"I haven't heard of it."
Ye Yunfei shook his head.
"The Innate Jianmu is one of the legendary divine trees. Though its bloodline cannot compare to our Chaos World Tree, it is still a very famous divine species. Legends speak of four divine trees with roughly comparable ranks: the Immortal Tree, Fusang, Jianmu, and Ruomu. Jianmu is one of them and is also known as the Primordial Jianmu, or Innate Jianmu. The four wooden stakes you seized for me definitely belong to the Jianmu tree, because my racial memory carries the essence of Jianmu. After refining and absorbing those four stakes, I recognized them."
Hun Lao replied.
"I see. Hun Lao, these four stakes of Innate Jianmu must have elevated your realm and power by a significant level," Ye Yunfei asked further.
"Yes, though the bloodline of the Innate Jianmu is inferior to our Chaos World Tree, it is still a divine tree. The benefits for me were immense. After refining those four Innate Jianmu stakes, both my realm and power have risen by a substantial level. My current combat prowess now qualifies as Demigod-level. Moreover, my mastery over spatial forces is at least over ten times stronger than before, and I've awakened several racial inheritances. If we encounter Demigods again in the future, I'll be able to lend a hand."
Hun Lao answered with a smile.
"That's excellent. That fellow still possesses six more Innate Jianmu stakes. The next time we meet him, I will definitely seize them for you," Ye Yunfei declared.
"If we do meet him again, I'll act even if you don't. Because if I can obtain those remaining six Innate Jianmu stakes, my power and realm will ascend yet another level," Hun Lao stated.
"I've only just had this breakthrough and require secluded contemplation for a period to consolidate my gains. Can you spare me some more Divine Crystals?" Hun Lao requested from Ye Yunfei.
Ye Yunfei immediately handed over another fifty to sixty Divine Crystals.
Subsequently, Hun Lao began his secluded contemplation. Ye Yunfei also continued his own solitary cultivation.
Unnoticed, another year passed.
After a year, Hu Miao successfully completed her bloodline evolution, her realm and power elevated by a level. Nine colossal fox tails materialized behind her, each one brimming with terrifying energy. The nine tails swayed gently behind her, resembling nine pillars that upheld the heavens, exerting tremendous pressure.
"Master, my power has also increased significantly," Hu Miao said, utterly delighted.
After her bloodline evolution, Hu Miao continued secluded cultivation to solidify her new realm. Ye Yunfei, too, persisted in his secluded training.
Unnoticed, another six months passed within the Phantom Tower.
Six months later, Huang Shang successfully broke through, ascending one realm. Standing there, his glossy black ghost body resembled a bottomless dark abyss, drawing and swallowing everything around it. From within his ghost body, the continuous wailing cries of millions of vengeful spirits and tormented souls echoed forth, as if countless wicked ghosts and anguished souls were imprisoned within a hellscape. Thick, rolling ghost mist perpetually drifted around his form.
"Huang Shang, your current combat power should be equivalent to that of an Intermediate-Level Demigod now, right?" Ye Yunfei probed Huang Shang's energy aura curiously.
"My combat prowess should be approaching the Advanced-Level Demigod tier. But I'll need to spar with a few real Advanced-Level Demigods to know for sure," Huang Shang answered with a laugh.
"Seeing you all break through successfully… I need to intensify my efforts as well," Ye Yunfei murmured, feeling a hint of pressure now that Hun Lao, Hu Miao, and Huang Shang had all achieved breakthroughs in succession.
In the following time, Ye Yunfei continued his secluded cultivation to assail his realm. Having survived the nine Tribulation Thunder tribulations, the next breakthrough for Ye Yunfei would officially classify him as a Demigod-level expert.
While assailing his realm, Ye Yunfei also diligently cultivated his Mental Force and Soul Power. One of his Soul Bodies ceaselessly absorbed and refined the remaining Mental Force energy within the Mind Cultivation Pagoda while contemplating the laws of Mental Force housed within. Simultaneously, Ye Yunfei used the Soul-Nourishing Tree to refine and absorb the Soul Power energy contained within the Black Iron Blocks. It could be said that Ye Yunfei's Mental Force and Soul Power were in a constant state of elevation.
Inside the Phantom Tower, Ye Yunfei continuously cultivated the Nine-Yang Ancient Scripture while attempting to breach his current bottleneck.
Time flew. Soon, another three years passed within the Phantom Tower. Throughout these three years, Ye Yunfei practiced the Nine-Yang Ancient Scripture without a single pause, yet signs of a breakthrough remained elusive. During this period, he refined and absorbed a total of two to three hundred Divine Crystals. While this number might not seem exceptionally high, each Divine Crystal contained a staggering amount of energy—moreover, it was Divine-level energy, as Divine Crystals were the very energy crystals Deities used for cultivation.
For a single Heavenly Immortal to consecutively refine and absorb two to three hundred Divine Crystals was an astonishing feat. An average Heavenly Immortal, even if given a few Divine Crystals, wouldn't dare to refine them casually, as the high-grade energy contained within could easily burst their meridians and lead to catastrophic explosions.
However, Ye Yunfei's physical body quality and sheer strength far surpassed those of ordinary beings. Furthermore, he possessed two Soul Bodies and four Soul Power planets, allowing him to effortlessly withstand the energy housed within Divine Crystals.
As for Hun Lao, Hu Miao, and the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm, none were human; they belonged to extremely rare, special races whose inherent constitutions were vastly superior to humans, thus they could also endure the Divine Crystal energy with ease.
Huang Shang was a ghost cultivator. Strictly speaking, he possessed no physical body but had cultivated his current ghost body purely from Soul Power energy. Throughout his journey with Ye Yunfei, he had refined and absorbed the Soul Bodies of countless other beings, including a significant number of Demigod-level experts. Consequently, Huang Shang could also withstand the energy of Divine Crystals. This explained why Ye Yunfei, the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm, Hu Miao, Hun Lao, and Huang Shang could refine and absorb so many Divine Crystals.
Over these years, aside from cultivating the Nine-Yang Ancient Scripture, Ye Yunfei persistently trained his Soul Power and Mental Force. Additionally, he used one of his Soul Power planets to comprehend the Myriad Swords Return to One grand technique, and another to contemplate the Chaos Heavenly Secrets Art. In short, his two Soul Bodies and four Soul Power planets were never idle, each assigned specific duties to cultivate different techniques.
Ye Yunfei's cultivation in every facet climbed steadily, growing ever more formidable. Yet, he couldn't help feeling regretful that a breakthrough opportunity still failed to present itself.
"What on earth is going on? Why, after cultivating for so long, am I still unable to break through and become a Demigod?" A trace of frustration stirred in Ye Yunfei's heart.
Nevertheless, he swiftly suppressed this vexing thought and continued his secluded cultivation within the Phantom Tower.
Unnoticed, another three years passed within the Phantom Tower. Ye Yunfei still hadn't sensed any signs of an impending breakthrough.
"Could it be that my accumulations and experiences remain insufficient, which is why I haven't broken through to the Demigod realm?" Feeling somewhat puzzled, Ye Yunfei couldn't help but murmur aloud.
"Perhaps it's because your power is simply too monstrous. Your combat prowess far exceeds your realm, placing you leagues above others at the same level. Thus, Heaven is envious of geniuses—'Heaven's Envy of Genius'—and your breakthrough difficulty has increased correspondingly," Hun Lao suddenly interjected.
"Heaven's Envy of Genius? What's that about? Can it be that within the unfathomable cosmos, there truly exists a mysterious energy presiding over all things in the world, including my realm breakthroughs?" Hearing Hun Lao's words, Ye Yunfei's mind stirred with curiosity, and he promptly inquired.
He knew Hun Lao possessed the racial memory of the Chaos World Tree lineage, holding knowledge inaccessible to other races. As Hun Lao's realm and power continuously ascended, the amount of racial memory he awakened would also increase.
"In the archaic eras, there existed such a concept: within the unfathomable principles of existence resides a special law known as 'Heaven's Envy of Genius.' This refers to a mysterious power that obstructs excessively monstrous beings from continuously ascending. More specifically, among beings of the same realm and generation, if one's talent is particularly outstanding, the difficulty they face when attempting to break through becomes greater than that of their ordinary peers. For those who are overwhelmingly monstrous, whose genius far surpasses their contemporaries, the difficulty to breakthrough realms becomes even more immense.
This situation is called 'Heaven's Envy of Genius.'
In fact, every single cultivating being, compared to those ordinary mortals who do not cultivate, could be considered geniuses and thus are suppressed by this special law of Heaven's Envy of Genius. For example, once a cultivating being reaches a certain realm, attempting to ascend further requires undergoing a Tribulation Thunder. Only by successfully transcending the tribulation can one break through. If the tribulation is failed, advancement is impossible, and one might even face mortal peril.
Thus, Tribulation Thunder can also be viewed as a manifestation of this special law of Heaven's Envy of Genius," Hun Lao elaborated.
"That seems reasonable. Every cultivating being, upon reaching a certain realm, must undergo Tribulation Thunder to advance further. For many beings, Tribulation Thunder poses a relatively significant danger. Failing it results, at best, in a lack of advancement, and at worst, death beneath the thunder. That indeed fits 'Heaven's Envy of Genius'! I never realized such a special law existed within the unfathomable workings of the world," Ye Yunfei nodded in agreement upon hearing Hun Lao's explanation.
"So, does my failure to breakthrough stem from being more monstrous than my peers at the same realm and generation? If that's the case, wouldn't that mean I have no chance of breaking through at all?" Ye Yunfei felt a headache coming on.
"Not exactly. It's not that you have no chance, but rather that the difficulty you face is vastly greater than that of your peers at the same realm and generation. However, a true monster remains a monster. Even with greatly increased difficulty, genuine monstrosities can overcome all obstacles and achieve successful breakthroughs," Hun Lao responded.
"I don't particularly consider myself a monster. Maybe I'm just a bit more diligent and a bit more outstanding than others. But fine, even if the difficulty is greater, I'll inevitably succeed in breaking through sooner or later!" Resolute confidence shone in Ye Yunfei's eyes. He then resumed his secluded cultivation.
Unnoticed, another three years passed within the Phantom Tower. During these three years, Ye Yunfei's overall power continued to climb steadily. Regrettably, signs of a breakthrough remained absent.
Three years later, Ye Yunfei suddenly halted his cultivation.
"It seems continuing to stubbornly cultivate here won't yield a breakthrough opportunity in the short term. In that case, perhaps it's better to venture outside," Ye Yunfei stood up and declared.
By his reckoning, this period of cultivation within the Phantom Tower had exceeded ten years.
Ye Yunfei emerged from the Phantom Tower and withdrew all the formations he had set up around his secluded spot.
Even though his ten-plus years of seclusion hadn't resulted in a successful breakthrough to the Demigod realm, Ye Yunfei's power in all aspects had continuously elevated. His entire aura had transformed, becoming more ethereal and transcendent. The range detectable by his Soul Power had also broadened significantly.
Ye Yunfei traversed the void of the Three Thousand Major and Minor Worlds. This entire world cluster was bustling with vitality, every world and every force thriving vigorously.
Previously, the Three Thousand Major and Minor Worlds remained under the Dark Faction's control, deprived of development opportunities with their overall power regressing. Later, after Ye Yunfei repelled the Dark Faction and shattered the sealing layer surrounding this world cluster, it finally returned to a normal developmental trajectory.
More importantly, the void of this world cluster was reconnected to the outside Chaotic Void Sea, its energy and laws upgrading constantly, restoring it to a normal state. In short, every world, every force, every being within this world cluster was continuously elevating their power. Perceiving this situation brought Ye Yunfei a sense of satisfaction and relief.
Soon after, Ye Yunfei arrived at the central conference hall of the Alliance Army headquarters—the same palace from before.
The Alliance Army's high-ranking members, having heard of Ye Yunfei's emergence from seclusion, had already gathered one after another.
"Reporting to Young Master Ye, during this period, five more Demigods have joined the ranks of our Alliance Army!" As soon as Ye Yunfei settled into his seat in the conference hall, Gan Changfeng stepped forward and reported loudly.
"Very commendable." Ye Yunfei swept his gaze over the assembly and indeed discovered five new Demigods, including Kong Lao, Ouyang Tao, and three others.
This elevated the total number of Demigod experts within the Alliance Army to nineteen, substantially bolstering their overall strength.
However, Ye Yunfei felt a slight tinge of regret that these nineteen Demigods remained relatively weak; from his perspective, they seemed almost incapable of putting up a decent fight.
"Continue your efforts, everyone. Although our Alliance Army's current strength has improved considerably, it's still insufficient compared to the veteran major powers within the Chaotic Void Sea. Those established powers not only possess a higher number of Demigod experts, but they also have Advanced-Level and Peak-Perfection Demigods among their ranks, even harboring Deity-level assets as part of their foundational legacy," Ye Yunfei spoke slowly and deliberately.
"Since we have all gathered together to form this Alliance Army, I envision a day when our combined strength can rival those long-established major powers of the Chaotic Void Sea. I believe that when that day arrives, no one will dare to casually bully the members of our Alliance Army ever again," Ye Yunfei continued.
Hearing Ye Yunfei's words, the expressions of the Alliance Army's high-ranking members brightened with excitement, each nodding vigorously in approval.