Ye Chen smiled. "Old Yan, it seems you've gained quite a bit from this trip."
"You could say that. If this old man couldn't bring something back after personally making a move, I'd truly be useless." Old Yan chuckled slyly, completely lacking the dignity and bearing expected of a supreme Divine Spirit in the eyes of the world. He seemed more like a cunning old man.
Two divine light clusters emerged from his illusory form. One was clearly the God's Left Hand sealed by the Hundred-Thousand-Year Profound Ice core. The other light cluster contained the Divine Spirit essence blood from the Tenglong Empire.
Looking at the Divine Spirit essence blood in the other cluster, Ye Chen suddenly felt like laughing. "I think that Heavenly God from the Tenglong Empire must have the urge to curse his mother. To be targeted by you, he's truly had the worst luck imaginable."
The group of powerhouses from the Tenglong Empire had only intended to intercept and rob the Martial God Hall of the God's Left Hand. But then Old Yan appeared midway. Not only did they fail to rob anything, they ended up losing something themselves—truly a case of losing the wife and the soldiers. They were probably so frustrated they wanted to vomit blood.
Ye Chen even wondered how that Heavenly God would explain things to the Divine Spirit ancestor when he returned.
Old Yan chuckled. "A tall tree catches the wind—it can't be helped. These superpowers are all dripping with wealth. This old man has been losing some strength recently, so I'm just kindly helping them digest a bit."
Even Ye Chen couldn't help but roll his eyes. This Old Yan truly had no respect for his age. Did he really think Divine Spirit essence blood could be refined just because he wanted it? For those supreme Divine Spirits, it was a form of loss.
"What do you plan to do with this God's Left Hand?" Ye Chen asked.
Old Yan shook his head. "We won't unseal it for now. This hand relies entirely on the Profound Ice core to suppress its flesh and blood essence from dissipating. There's no need to use this hand yet, so we'll continue sealing it within the Profound Ice core."
With a casual flip of his hand, Old Yan stored the God's Left Hand into the ancient ring. Then, from the other divine light cluster, over a dozen drops of vivid, glistening blood emerged. Each drop was crimson and crystalline, capable of emitting a sky full of blood-red radiance. Blood energy filled the air as if containing an ocean.
Faintly, one could even see strands of order divine chains clattering within the blood—formed from the interwoven power of Dao marks comprehended at the Divine Spirit realm—truly extraordinary.
This was Divine Spirit essence blood. If not for Old Yan's suppression, the blood energy would soar to the heavens, crimson radiance would fill the sky, and the Divine Spirit pressure contained within would erupt. Even a Martial God would be unable to withstand it.
Old Yan flicked his finger lightly, sending one drop of Divine Spirit essence blood toward Ye Chen. As he flicked, beams of light were added, suppressing the pressure within the blood. It landed in Ye Chen's hand. "This drop of Divine Spirit essence blood is for you to refine and cultivate the Human Yuan Body Art."
Ye Chen held it in his palm. Although it was only one drop, he understood it wasn't that Old Yan was unwilling to give more—it was enough. A second drop wouldn't work either. After all, Ye Chen's cultivation was only at the Xiantian level. No matter how strong his physical body, it only rivaled a Martial God powerhouse. A single drop of Divine Spirit essence blood was something even a Martial God couldn't endure. If he weren't cultivating the Human Yuan Body Art, he wouldn't be able to use it at all.
Using this drop of Divine Spirit essence blood would not only allow the Human Yuan Body Art to reach great completion but also stabilize his golden body, serving a great purpose.
"When will you start cultivating the golden body?" Old Yan asked.
Ye Chen thought for a moment. "After I handle some trivial matters at hand, then I can enter seclusion."
This seclusion would require a considerable amount of time. He couldn't suddenly disappear; he needed to explain things beforehand.
Returning to the royal capital, Ye Chen went to the Alchemist Heart Palace. At this time, Li Yun had also brought Shuangshuang back to the Alchemist Heart Palace. Shuangshuang was receiving Li Yun's guidance in alchemy on the side. Dao Fire blazed within the medicine cauldron, and a pill was slowly taking shape under its burning.
Ye Chen directly stated his purpose, saying he needed to enter seclusion temporarily for a period and wouldn't be reachable during this time.
Li Yun reminded him, "How long will you be in seclusion? The Tian Du Academy's recruitment trial will begin in two months. Don't forget."
"I'm well aware of that," Ye Chen said. "This seclusion of mine might last quite a while. If there's an urgent matter, contact me through this communication token."
He gave a communication token to Li Yun, who accepted it.
"If you have spare time, please look after my family for me," Ye Chen added. This seclusion would last a considerable time, and he worried the Ye family might encounter trouble during it.
Although Old Yan would also watch over them, he wouldn't intervene unless absolutely necessary. Moreover, Li Yun was, after all, one of the masters of the Alchemist Heart Palace. His authority was far greater than before; even the royal family had to give him some face. If he stepped in, any matter would be much easier to resolve.
Li Yun said, "You can rest assured about that. Even if I don't intervene, not many would dare to attack the Ye family. Because of you, the Ye family is no longer just the ruling family of Luo Feng City. Several towns in that region have been placed under the Ye family's jurisdiction."
"And regarding the last main ingredient, don't worry. I'll find a way to get it for you," Li Yun added after a pause.
Nodding, Ye Chen tossed out a Memory Jade. "This is a Spirit Refining Method, better than the one I gave you before. As long as you cultivate it, within twenty years, it will be enough to make you a Three-Star Alchemist."
Hearing this, Li Yun was filled with delight. A Three-Star Alchemist—that was a level only the royal family's Chief Alchemist could reach. Not to mention the entire Xia Feng Kingdom, even across the entire Tian Du Continent, such figures were highly respected. Even Heavenly God powerhouses had to give them some face.
An alchemist of this rank—not just him, but every alchemist in the entire Xia Feng Kingdom hoped to achieve such status.
But then Li Yun shook his head and declined, leaving Ye Chen utterly stunned and confused.
Li Yun said apologetically, "Although I really want to obtain this higher-level Spirit Refining Method, I can't accept it. Previously, Sir Qian gave me the Spirit Refining Method so I could collect the ingredients. But I haven't managed to collect them all yet; I feel ashamed before Sir Qian. Now you're giving me an even better Spirit Refining Method—how can I accept it in good conscience? So I cannot accept this Spirit Refining Method."
Li Yun's behavior earned Ye Chen's considerable appreciation. If he had truly accepted it, they would only have an ordinary transactional relationship. But now, Li Yun's refusal made Ye Chen think more highly of him. He smiled and said, "Don't worry. This bit of Spirit Refining Method is nothing to my teacher. Moreover, you've truly helped me a lot. My teacher thinks highly of you, so he specifically gave this to you. Please accept it."
Finally, after declining three times, Li Yun could only accept it, filled with gratitude.
After staying at the Alchemist Heart Palace for a short while, Ye Chen left and went to the royal palace. He directly showed the token the Thirteenth Prince had given him. The palace guards didn't dare neglect him and immediately notified the Thirteenth Prince.
Before long, the Thirteenth Prince appeared, as handsome and dashing as ever. He stepped forward, laughed heartily, and gave Ye Chen a punch. "What an honored guest. I never thought you'd come looking for me. How rare."
Ye Chen wasn't annoyed. He smiled and got straight to the point. "I'm about to enter seclusion soon, so I'm just letting you know."
In the entire royal capital, he didn't have many friends—you could count them on one hand. One of them was the Thirteenth Prince. Although the Tian Du Academy's recruitment trial wouldn't start for another two months, he had a feeling this seclusion might last longer than two months.
So he informed the Thirteenth Prince in advance, since he was considered a friend.
The Thirteenth Prince was slightly taken aback, then smiled wryly. "To be honest, Ye Chen, I have no idea how you cultivate. You were already incredibly strong, on par with the Crown Prince. Now you're about to enter seclusion again—your strength is probably going to rise another level. Can you please not be so monstrous?"
This was his sincere thought. Two and a half years ago, Ye Chen had fallen from the altar of genius. But two and a half years later, the former waste not only stood back up but grew and strengthened at a shocking, monstrous speed.
Now, he stood at the same height as the Crown Prince—the number one among the younger generation, recognized by the Power Monument as a possessor of divine qualification.
But this guy before him wasn't stopping. He was entering seclusion again to embark on an even stronger path.
All of this made people sigh at his monstrousness.
But Ye Chen sighed silently. He had reached this point only by relying on the Dao fruits of his past life. Otherwise, there was no way he could have reached this level in just half a year.
Moreover, this growth speed was still too slow for him. Sixteen years had passed in a flash. Those great enemies from his past life had already reached who-knows-what level by now. He worried his relatives and old friends might be in danger, so he had to grow faster, continuously surpassing himself.
After bidding farewell to the Thirteenth Prince, Ye Chen left the royal capital. He passed by Vivian's Yang residence but didn't stop. He only glanced at it before leaving.
But perhaps the youth didn't know that at this moment, on a pavilion within the Yang residence, there was a graceful, beautiful figure gazing wistfully at his departing figure...
On this day, Ye Chen left the royal capital far behind, traversing thousands of miles of territory, entering the depths of the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains.
Here, filled with ancient, primordial aura and sparsely populated, was the most suitable place for seclusion.
But Ye Chen didn't immediately enter seclusion. Instead, he walked across this land, surveying the heavens and earth, his gaze sweeping across the entire world. He made subtle changes to various locations.
Ye Chen was setting up a formation. As a profound formation master, even without spirit stones—divine objects—as formation bases, the world inherently contained invisible grand formations everywhere. With slight adjustments, they could become simple formations.
For Ye Chen, he didn't need an overly powerful formation. What he needed was to set up a maze formation that would automatically divert demonic beasts and prevent human powerhouses from seeing inside.
Finally, a massive illusion formation spanning a hundred zhang in radius appeared, encompassing this hundred-zhang area. Within this hundred-zhang radius, it would be extremely difficult to detect Ye Chen inside.
After completing all this, Ye Chen voluntarily entered the formation and began true seclusion.
"Old Yan, I leave it to you!"
Ye Chen said this, then entered seclusion. This time, he would break through to great completion of the Human Yuan Body Art!