Chapter 71: Breakthrough——Heavenly Tribulation Arrives

I'll act on my own; just give me some privileges and tell me some basic information, so I don't end up killing the wrong person.

Ye Chen said to Bai Yuan.

After Ye Chen finished speaking, Bai Yuan lightly nodded, then took out a green mobile phone and handed it to Ye Chen.

This is our official contact phone; it also contains some basic information. You can take a look, and then I will have someone record your basic information into it, then grant you the right to act independently in the military. Does that work for you?

Bai Yuan asked, and from beginning to end he showed no arrogance, but rather a calm expression, as if a parent were talking to their own child.

Fine.

Then when are you going?

Bai Yuan's question hit the point; after Bai Yuan asked, Ye Mo fell silent for a moment, and only after that silence did he reply.

After I break through.

After Ye Chen finished speaking, his figure instantly vanished from the spot.

And after Ye Chen finished speaking and his figure vanished from the spot, Bai Yuan's perpetually calm face finally changed.

He…… hasn't even broken through yet!!

Only now did Bai Yuan realize that Ye Chen was still merely a Qi Refining cultivator.

Yet at the Qi Refining stage, he possesses such terrifying power, it's simply terrifying.

Bai Yuan knew that if he were to face Ye Chen, he would have almost no chance of winning, and might even be instantly killed.

Bai Yuan sighed.

Huaxia having a powerful cultivator like Ye Chen is naturally a good thing, but if this cultivator is not under official control, he becomes a hidden bomb, a bomb that could explode at any moment.

Bai Yuan thought this, and his figure gradually left the place.

The departing Ye Chen found a deserted place to cultivate; before cultivating, he opened the mobile phone Bai Yuan gave him.

He spent a few minutes getting a general understanding of the official situation.

Overall, it's not optimistic.

Huaxia has been beaten back repeatedly, and moreover, its territorial waters are about to be taken by the West.

If Huaxia loses control of its surrounding waters, then its airspace will also lose initiative; at that point, Huaxia's hundreds of millions of citizens will become perilously endangered.

The Westerners are numerous, and they also possess an unknown secret method that can temporarily boost their strength, with side effects limited to temporary weakness and accelerated aging—each use shortens lifespan by about three years.

The cultivation level that Westerners achieve via the secret method is basically around the thirteenth or fourteenth layer of Qi Refining, which corresponds to the Return to Simplicity and Truth Realm of the Southeast Northwest Sect and Upper Clans, and is nearing its peak.

No wonder Huaxia's situation is so difficult.

Ye Chen thought to himself.

In the eyes of the Huaxia cultivators stationed at the border, Westerners are a bunch of demons, a bunch that only knows killing and slaughter, disregarding consequences.

Although those Westerners are very powerful, to me they are not a problem.

Ye Chen is now even a bit excited.

To the Huaxia border cultivators, Westerners are demons, but in his eyes they are merely fodder for the Ten Thousand Souls Banner!

If the few Western nations leading the invasion of Huaxia were destroyed, the souls in my Ten Thousand Souls Banner would likely number in the millions.

Ye Chen thought of this and could not restrain his excitement.

So he immediately asked the System: "System, what materials are needed to upgrade the Ten Thousand Souls Banner?"

【A thousand pieces of human skin; the better the quality of the skin, the greater the power of the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, along with a hundred thousand souls, plus runes and patterns, which have now been implanted into your mind.】

After the System finished speaking, Ye Chen gave a hehe laugh.

Fellow Daoist, please enter my banner for a chat.

Thinking of this, Ye Chen felt an inexplicable excitement.

I seem to have become a demonic cultivator?

Ye Chen murmured in his heart.

【Whether demonic cultivator or not, they voluntarily become souls of the Ten Thousand Souls Banner; I wish you growth, to become a great power, and I also ask that, should you become a great power in the future, you not forget their contribution to you.】

After the System finished speaking, Ye Chen was completely shocked.

Ye Chen: "System!!"

System, you speak, I love to hear it.

【Ignorant host, do not again entertain thoughts that corrupt the Dao heart.】

After the System finished speaking, it said nothing more, and following the System's silence, Ye Chen also plunged into a new round of cultivation.

His body and mind were fully immersed in cultivation, his whole person exuding a strong spiritual aura, but in this place rarely visited by people, where hardly any living beings exist, no one noticed Ye Chen's abnormality.

Three days passed in Ye Chen's cultivation.

The moment Ye Chen opened his eyes, a powerful aura burst forth instantly.

Then he slowly exhaled a mouthful of turbid qi, "I've broken through."

After he said that, the System's voice suddenly sounded in his mind.

【Heavenly Tribulation is approaching; please prepare, host.】

Ye Chen: "!!"

The System's words left Ye Chen utterly shocked.

How do I still have a Heavenly Tribulation!!

【Because you possess the Extreme Boundary, each major realm breakthrough actively draws down a Heavenly Tribulation.】

The System's words reminded Ye Chen of what the System and the Hunyan had said before.

Extreme Boundary, the end of the Dao.

Thereafter, Ye Chen stopped asking further questions and instead focused on preparing for the impending Heavenly Tribulation.

But when Ye Chen saw the Heavenly Tribulation brewing in the sky, his scalp instantly went numb.

"Holy shit, system, what's going on? How do I feel this damn heaven wants to strike me dead?"

"Ding! Correct! It just wants to strike you dead, a strong cultivator who has ascended to the Extreme Boundary of the Dao has gradually slipped out of Heaven's control; if it doesn't strike you, who will it strike?"

"After the system finished speaking, Ye Chen felt a deep sense of sourness."

"Breaking through the Extreme Boundary got him struck once; breaking through to Foundation Establishment, now he's about to be struck again."

"He's about to turn into charcoal again."

"Ye Chen said helplessly."

"After he finished speaking, he took out his phone and sent a message to Bai Yuan."

"Prepare some clothes for me, one set for adults, one set for children; I'll arrive in a few hours."

"After sending it, Ye Chen threw his phone into the distance."

"If he didn't throw it, this phone would definitely not survive this Heavenly Tribulation."

"After throwing his phone away, he raised his head to look at the Heavenly Tribulation, the corner of his mouth slightly raised. 'Come on!'"

"Boom—"

"The terrifying lightning tribulation came down in response."

"……"

"Half an hour later, Ye Chen's body was black as charcoal; he lay on the ground motionless, as if dead."

"But not long after, his index finger twitched slightly, and his voice sounded out in this desolate, uninhabited place."

"He almost turned into charcoal."

"Ye Chen said as he slowly stood up."

"And his aura also underwent a huge transformation at this moment."

"His aura was no longer Qi Refining, but Foundation Establishment, and not just the first layer of Foundation Establishment, but the third layer!"

"His current strength is on par with Bai Yuan, but Ye Chen estimates that Bai Yuan is no match for him in a single exchange, because even among peers there can be a huge gap."

"Moreover, his foundation is extremely solid, unlike Bai Yuan's somewhat insubstantial one."

"It's time to go find Bai Yuan."

"At the moment Ye Chen's words fell, his figure instantly vanished from the spot, heading toward the place where Bai Yuan was—the border!"