Chapter 625: The Dao Protector

At the same time.

Inside the forging room, a wisp of black light coiled around Chen Yan's physical body.

It was but a single wisp, yet it seemed to encompass the rules of the Dao, incomparably terrifying.

Within this black light resided a powerful force capable of manipulating the destruction and rebirth of one's own universe.

The aura of life and death.

The powerful force unique to the Eighth-Order Calamity Light Realm.

"The Eighth Order governs the life and death of others; this statement is absolutely correct."

The white-haired old man spoke: "When a Creation Realm practitioner fights an Eighth-Order, the Eighth-Order Calamity Light Realm practitioner only needs to unleash the aura of life and death to destroy the internal universe within the Creation Realm martial artist's body."

Once one's own universe withers, no matter how powerful a Creation Realm practitioner is, they will die.

This is the Dao; this is the rule."

His voice was extremely solemn: "The Calamity Light Realm, whether in its own power or its mastery of the Dao, far surpasses the Creation Realm.

Having the aura of life and death, which only comes at the Eighth Order, has merely granted you a glimmer of survival; as you are now, you are still no match for an Eighth-Order.

Because the aura of life and death within your body is but a single wisp."

Chen Yan nodded quietly.

He would not relax just because he had mastered the aura of life and death.

Compared to a true Eighth-Order, Chen Yan was still far too weak.

For the battle against Chi Xue, Chen Yan needed to plan, needed help, and needed to fight while risking his life.

Only by facing a nine-in-ten chance of death could one obtain a glimmer of survival.

"Many thanks, Senior."

Chen Yan stood up and bowed deeply to the old man.

The old man chuckled softly and waved his hand slowly, but soon asked with a grave expression: "I know you wish for everything to be perfect, but for many people, the purpose of living is not merely to survive.

They have their own missions, and the moment their missions are completed, their lives have also attained true fulfillment."

It was hard to imagine that he, as the Master of Tempering, would actually say such things.

But how could Chen Yan not understand?

The old man was advising him.

In the battle to come, Qi Fan might die, and Ke Qingxuan might die.

Everyone might die.

It was impossible for Chen Yan to do everything perfectly; experiencing the death of comrades was a path that had to be traveled.

This was something Chen Yan had to face.

Chen Yan pursed his lips; he truly felt those waves of pressure, heavy as mountains.

"I only seek to have a clear conscience."

He spoke quietly.

The old man was stunned, then nodded slowly.

Immediately, Chen Yan's figure vanished from the room.

The old man sat cross-legged in silence, his eyes, deep within sunken sockets, murky yet filled with a complex light.

"A clear conscience?"

For a long, long time.

He had heard this phrase once again.

He asked himself: did he truly have any guilt in his heart?

If it were his other remnant souls, they would never feel conflicted over such a phrase.

Back then, he had been cold and ruthless to the extreme.

When faced with the choice of one person dying or a hundred people dying, he would choose for one person to die without the slightest hesitation.

When faced with the choice of a hundred people dying or ten thousand people dying, he would choose for a hundred people to die without the slightest hesitation.

Even if faced with the choice of ten thousand people dying or ten thousand and one people dying, he would immediately choose for ten thousand people to die.

Even if it meant only one more person survived.

He placed comrade after comrade into situations of certain death, only so that the spark of the human race could continue to burn.

He would even let ten thousand people die for his sake.

Because he knew that only he was the future of the human race.

He was right.

He had always been right.

Even when he harmed his own son and descendants, he was still right.

Another of his remnant souls had turned his own son's remnant soul into a puppet, forcing it to experience ten thousand lifetimes of painful reincarnation.

It was only to prove that his own path was correct.

He was brutal and cold, yet he was also the supreme leader of the human race.

He had never thought about the words "a clear conscience."

Only now.

This remnant soul had been imprisoned in this place for ten thousand years.

He began to ponder things he had never pondered before.

Even now, the words "a clear conscience" left him bewildered.

Yet this bewilderment existed for only an instant.

"I am the foundation of the human race; I have never been wrong!"

He let out a low hum, then looked outside the Upper Ancient War Palace, at Chen Yan's true self.

To be precise, at the cyan orb of light deep within Chen Yan's brain.

Even Chen Yan himself had not noticed that a phantom seemed to have appeared within the cyan orb of light.

It was Xia Weimin.

At this moment, Xia Weimin looked toward the direction of the Upper Ancient War Palace at the old man, his gaze icy.

"You know your mission," the old man said indifferently.

He had seen through Chen Yan's anomaly at a glance, which was this cyan orb of light.

Inside it was half of the divine soul power that Xia Weimin had separated years ago, which was incomparably powerful.

Xia Weimin stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the old man from an infinite distance; the icy points in his eyes gradually vanished, and then he bowed with extreme complexity:

"Greetings, ancestor."

He spoke calmly:

"Chen Yan is my soulmate; at the moment of his greatest peril, I will exhaust my final divine soul power to protect his safety."

He revealed a trace of a smile.

He had waited for a thousand years just to wait for a Chen Yan.

He had seen the birth of another divine general, more stunning than him, more powerful than him.

Chen Yan had brought him away from Ten Thousand Phases Island and brought him to look at this world once more.

The reason he was here.

Was to protect the Dao for Chen Yan.

To protect him until he reached the very end of the Martial Dao.

This was also the reason why the old man did not teach Chen Yan a method to escape, but instead taught Chen Yan how to become more powerful.

The old man nodded, but there was a trace of complexity in his eyes again:

"You all..."

He stopped mid-sentence, and in the end, he did not say what he had intended to say.

Xia Weimin's figure vanished.

Inside the room, the old man looked up and sighed:

"Everyone has lived through such bitterness."

Immediately, the voice of the woman in the immortal dress rang out beside his ear:

"Like this, it is still impossible for him to fight an Eighth Rank; what exactly are you trying to do?"

The old man's expression turned indifferent:

"If he dies, I will enter the human world again to seek the fire of inheritance once more."

Having said this, he raised his brows slightly.

"Perhaps, the fire of inheritance is still me; it was me ten thousand years ago, and it will still be me ten thousand years later.

The human race rose because of me, flourished because of me, and continues because of me!"

As he spoke, his voice carried an endless sense of greatness and vicissitudes.

Throughout the ages, only he remained.

Naturally, he had not told the woman in the immortal dress the truth; he could not be bothered to.

But the woman in the immortal dress outside the room felt her mind shaken, and she gritted her teeth, saying:

"You truly have no good intentions; you never thought of helping him pass the trial, but merely gave him a sliver of hope.

If he succeeds, he will become incomparably powerful; if he fails, you will abandon him completely."

Frost appeared in the eyes of the woman in the immortal dress.

As expected.

The Master of Hardened Refining was simply a cold stone without any emotions.

Chen Yan was just a fish that the other party valued slightly.

Either become more powerful, or die directly.

The key is.

If you cast a wide net, you must have more fish.

Besides Chen Yan, what other stunning existence is there now?

The woman in the immortal dress was radiating ten-colored immortal light from her entire body, incomparably icy.

Chen Yan was done for.

He insisted on listening to the lecture of the Master of Hardened Refining and ignored her.

She was angry.

…………

The moment he returned to the forging room.

Chen Yan first sensed the Martial Dao meridians.

The next instant, a look of surprise appeared in Chen Yan's eyes.

At the end of the meridians belonging to Lu Jianxia, golden-red light swirled around Lu Jianxia's body, and her physical body trembled, as if she were hovering between life and death.

Beside her, the golden-haired Lu Wuyi was both nervous and furious:

"What on earth happened? Where is your consciousness? Where is your consciousness?!"

He clenched his fists, his face flushed bright red.

His younger sister seemed to have died.

But the power of will within her body had been keeping his younger sister's final life force hanging by a thread.

Lu Jianxia's consciousness had completely vanished.

The life that belonged to her had already disappeared.

But her strength in the Dao of will was inferior to Chen Yan's, and at this moment, she could not reverse life and death.

Lu Wuyi gritted his teeth, and the next moment, he took an object out from his origin space.

It was a cyan jade ring, which seemed to contain incomparably pure life force and a dense aura of divine soul.

The next moment, the cyan jade ring dissipated, turning into pure, clean light that enveloped Lu Jianxia.

Gradually, Lu Jianxia's aura stabilized, and she slowly opened her eyes.

"Elder brother."

Lu Jianxia spoke slowly.

For a moment.

Chen Yan watched in extreme astonishment.

Lu Jianxia had been resurrected.

But soon, Chen Yan narrowed his eyes.

Lu Jianxia had not been resurrected; rather, her own physical body was being controlled by another remnant soul.

And this remnant soul was one that had been stripped from Lu Jianxia's own divine soul.

Through the conversation between Lu Jianxia and Lu Wuyi.

Chen Yan finally understood that this was a life-saving measure specifically prepared for the two siblings by the Master of Lu.

But within this wisp of divine soul, there were no memories of Lu Jianxia from these past three years.

In other words, the current Lu Jianxia did not know Chen Yan at all, nor did she know Bing Yi.

Now, Lu Wuyi was telling Lu Jianxia about the things that had happened over these past few years.

Lu Jianxia's gaze grew increasingly cold:

"Chen Yan, Bing Yi, Shaoshi is dead..."

Her expression turned solemn, and with a single wave of her hand, strands of golden-red light gathered in her palm:

"Is this the power of will?"

She was re-adapting to her own body.

Inside the forging room, Chen Yan shook his head slightly.

The current Lu Jianxia had not truly been reborn; the other party was missing three years of memories.

But fortunately, her other portion of divine soul had not truly died, but had been kept hanging by a thread by the power of will.

To make her wake up completely, it would still require Chen Yan to arrive in person and use his Immortal Will to awaken that portion of the divine soul that was being kept alive.

Subsequently, Chen Yan looked again at the end of the vein belonging to Chi Xue.

Chen Yan narrowed his eyes.

The three Creation Realm experts of the Five Clans, including Ji Hun, whom he had already handed over to Chi Xue, were all dead.

They had been turned into puppets by Chi Xue.

As for Yu Qing and Chi Yuexi, they had survived.

According to Chi Xue's way of thinking, it was normal for the other party to do this.

After all, Chi Xue had killed Ji Hun's younger brother and Ji Chuxi; how could Ji Hun not hate Chi Xue?

Stabbing Chi Xue in the back would be considered normal.

Therefore, Chi Xue might as well turn Ji Hun into a puppet, as that would be easier to control.

The remaining Creation Realm experts of the Five Clans naturally felt incomparably chilled upon seeing Chi Xue act so coldly.

Chi Xue simply kept Yu Qing, who was a mortal, and his own niece Chi Yuexi, then turned the remaining two Creation Realm experts of the Five Clans into puppets as well.

These puppets were already dead, so there was no need to worry about them being eroded by malice again; if combined with the Malice Ancient Tree of the Dark-Devouring Mother Nest, they would only become incomparably powerful.

At this moment.

Chi Yuexi and Yu Qing had both been sitting together with pale faces, looking utterly miserable.

They suddenly realized that at least they could eat and drink well when they were with Chen Yan.

As it turned out, being with Chi Xue was like entering a living hell.

Chi Xue had not given them any battle plans, clearly not intending to use them.

Yet they had to worry at all times about being snatched away by Chi Xue to be turned into puppets.

If not for Chi Yuexi's protection, Yu Qing would have long since been killed by the malice radiating from the Malice Ancient Tree that paced back and forth.

"Chen Yan, I am worried to death."

Above the tranquil lake, Chi Xue's eyes were scarlet, and he revealed a set of white teeth:

"I am worried to death; if you were to die, what should I do, how should I go about finding an opponent like you..."

He cried one moment and laughed the next, his whole person appearing incomparably excited.

Across the lake, the pitch-black ancient tree stood as if in an abyss, appearing to be the gathering place of all darkness.

"Do you really think he can peer into the current you?"

A hoarse, grating voice resounded, accompanied by countless twisted mutterings.

"You humans, why do you always imagine your opponents with such exaggeration?"

On the giant ancient tree, pitch-black vines twisted, with sticky black liquid constantly dripping from them.

"Hehe..."

Chi Xue suddenly laughed.

"What are you laughing at?"

The Ancient Tree spoke in a hoarse voice.

"I am laughing at what Chen Yan is supposed to do now." Chi Xue revealed an intoxicating smile.

"Why go to such trouble? Once the war begins, I will immediately annihilate him." The Ancient Tree spoke with a chilling tone.

Chi Xue gave a faint laugh and said nothing more.

Inside the forging room.

Chen Yan tapped his fingertip into the void.

A price list appeared before Chen Yan.

1. Shang Gu Zhan Tai Ticket: 2,000 Divine Spirit Essence (Sales suspended)

2. Myriad World Mirror: 50,000 Divine Spirit Essence (Sold out)

3. Mutant Disaster Source: 40,000 Divine Spirit Essence

4. Inverse Nine Sword Sword Marrow: 40,000 Divine Spirit Essence (Sold out)

5. Sun-Level Battle Armor Dragon God: 15,000 Divine Spirit Essence (Sold out)

6. Sun-Level Grade A Battle Boots Soaring Sky: 5,000 Divine Spirit Essence (Sold out)

7. Sun-Level Grade A Blood-Qi Precious Medicine Mother-Nurturing True Blood Pill: 1,000 Divine Spirit Essence per pill

8. Sun-Level Tempering Precious Medicine True Dragon Flame Marrow: 1,000 Divine Spirit Essence per pill

9. Sun-Level Grade A Mental Power Precious Medicine Wisdom Source Condensation: 1,000 Divine Spirit Essence per pill

10. Gold-Etching: 400 Divine Spirit Essence per piece

11. Life-Mystic Fragment: 400 Divine Spirit Essence per piece

12. Inverse Fire Crystal: 300 Divine Spirit Essence per piece

13. Elemental Fragment: 100 Divine Spirit Essence per piece

These are the items in the Divine Spirit Essence shop.

Many items have already been sold out.

But there is still stock of Inverse Fire Crystals.

Chen Yan estimated.

Within the Five-Clan Struggle, the quantity of Inverse Fire Crystals should be an extremely massive number.

The Inverse Fire Crystal is, in essence, a crystalline product of the Dark-Devouring Mother Nest.

It continues to be produced even before the Five-Clan Struggle begins.

After so many years, no one knows just how much the Inverse Fire Crystals have accumulated.

Just like the Inverse Fire Crystals.

Elemental Fragments, Life-Mystic Fragments, and various precious medicines have not been sold out.

Relying on other martial artists to buy out these treasures is still not very realistic.

Moreover, they themselves have only recently arrived at the Five-Clan Struggle and do not have many Divine Spirit Essence savings.

Don't look at the Shang Gu Zhan Tai ticket as only costing 2,000.

But for most of the Creation Realm, this is definitely a huge sum of money.

There are not many in the Creation Realm who have entered the Shang Gu Zhan Tai, only about 150.

That is to say, many in the Creation Realm simply cannot afford the Shang Gu Zhan Tai ticket.

They do not want to waste their resources buying products that are useless to them.

There are also some Five-Clan Creation Realm experts who have already taken out most of their Divine Spirit Essence to participate in the bet between Chen Yan and Chi Xue.

The probability of Chen Yan being able to defeat Chi Xue is almost negligible.

This is a guaranteed winning bet; earn a little where you can.

Chen Yan glanced at his own Blood-Qi Origin Space.

Six halos were floating slowly.

Chen Yan's current Divine Spirit Essence remaining is 【×6】.

Two hundred thousand Divine Spirit Essence.

Buy as much as possible.

Chen Yan clicked to purchase Inverse Fire Crystals, and at the same time, Inverse Fire Crystals appeared before Chen Yan.

When the number of Inverse Fire Crystals reached thirty, Chen Yan's continued clicking was useless.

Chen Yan's Divine Spirit Essence was also no longer being deducted.

A line of text appeared before Chen Yan.

【Single person limited to purchasing thirty pieces】

Chen Yan was speechless.

To think there is even a purchase limit.

In one transaction, Chen Yan only spent 9,000 Divine Spirit Essence.

【×6】

After glancing at his abundant Divine Spirit Essence balance, Chen Yan fell into silence.

Now, he actually has no mood to purchase other items.

The lecture content given to Chen Yan by the Master of Tempering is extremely profound; Chen Yan still needs to enter the Enlightenment Myriad Image Map to continue reviewing and practicing.

Mastering the aura of life and death and learning to utilize his current strength is the most important thing.

Immediately, Chen Yan took out the remaining Counter-Fire Crystals, totaling seventy-five pieces.

Adding the ones just purchased, that made one hundred and five pieces.

Chen Yan placed these Counter-Fire Crystals into the Counter-Fire Furnace, and soon, orange flames began to burn.

Immediately, Chen Yan placed the Heavenly God Armor into the Counter-Fire Furnace.

The Ash-Evil Spear had already become a divine artifact, and for Chen Yan, continuing to forge it held little significance, so there was no need for Chen Yan to continue forging the Ash-Evil Spear.

One hundred Counter-Fire Crystals, if they could enhance the Heavenly God Armor, or even add an extra trait, that would be the best improvement for Chen Yan.