actually guessed correctly; he had not expected the State Master of Great Xia to be so young.

Xia Qi pursed his lips, a hint of a smile appearing. He also had not expected Chen Yan to be so sharp-minded:

"I cannot actually change the rules of the College Entrance Examination; at most, I can descend a projection to speak with the examinees."

Chen Yan nodded and took a step, appearing ten meters in front of Xia Qi like a streak of ink traversing the void.

Xia Qi was startled again, then immediately looked at San Jin:

"Do you have any wine? I wish to speak with Chen Yan in private for a while."

San Jin spoke:

"Grapes... will they do?"

Xia Qi nodded, and then two bunches of grapes were tossed over by San Jin.

San Jin was very perceptive and pulled the stunned Cheng Zizhen off into the distance.

Xia Qi waved one hand, and the earth surged, condensing into two chairs and a tea table.

"Please, sit."

Chen Yan nodded and took the grapes handed over by Xia Qi.

What was this for?

Eating grapes with the State Master?

Though he was puzzled, Chen Yan spoke again:

"Many thanks, State Master."

Xia Qi did not mind, merely nodding slightly.

What Chen Yan was thanking him for was the matter of Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Yuan protecting Chen Yan was, in itself, Xia Qi's order.

And Jiang Yuan had indeed been a great help to Chen Yan on the third level of the Dream Abyss.

What was this State Master here for now?

He pondered in his heart, but he did not expect Xia Qi's next sentence to leave him stunned.

"I have already ordered the Grand Minister of Sacrifices and the Lesser Minister of Life, who oversee rituals, to head to Xiaoyang City.

They are to perform the Xia Clan's secret arts in four locations outside Xiaoyang City to excavate four Thunder-Strike Treasure Grounds." Xia Qi ate a grape and spoke with a smile.

Chen Yan's face showed surprise:

"Thunder-Strike Treasure Grounds, what are those?"

"They are a powerful secret technique I researched privately; not many people in the world know of it." Xia Qi smiled:

"It can draw upon the power of the Continent's Brilliance. When the four Thunder-Strike Treasure Grounds simultaneously channel the Continent's Brilliance and the great power of heaven and earth, they can bring down a Heaven-Sent Thunder Tribulation for a First-Rank General Star.

This is a great opportunity.

It can bestow wonders upon the person enduring the thunder tribulation, fully capable of elevating them from the early stage of the Origin of Hardened Body to the Dharma-Extinguishing Realm."

As Xia Qi's voice fell, Chen Yan's body stiffened.

A Heaven-Sent Thunder Tribulation that could allow one to directly enter the fifth stage of the Hardened Body path, the Dharma-Extinguishing Realm.

This was somewhat exaggerated.

The resources required would also be absolutely immense.

He had his suspicions and was gradually able to guess Xia Qi's intentions.

But he was somewhat shocked; this was just too exaggerated.

"This Heaven-Sent Thunder Tribulation, is it used for?" Chen Yan asked tentatively.

"It is used for the General-Bestowal Ceremony for First-Rank General Stars!" Xia Qi's gaze became sharp, and the sickly aura on his body vanished entirely:

"I have already issued the General Star Order; all General Stars are to head to Xiaoyang to guard those four Thunder-Strike Treasure Grounds during this time."

Chen Yan calmed down; Xia Qi's meaning was too obvious.

But why?

Could it be that his identity as the Lord of Will had already been discovered by him?

"State Master, do you know?" Chen Yan asked.

"I know you are of the Ice Intent, and I know you are a breaker of limits in the Hardened Body path. I know nothing else, but I suspect you have other wonders." Xia Qi spoke with a smile.

Chen Yan sensed that the other party was not lying.

Coming here, it was extremely candid.

Chen Yan was silent; if Xia Qi only knew this much, then he was overestimating him too much.

The natural talent Chen Yan had revealed was indeed powerful, but in the end, he was surnamed Chen.

"I chose you to become a First-Rank General Star; on one hand, it is because your aptitude is powerful, but that is not the main reason."

Xia Qi spoke very straightforwardly:

"The biggest reason is that sentence you said: 'If you were human, you would raise your arm to shield your eyes; I am the Primordial Great Sun, not to be looked at directly.'"