Boom—
An unprecedented and terrifying fluctuation of the Great Dao descended upon the ancient hall. The entire hall trembled and rumbled, cracks rapidly spreading across its surface, nearly shattering under this divine might.
The deepest part of the Hong Tian mountain range, along with the numerous pitch-black peaks, shuddered in fear.
This was the divine pressure emanating from the Great Sage Hong Tian himself, like raging waves and countless billows, terrifying beyond measure.
All of this was because the Great Sage Hong Tian was too agitated, too shocked by the news he had just heard, unable to suppress the divine pressure within him, allowing it to spill forth.
"Master!"
A flash of silver light appeared as the Silver Ape King rushed in like lightning, thinking something had happened. He immediately looked at Ye Chen with hostility, full of wariness.
"Little Ape, step back. It's nothing," the Great Sage Hong Tian said, calming his surging pressure before issuing the command.
The Silver Ape King seemed to want to say something but held back, ultimately leaving the hall under the Great Sage's order.
Only after the Silver Ape King had left did the divine pressure around the Great Sage Hong Tian finally settle completely. No longer agitated, he looked at Ye Chen with a bitter smile. "Fellow Daoist, please don't jest. I understand my own Dao injuries all too well. They have already corroded over ninety percent of my body and even my Primordial Spirit. It's incurable. Even if the most powerful alchemist from the entire Tian Du Continent came, it would be useless. Fellow Daoist, why say such things to give me false hope?"
After the initial excitement, the Great Sage Hong Tian had calmed down, no longer as wildly emotional as when he first heard the news.
Although such words were incredibly tempting to him, almost fatally so, he also understood they were fundamentally impossible. His Dao injuries were too severe, left by another Heavenly God-level powerhouse and imbued with a special curse power that had thoroughly corroded his entire Primordial Spirit, rendering him truly beyond salvation.
Now, he could only rely on the blood and spiritual power light points of the countless beings who had perished in the chaos to nourish himself, merely delaying the erosion and eruption of his Dao injuries.
One could say he had already given up hope.
"The most powerful alchemist of the Tian Du Continent might have no solution, but that doesn't mean I don't," Ye Chen said with a light laugh, his tone filled with confidence and a trace of disdain and contempt for the so-called greatest alchemist.
The Great Sage Hong Tian was first startled, then filled with excitement. "Fellow Daoist, are you speaking the truth?"
He couldn't help but ask this way because it all came too suddenly. His Dao injuries had already corroded most of him; he was basically beyond saving. Yet, someone claimed they could restore him to his peak. How could he not be excited?
However, his attitude remained one of cautious skepticism, not fully convinced.
"Whether it's true or false, we'll know once we try," Ye Chen said. He then stepped forward to the World's Heart fragment. The Great Sage Hong Tian immediately felt a massive pressure automatically emanating from it before it was restrained.
If you use someone, don't doubt them; if you doubt them, don't use them. The Great Sage Hong Tian naturally understood this principle deeply. Moreover, even though he had broken free from his seal, in his current state, he was no match for a Heavenly God at their peak. He feared that after just a few moves, his Dao injuries would be triggered, erupting completely and leading to his demise.
This time, he decided to gamble.
"Using the blood and spiritual power of hundreds of thousands of beings to nourish yourself can indeed delay the Dao injuries and replenish vitality. The method isn't bad, but if used improperly, it's still a crude approach. In the end, it just wastes most of the essence."
Ye Chen spoke indifferently. As his hands moved, the trajectories of the Dao were profound and unfathomable. He drew in the streams of blood on the ground and the countless spiritual power light points in the void, condensing them into a massive crimson light sphere where blood and spiritual power coexisted, like a lake.
"Fire, come!"
Ye Chen then lightly exhaled, spitting out a flame. It was entirely crystalline gold, transforming in a flash into a sky full of golden flames that rapidly refined the light sphere. Wisps of blood energy and impurities were swiftly vaporized and refined until they vanished into nothingness.
After about half an hour, the crimson light sphere, originally spanning a full hundred zhang, was refined into a crimson-gold divine pill only the size of an infant's fist. It floated quietly on Ye Chen's fair, slender palm. Yet, anyone could sense that this crimson-gold divine pill was like an endless sea of blood, with emerald waves rippling and churning turbulently.
This divine pill could be said to have concentrated all the essence, expelling all impurities.
The Great Sage Hong Tian stared fixedly at this crimson-gold divine pill. He had a feeling that if he swallowed it, his injuries would be significantly delayed.
"I've expelled all the impurities. What remains is pure essence. Take it; the effect should be much better than before."
Ye Chen flicked his finger, sending the crimson-gold divine pill flying out. The Great Sage Hong Tian opened a crack in the World's Heart fragment to receive it. His powerful divine sense swept over the divine pill nine times in rapid succession, confirming it was safe before swallowing it.
Boom—
After swallowing it, Ye Chen's withered body immediately became plump, no longer dry as a stick. His flesh and blood filled out.
Moreover, both on his body and his Primordial Spirit, the densely packed Dao marks faded significantly. His Dao injuries were actually suppressed, and far more effectively than any previous attempt.
His previously dim Primordial Spirit now shone with blazing radiance. With the suppression of the Dao injuries, his Primordial Spirit once again brimmed with vitality, emitting astonishing fluctuations.
The Great Sage Hong Tian within the World's Heart fragment looked at all this with pleasant surprise. He now felt his condition was vastly better than before.
The Great Sage Hong Tian exclaimed in admiration, "Fellow Daoist, you are truly extraordinary. I merely swallowed this divine pill, and my Dao injuries were immediately suppressed by more than half. Truly a remarkable method."
Ye Chen merely shook his head indifferently. "Although the effect is good, this can at most alleviate your Dao injuries for three years. If you want a true recovery, other methods are still needed."
"However, before curing you, you must agree to three conditions."
"What conditions?" the Great Sage Hong Tian asked. He knew there were no free lunches in this world. To cure his Dao injuries, he must pay a price.
"Not now. I'll tell you when the time comes," Ye Chen said. "And you needn't worry; my conditions won't be too excessive."
"Very well. Fellow Daoist, feel free to state them when the time comes," the Great Sage Hong Tian agreed. Not to mention three conditions, even thirty or three hundred, he would be willing. Originally on the brink of death with no hope, now he could see a new dawn. As long as the conditions didn't cross his bottom line, they were not an issue.
Suddenly, the aura around Ye Chen surged like lightning, enveloping the entire ancient hall.
"Your situation is somewhat special. To fully cure you, I must refine a divine pill. But I'm not fully prepared, and time is short. For now, I can only act to completely suppress your Dao injuries and restore some of your divine power."
Ye Chen's eyes shone with lightning-like divine light as he suddenly shouted, "Open the World's Heart fragment! Bare your body and mind, and accept the suppression of your injuries!"
Boom—
With a deafening roar, a clear sky was split by thunder. Above the ancient hall, massive bolts of lightning descended one after another, densely packed, numbering in the thousands, transforming into a forest of thunder that completely shocked the deepest region. The Silver Ape King watched everything in horror.
The pitch-black peaks in the deepest region crumbled and shattered with rumbling sounds. If not for the extraordinary nature of the Hong Tian Divine Mountain Range, imbued with divine pressure and suppressing a Heavenly Demon from Beyond, and because the myriad lightning bolts were not specifically targeted, it too would have shattered.
"What a powerful technique!" Even the Great Sage Hong Tian changed color.
This was Ye Chen displaying a forbidden technique. With his own cultivation, he naturally couldn't achieve this, but at this moment, borrowing the terrifying power of Old Yan, he had reached the necessary level.
To completely suppress the Dao injuries on the Great Sage Hong Tian, a forbidden technique had to be employed.
Saint King Sealing Heaven Art!
In his previous life, as a generation's supreme, hailed as the Battle Saint King, although he hadn't yet reached the absolute pinnacle, Ye Chen was a peerless genius of stunning brilliance. He had secretly created several supreme divine abilities never revealed to the world.
These divine abilities were all aimed at contemporary great enemies and could be called forbidden techniques. One of them was the Saint King Sealing Heaven Art.
As the name implied, this was the supreme Dao art used by the Battle Saint King to seal heaven and earth—a true forbidden technique. Now, Ye Chen was using it to seal the Dao injuries on the Great Sage Hong Tian.
The moment this forbidden technique appeared, it touched the operational rules of this world, summoning the descent of myriad lightning bolts.
Even the Great Sage Hong Tian completely changed color. As a Heavenly God-level existence with profound cultivation, he naturally understood the true terror of such a Dao art.
Just who was this mysterious black-robed figure before him, actually mastering such a forbidden technique? Was he really just a simple Heavenly God who had achieved his realm through secluded cultivation?
The ancient hall trembled, on the verge of disintegrating under the lightning. But Ye Chen lightly uttered a single word: "Disperse!"
A strange, inexplicable fluctuation spread out, and the sky full of lightning vanished into thin air, disappearing so abruptly.
Clatter—
Ordered divine chains, woven purely from the power of Dao marks, appeared, flowing with mysterious Dao marks. All were struck by Ye Chen into the body of the Great Sage Hong Tian, sealing his internal Dao injuries one by one, suppressing them deep within.
Finally, the Great Sage Hong Tian's entire body shook, his bones and tendons thundering. The World's Heart fragment disintegrated, transforming into streams of light that dissipated. Boundless blood energy churned and surged, shaking the nine layers of clouds.
A terrifying pillar of blood energy shot into the sky, piercing through the endless mist, thoroughly shocking the mortal realm. It could be clearly seen for tens of thousands of miles around.
At this moment, an even more terrifying, boundless pressure surged forth, enveloping Ye Chen. A pair of icy eyes fell upon him...