A full month had passed since the spatial teleportation passage appeared above Tian Du Continent.
Ye Chen had long since left the Heavenly Gate stronghold. He had returned to Xia Feng Kingdom and arrived at the Demonic Beast Mountain Range, sitting cross-legged atop the Hong Tian Divine Peak where Great Sage Hong Tian had once suppressed Saint Jian Lan.
The divine peak remained unyielding, having withstood the invasion of the Myriad Domains' powerhouses without collapsing. It had once been a hiding place for the Heaven-Slaying Alliance's experts, shrouded in a mist formation personally laid down by Great Sage Hong Tian in the past. Though it had been breached long ago when faced with the numerous Saints of the Myriad Domains.
Later, it became the meditation site of a powerful Saint from the Myriad Domains, but when Ye Chen later arrived and forcefully intervened, he was driven away. Recognizing Ye Chen's identity, the Saint's expression changed drastically and he departed of his own accord.
Ye Chen's current prestige was simply too overwhelming, like the sun at its zenith. There truly weren't many in the world who dared to oppose Ye Chen now—that would clearly be seeking death.
Since then, this place had become Ye Chen's meditation ground. He sat atop the peak day after day, motionless, his aura concealed. Only when his eyes occasionally opened and closed would they reveal piercing, brilliant light that could startle heaven and earth.
Because of his presence, the area within ten thousand li of the Demonic Beast Mountain Range, including the former Xia Feng Kingdom, had become an invisible territory where none dared to disturb.
Occasionally, experts from the Heavenly Gate would come to deliver various messages.
In his daily routine, Ye Chen also looked down upon this vast domain. Although Xia Feng Kingdom had once suffered attacks from Myriad Domains forces, its once grand and glorious royal family was naturally no match for the powerhouses of those forces. It had nearly been completely destroyed, with rivers of blood flowing.
Fortunately, the Myriad Domains powerhouses did not exterminate everyone to the last. They only targeted the royal family and some domestic forces, not involving innocent commoners.
Later, a major force from the Myriad Domains called Xi Xia Valley occupied the Xia Feng Kingdom's royal palace, making it their stronghold. Managing an entire kingdom wasn't their expertise, however, and after the royal family's collapse, Xia Feng Kingdom immediately descended into chaos and disorder, with the people suffering greatly.
The experts of Xi Xia Valley remained aloof and paid no attention.
It wasn't until Ye Chen's return that Xi Xia Valley was forcefully driven out by him. The surviving members of the royal family from back then were recruited back and granted authority to retake control of the kingdom, completely quelling all the turmoil.
Since then, Xia Feng Kingdom had returned to its former state of peace and prosperity, with everything managed in an orderly fashion.
Even some ruthless forces, when faced with that invincible, peerless figure who resembled a Divine Spirit, had to obediently suppress any other ill intentions in their hearts.
Ye Chen had become a Divine Spirit in the hearts of Xia Feng Kingdom's people. Nearly every household among the kingdom's commoners enshrined his portrait, offering morning and evening worship.
Occasionally, while Ye Chen sat in meditation, he could feel mysterious streams of power emerging, ignoring spatial distance as they traversed the void to reach him.
This power coalesced into a mysterious halo, initially only the size of an infant's fist, sparkling with crystalline radiance as it floated above his head.
It wasn't divine power, nor was it World Power. It flowed with divine dawn light, submitting to him completely, as responsive as his own limbs.
Ye Chen could sense that although this power wasn't as vast and boundless as World Power, nor as intimately familiar as the divine power within his body, it possessed infinite wonders of its own. It caused his perception and thoughts to undergo a kind of leap, something truly extraordinary.
He was already an extraordinary individual himself, with talent that astonished both ancient and modern times. He could achieve the tenfold Mythical Heavens, survive certain-death situations to be reborn through reincarnation, living two lives and awakening once more.
Yet this hazy, crystalline power actually caused his perception and thoughts to leap forward by a significant margin—this was its most terrifying aspect.
Having lived two lives and being an inheritor of the Battle Saint lineage, Ye Chen understood this power. It was Faith Power, also known as mental power, originating from the spiritual power of living beings—a mysterious power of the mind.
Formless and shapeless, seemingly real yet illusory, seemingly illusory yet real, profoundly mysterious and filled with enigma.
This intangible power was incredibly profound, for it could be said to be formless yet also have tangible substance. It could be used as power for attacks or become intangible, its mysteries infinite and equally filled with secrecy.
Although it didn't appear to possess the world-destroying might of World Power, Faith Power had always been a mysterious force, possessed by nearly every ancient Great Sage.
When they founded immortal forces, it wasn't just for propagating their bloodline heritage—there was also the reason of gathering Faith Power.
Faith Power originated from the hearts of living beings in the world. It didn't necessarily require faith in a deity as in the mundane world; even just keeping someone in mind could generate Faith Power.
Naturally, Faith Power had infinite benefits. It could greatly enhance one's own perception and thoughts, making comprehension of the Great Dao many times clearer.
With sufficiently powerful Faith Power, one could even leap forward continuously, breaking through the shackles of realms and possessing formidable strength.
Throughout the mortal dust of the world, a considerable number of powerhouses would establish great nations, not merely to create a force and wield secular authority, but more importantly to collect this Faith Power originating from living beings, to elevate themselves and break through realms.
However, the ancient Great Sages saw further. Naturally, they didn't simply rely on Faith Power to enhance their own strength—they were also conducting research.
For legend said it contained a certain opportunity for achieving Emperorhood. Some of the most ancient texts recorded untold secrets from the Mythical Era, mentioning that an Emperor and Sovereign had achieved the Dao through this, commanding the Supreme Heavenly Throne.
After the Mythical Era, no one could achieve the Dao. Those ancient Great Sages were all using Faith Power for research, hoping to reconstruct the Supreme path of that Emperor and Sovereign from the Mythical Era, thereby achieving the Dao themselves.
Ye Chen's salvation of Xia Feng Kingdom had caused countless commoners in this small kingdom to enshrine him as a Divine Spirit. Faith Power continuously emerged, though not in great quantity, it still had extraordinary uses and could even enhance cultivation.
However, Ye Chen didn't do this. Firstly, this Faith Power wasn't abundant. Secondly, Faith Power was an external force. He only believed in the invincibility of the self—external forces were ultimately external. They could be borrowed, but couldn't become the foundation.
Nevertheless, during his meditation, Ye Chen also researched this Faith Power.
Before him, the Faith Power wasn't much. After a full month now, it was only about the size of an ordinary person, shining brilliantly as it flowed with hazy dawn light, appearing in a misty form.
His eyes shone brilliantly, with dazzling runes and Dao marks intertwining as if evolving heaven and earth, while also penetrating the mysteries of Faith Power.