Chapter 552: Boundlessly Powerful, How Strong is Forty Times Over?!

Time passed slowly.

There were only twenty-three days left until the start of the Five Clans Struggle.

Woo!

A low, mournful howl echoed through the seventy-ninth layer of the Huo Yu as a giant flame whale fell.

The giant whale's brain shattered, and a light orb overflowing with firelight was collected by Chen Yan into his Origin Space, where it subsequently burst and was absorbed by him.

"It truly is survival of the fittest; whatever kind of place it is, it will give birth to creatures that can adapt to such a place."

Chen Yan murmured.

Creatures living within the Huo Yu were born with powerful physiques and could continuously devour the body-tempering experiences of other creatures to strengthen themselves.

This stretch of Huo Yu had given birth to an ecosystem suited to itself.

The hard-body martial artists of Ji Province would also protect this ecosystem and would not over-harvest it.

The hard-body truths that erupted from within the light orb were transformed into even purer martial truths under the effect of the Dao-Realizing Myriad Forms Seed, and were then absorbed by Chen Yan.

Chen Yan's physical body was still burning.

Yet, a radiance like flowing crushed jade rippled across his entire body, and wherever his fingertips grazed, the surrounding Huo Yu split into pitch-black void fissures.

A feeling of immense power erupted within Chen Yan's body.

Bright Moon-grade Grade A hard-body martial art 【Forge-Derive Boundless Vault】, reached Divine Entry!

Entry-level, Heart Entry, Profound Entry, Micro Entry, Divine Entry!

Micro Entry meant having thoroughly mastered a martial art, reaching perfection.

But Divine Entry represented Chen Yan's understanding of 【Forge-Derive Boundless Vault】 surpassing 【Forge-Derive Boundless Vault】 itself.

Just like with 【Red Heart Fist】, 【Red Heart Fist】 after reaching Divine Entry would make Shen Yiwei completely unable to recognize it as 【Red Heart Fist】.

He might even develop the feeling that he himself was not the creator of 【Red Heart Fist】.

Divine Entry represents transcending the martial art, becoming something above the martial art!

After absorbing so many truths of the hard-body path, Chen Yan had reached such a state.

The Bright Moon-grade Grade A 【Forge-Derive Boundless Vault】 was now exerting the level of a Sun-grade Grade D art within Chen Yan's body.

Roar, roar, roar!!!

Streams of True Dragon Dharma Images surged and hissed behind Chen Yan.

Eight hundred and eighty-five True Dragon Dharma Images gathered together, resembling a True Dragon Divine Domain.

【Strength: 27/100

Physique: 83/100

Technique: 34/100】

Chen Yan looked at the Saint-Breaking Tree's data panel and shook his head slightly:

"Truly, one sows without intention, yet the willows grow to provide shade..."

He sighed softly; he had originally been worried that he could not make the Saint-Breaking Tree produce one 【Strength】 and three 【Physique】 character Saint-Breaking Fruits in a short time.

Yet now, he had found light orbs containing hard-body truths one after another within the Huo Yu.

And he only needed to fight.

Of course, Xia Hanzhou had never expected that Chen Yan would choose to fight while his physical body was facing extreme tempering.

But now, it instead made Chen Yan once again certain.

Only battle is the strongest method to become stronger.

"I wonder if these fire beasts are ready; regardless, I am already ready."

Chen Yan spoke indifferently, and the next instant, he flew to the edge of the Huo Yu, following the scorching waterfall of fire as he flew toward the next layer.

…………

Above the sea.

With a *plop*.

Zhang Ting flew out of the water covered in wounds and hovered high in the air; even he was panting heavily.

For the past few days, he had been diving down to the seventy-first layer.

After long periods of cultivation, many parts of his physical body had been scorched, and his healing spiritual pills could not repair them in time.

He was a hard-body martial artist at the middle stage of the Creation Realm, and the strength of his physical body far exceeded that of Chen Yunyou.

"Ever since I became Chief Commissioner, my cultivation has indeed fallen behind; my breathing technique has actually remained at the Profound Entry level."

Zhang Ting shook his head slightly.

Not far away, another person was sitting cross-legged: Chen Min.

Neither Zhang Ting nor Chen Min were people who liked to talk, and they had never spoken to each other before.

It was also at this moment.

Shen Yiwei emerged from the seawater and looked at Chen Min:

"Have you noticed that the fire beasts seem to have become much fewer?"

"No," Chen Min replied.

"Which layer are you on?" Shen Yiwei asked.

"The third layer," Chen Min replied quietly.

Zhang Ting pricked up his ears; Chen Min, being on a lower layer, naturally hadn't felt it, but he had indeed felt it too.

The fire beasts had become fewer.

Who was slaughtering the fire beasts on such a massive scale?

Li Xuanxiao?

Zhang Ting narrowed his eyes, guessing it must be Li Xuanxiao.

Li Xuanxiao was of the older generation, and his strength was significantly greater than his own.

"Zhang Ting." A laugh rang out from afar; it was indeed Li Xuanxiao, who had been hiding in the void all along.

"Senior," Zhang Ting said.

"You've almost caught up to me, so there's no need to call me Senior." Li Xuanxiao looked Zhang Ting over and laughed:

"Come, trade a few blows with me."

Zhang Ting frowned; his instinct was to refuse, but he thought that being able to spar with someone was actually quite good.

"Senior, please." Zhang Ting stood up.

Hum!

A piercing sword cry instantly resounded, and a vast sword pressure bore down immediately.

A sword shadow appeared before Zhang Ting; Zhang Ting's pupils constricted, and his right fist, wreathed in cloud-shattering Qi, struck directly at the other's throat.

The next instant.

Hum, hum, hum!

Sword shadows struck Zhang Ting's back, and Zhang Ting's skin instantly split and flesh tore.

"Little Zhang, don't hold back; come and have a good time with your uncle."

Li Xuanxiao laughed out loud, and the radiance of his Talisman Sword pressed down again, vast as a world.

Zhang Ting's expression trembled, and his right leg swept out like steel, kicking up streaks of white, scorching light.

Li Xuanxiao, however, stepped on his sword and leaped up; as he struck out with both palms, the surging Talisman Sword transformed into an ocean, engulfing Zhang Ting and tearing the scorching light he had unleashed into stardust filling the sky.

"Still holding back." Li Xuanxiao laughed, raised one foot high, and slammed it down instantly.

"Stop!" Wrapped within the Talisman Sword, Zhang Ting roared.

He hadn't provoked Li Xuanxiao, had he?

This situation was not right!

What was this person trying to do, treating him like a late-stage Creation Realm expert?

Boom!

Li Xuanxiao's strike had arrived.

Zhang Ting was instantly sent flying like a kite with a broken string, plowing a massive trench hundreds of miles long into the sea, while two massive water walls tens of kilometers high slammed into the firmament.

Shen Yiwei watched with a frown, but after glancing at Zhang Ting, whose leg had been kicked broken, he closed his eyes again.

"Li Xuanxiao!!!" Zhang Ting roared:

"Are you trying to kill me?"

Li Xuanxiao stood in the void, frowning.

That shouldn't be; Zhang Ting's physical defense should have been able to withstand that strike.

The subtlety of the force vibration the other had unleashed earlier within the Huo Yu had left even him incredibly amazed.

One had to know that with a strong physical foundation, the deeper one's understanding of the force of the Hard-Refining path, the stronger the combat power one could unleash.

At the time, he had thought Zhang Ting already possessed the strength of the late-stage Creation Realm.

Li Xuanxiao narrowed his eyes; this Zhang Ting...

His mind was deep enough to hide things even from his own people.

"Serves you right!" Li Xuanxiao said indifferently:

"Your own junior brother was suppressed, yet you just sat back and reaped the rewards; serves you right!

If you hide your strength again, I'll keep hitting you!"

He laughed lightly and looked at Shen Yiwei:

"No need to thank me."

Shen Yiwei's expression shifted slightly, and he nodded at Li Xuanxiao.

Then he asked:

"Senior, the number of Fire Beasts in the Huo Yu has decreased; is it because of you, Senior?"

"Not me." Li Xuanxiao looked at Zhang Ting:

"Because of him!"

Zhang Ting, however, was furious.

He was hiding his strength?

What had he hidden?

Where had he offended Li Xuanxiao?

…………

Time passed slowly.

Only fifteen days remained until the Struggle of the Five Clans.

On this day.

Dong, dong, dong!

Jin Province.

A giant bell rang nine times, and nine golden lights descended from the horizon, extending all the way to the Temple of the Xia Lord.

Throughout the entire Jin Province, ten thousand golden lotuses bloomed upon every high-rise building.

Countless citizens watched, their expressions excited.

The hundred officials stood respectfully in two rows, and Xia Qi, sitting in a wheelchair, was pushed by a girl in a green dress to the front of the Temple of the Xia Lord.

The woman in the green skirt was just about to help Xia Qi up.

"No need."

Xia Qi waved his hand, stood up with great difficulty, and walked toward the Great Xia God Temple.

He walked all the way to the giant cauldron in front of the main hall and stroked it.

"I beseech our Great Xia ancestors of ten thousand years to protect the future peace of our Great Xia, to protect the continuation of our Great Xia, and the well-being of our nation!"

Xia Qi said quietly, his voice resounding outward.

He closed his eyes and murmured:

"Protect our Great Xia God General, that he may suppress a generation and aid in the prosperity of ten thousand ages!"

Praying for the nation as its ruler!

All of Great Xia knows!

Ten thousand streams of flowing light emerged from Jin Province and spread across the entire continent, like streaks of brilliant meteors.

At this moment, in every household, countless people looked up, their eyes filled with fervor.

They were either praying or bowing.

The struggle of the Five Clans was about to begin, and even the youngest child knew this concerned the future shift in the situation.

And the center of all this would be Great Xia's Chen Yan.

The border of Jin Province.

Chen Yan walked with his younger sister to the foot of the giant city.

At this moment, flying warships had already appeared, waiting respectfully.

"We invite the God General to enter Jin Province!"

The white-clothed old man in the lead called out in a high-pitched voice.

"We invite the God General to enter Jin Province!"

"We invite the God General to enter Jin Province!"

"We invite the God General to enter Jin Province!"

Voices resounded one after another; throughout all of Jin Province, every living soul looked toward where the sound originated, all wearing expressions of surprise and reverence.

Chen Yan, who had been traveling through Great Xia, had arrived in Jin Province.

Chen Yan nodded quietly; behind him, Chen Yu looked excited but restrained herself well, following behind her older brother.

"Jin Province..."

Chen Yan murmured.

This was the final journey of this false body, and also the final moment for his family to be reunited.

He looked at the center of Jin Province, at that pillar of red light reaching toward the sky.

Within it, a part of the God Armor was quietly being nurtured.

Roar!

A gilded True Dragon stepped on the clouds and arrived, its dragon scales shimmering with intense luster under the sunlight.

Chen Yan took his sister onto the dragon's body, and the next moment, the True Dragon carried the two of them toward the God General Temple.

On the ground.

Chen Yuhu watched quietly and smiled.

"Mother of our child, do you see this?"

He smiled with gratification, he smiled with vitality.

…………

Yun Province.

"Ke Qingxuan, you need to know what you are saying."

Inside the light screen, the cold voice of the Ji Master resounded.

"My mind is made up." Ke Qingxuan stood up and bowed respectfully to the Ji Master.

"You are simply unreasonable!" The Ji Master shouted coldly:

"I will leak your documents; guess how Great Xia will treat you?"

Ke Qingxuan shook her head slightly.

"You met with Chen Yan?" The Ji Master narrowed her eyes.

"I did."

"What is he doing?"

Ke Qingxuan fell silent.

"Foolish!" The Ji Master narrowed her eyes:

"If you, like that little ruler, place all your expectations on that Chen Yan,

that is the greatest foolishness!"

The Ji Master watched Ke Qingxuan in silence.

Now, Chen Yan wouldn't even be able to enter the struggle of the Five Clans.

Xia Qi taking out a Soul of the Fate Chapter was a joke from the very beginning.

A massive joke!

This Ke Qingxuan, whom she had cultivated for so long, was now actually going to defect completely to Great Xia; she found it even more utterly ridiculous.

"Enough." The Ji Master glanced at Ke Qingxuan as if looking at a dead person, waved her hand, and cut off the communication directly.

Ke Qingxuan sat alone in the room, dazed, and closed her eyes.

"I am the foolish one."

She murmured, having originally been prepared to join Ji Province.

But the words Chen Yan had spoken at that time were difficult for her to forget.

Everything, every single thing, was pushing her to make the worst decision.

This left her heart as cold as ash.

If the Ji Lord truly leaked her file, what she would face would only be even more difficult.

Perhaps going to Jin Province to beg for forgiveness now was the best choice.

Ke Qingxuan hesitated, a flicker of struggle appearing in her eyes.

At the same time, above the clouds.

The Director of the Imperial Observatory was quietly watching below.

"It is hard to imagine that after just one meeting, he knew this Ke Qingxuan was hiding something."

The Director of the Imperial Observatory was incredibly surprised.

It was Chen Yan who had told Xia Hanzhou about Ke Qingxuan's abnormality; he had not expected the other party to truly be a spy for Ji Province.

A spy, even one who had managed to rise to the position of Deputy Chief of Yun Province.

Just a moment ago, the Director of the Imperial Observatory had wanted to directly annihilate Ke Qingxuan.

But after seeing the other party's choice, he did not strike.

Ke Qingxuan below was still suffering from inner turmoil, unaware that everything about her had already been grasped by Great Xia.

If she had truly agreed to the Ji Lord just now, only a dead end would have been left for her.

…………

Time passed slowly.

Chen Changyuan collapsed, covered in blood, before a group of puppets.

"Is this the gatekeeper puppet of the Five Clans Struggle?" Chen Changyuan raised his head with difficulty to look at the gray-clothed old man beside him.

The gray-clothed old man nodded indifferently:

"I truly don't know if you are the Master's illegitimate son, for even a Sacred Body like the Phantom Heaven Sword Body would be taken out for you to devour."

He was also marveling.

Chen Changyuan's compatibility with the Phantom Heaven Sword Body was too good; after fusing with the Phantom Heaven Sword Body, Chen Changyuan's strength had already reached the late stage of the Creation Realm.

He had withstood a group of puppets whose combat power was stimulated forty-fold by the Chen Clan bloodline.

This was the supreme treasure of the Chen Clan; as long as there was sufficient time, Chen Changyuan was destined to advance to the Eighth Rank.

"Chen Yan will not be able to enter the Five Clans Struggle." Chen Changyuan narrowed his eyes:

"I actually hope he can enter; I will definitely kill him at the first opportunity."

"Do you think those peak Creation Realm experts of Great Xia are pushovers? They will certainly protect Chen Yan," the gray-clothed old man said indifferently:

"The Five Clans Struggle is a furnace, a furnace that can forge a heaven-gifted talent into an Eighth Rank expert.

The Five Clans Struggle is destined to change the world; with such an opportunity given to Chen Yan, he will rise in a short time!"

A cold expression appeared in Chen Changyuan's eyes:

"Perhaps he can break through this group of puppets."

"Impossible." The gray-clothed old man smiled faintly:

"Even if he has been training for these past two months, it is impossible for him to meet the strength requirements in such a short time.

Not to mention, he is currently wandering around sightseeing, and is now accepting the blessing ceremony at the Temple of the Xia Lord."

A look of disappointment appeared in Chen Changyuan's eyes.

…………

Time flowed like water.

Only five days remained until the start of the Five Clans Struggle.

"Chen Yan, the plan has changed."

Xia Hanzhou's voice rang out from the communication array disk, filled with anger:

"The Five Clans Struggle, our Great Xia will not go; the Chen Lord has tampered with it, and you might be blocked before the Five Clans Struggle!"

Xia Hanzhou was furious; if it weren't for the spy planted by Great Xia risking certain death to reveal the news,

the entire Great Xia would have been kept in the dark.

"Fortunately, the Soul of the Life Chapter has not yet been handed over to the Five Clans," Xia Hanzhou said in a deep voice.

He was feeling lingering fear.

He was truly afraid; one step away and Great Xia would have walked into the abyss.

If not for that spy, if not for the desperate work of Great Xia's intelligence organization, Great Xia would truly have been finished.

"The difficulty has increased?" Chen Yan, sitting cross-legged within the Huo Yu, asked in surprise.

"Yes, those gatekeeper puppets will have their combat power increased forty-fold once they encounter the Chen Clan bloodline!"

"I understand," Chen Yan said softly.

Underground Huo Yu, ninety-fifth level.

Fire waves surged and raged like turbulent, angry tides, fiercely striking the deep earth veins, constantly emitting tremors that threatened to tear the soul apart.

Chen Yan sat cross-legged, his eyes like two golden suns embedded in his face, his terrifying gaze sweeping across the surroundings, causing the restless fire beasts to feel palpitations.

He sat quietly, for one hour, two hours.

Three hours later!

Boom!

As he stood up.

A monstrous wave of force surged forth from his physical body.

In twenty-five days, that drop of True Dragon Flame Marrow had been completely absorbed by Chen Yan.

As the True Dragon Dharma Image behind Chen Yan began to manifest.

The intense aura nearly drowned out the surrounding sea of fire, obliterating everything.

Roar, roar, roar!!!

One True Dragon Dharma Image after another appeared!

Five hundred!

One thousand!

One thousand five hundred!

Two thousand!

Three thousand!

Right up until the end!

Three thousand five hundred and thirty-five!

And this was the result of Chen Yan not having swallowed all the Saint-Breaking Fruits.

Therefore, among these True Dragon Dharma Images, a portion were incomplete and did not possess the power they should have.

This was because Chen Yan had previously consumed two 【Body】 Saint-Breaking Fruits.

And the 【Strength】 Saint-Breaking Fruit and the third 【Body】 Saint-Breaking Fruit had not yet condensed.

But now, it is enough!

【Strength: 101/100

Body: 100/100】

As Chen Yan swallowed the final Saint-Breaking Fruit.

Roar!

A terrifying dragon roar shook the four directions.

The terrifying force rolled outward just like that, annihilating all the fire beasts within a radius of one hundred miles.

The True Dragon Dharma Images behind Chen Yan began to awaken one by one, raising their heads and roaring.

Their bodies were lithe and winding, their dragon scales shimmering with dazzling golden light, their aura growing increasingly powerful!

Golden force burst forth upon Chen Yan's sturdy physical body like blinding electric light.

The force brought about by the Saint-Breaking Fruit, which seemed to exist naturally, quietly dissolved into Chen Yan's physical body, becoming Chen Yan's original strength.

New True Dragon Dharma Images began to appear.

Three thousand six hundred!

Three thousand seven hundred!

Three thousand eight hundred!

Four thousand one hundred and thirty-five!

As Chen Yan clenched his hands, the surrounding fire domain began to feel distorted, the intense light even threatening to outshine the flames.

"Forty times..." Chen Yan murmured, the veins on his physical body bulging, incomparably domineering:

"Just how strong is forty times?"