Chapter 558: The Spirit Sovereign

Chapter 558: The Spirit Sovereign

​ At the Yu Family.

Ever since Lin Yuan left with Qing Fen Hou for Domain City, the Yu Family had been living comfortably.

How could they not be comfortable? Qing Fen Da Zun came personally to take Lin Yuan away. How many people in all of Qing Fen Domain could claim such an honor?

"Domain City is too big, with its intrigues and power struggles. I wonder if Xiao Yan is used to it there."

Wei Chi Ling sighed, worried about his son.

"To achieve great things, one must venture to bigger places." Yu Chao Long said beside him, "If Xiao Yan had stayed in the Yu Family, no matter how talented he is, he would have been buried and, at best, would have only amounted to the same level as the few elder ancestors."

"But now that he's in Domain City and by Qing Fen Hou's side, Xiao Yan has a high chance of reaching the Sovereign realm, and perhaps even..."

Yu Chao Long left the sentence hanging, but his thoughts were clear: Yu Yan might even have a slim chance of reaching the Da Zun realm.

There were quite a few disciples under Qing Fen Hou who had reached the Sovereign realm, but he had never shown any special favor towards them.

"I'm just worried," Wei Chi Ling said, "that Xiao Yan will be bullied because of his weak strength at the moment."

"Bullied?"

Yu Chao Long fell silent for a moment. While no one would dare to openly bully Yu Yan due to Qing Fen Hou's favor, what about in secret or in more subtle ways?

A tree that stands out will always invite the wind's jealousy.

Given how much importance Qing Fen Hou placed on Yu Yan, how would the other senior brothers and sisters feel? If it were a short period, it wouldn't matter, but as time went on, favor without strength was not a good thing.

"Well..."

Yu Chao Long couldn't help but feel worried.

Just then, a temporal fluctuation occurred outside, and a figure descended, rushing into the Yu Family's residence.

"Clan Head, something big has happened in Domain City!" The figure was a strong member of the Yu Family, specifically tasked with gathering external intelligence.

"Domain City? What happened?"

Yu Chao Long's heart tightened. His son was currently in Domain City, so could this matter be related to him?

Wei Chi Ling beside him seemed to have made a similar association, and his expression grew tense as well.

"What happened in Domain City?"

Several elder ancestors of the Yu Family appeared, their faces grave.

"Young Master Yan, Young Master Yan..." The Yu Family member who had arrived paused, his face showing disbelief as he was clearly shocked by the intelligence he had received.

"What about Xiao Yan?"

Yu Chao Long frowned. Even if Xiao Yan had caused some major trouble in Domain City, there was no need to be so hesitant in delivering the news.

"Young Master Yan has become a Da Zun."

The Yu Family member took a moment to gather himself, his voice trembling as he spoke.

Upon hearing this, everyone, including the elder ancestors of the Yu Family, was stunned.

Da Zun?

Yu Yan?

"What nonsense are you spouting?"

Yu Chao Long immediately reacted.

"Clan Head, this is absolutely true. Qing Fen Hou himself announced it." The Yu Family member quickly added, "When I first received this news, I thought it was false, but after multiple confirmations, especially with the incident of Zi Meng Domain causing trouble in Qing Fen City, it has been confirmed that our Young Master has indeed become a Da Zun."

"I'll go and find out more."

The elder ancestors of the Yu Family exchanged glances and immediately contacted their friends to gather information about Domain City.

Yu Chao Long did the same.

After some time, the elder ancestors of the Yu Family opened their eyes, their faces filled with excitement.

In fact, even if they hadn't sought out the information, many forces would have likely contacted the Yu Family by now to inform them of this news and to curry favor.

"Da Zun... Xiao Yan has truly become a Da Zun."

"According to Qing Fen Hou, a long time ago, he happened to pass by the Yu Family and discovered Xiao Yan's talent and aptitude. He took Xiao Yan in as his disciple then."

"However, this matter was not made public until Xiao Yan reached the Da Zun realm, and Qing Fen Hou personally came to take him away."

"I never expected that Xiao Yan would have reached the Da Zun realm in our Yu Family! How could I, as an elder ancestor, be completely unaware of his progress?"

"And the Dong Yang Family? They dared to attempt to kill Xiao Yan? To attack a Da Zun? Hahaha, it's fortunate that Xiao Yan didn't bother to pursue the matter back then."

The elder ancestors of the Yu Family were overwhelmed with excitement and emotion.

They had no doubts about this news, as without Qing Fen Hou's secret guidance and cultivation, how could Lin Yuan have possibly reached the Da Zun realm?

"My son... has reached the Da Zun realm?"

Yu Chao Long was also shocked. He had originally thought that Xiao Yan might, with great fortune, touch the threshold of the Da Zun realm after countless years, but who would have thought that it would happen so soon?

"Xiao Yan..." Wei Chi Ling was also overjoyed. At the very least, as a Da Zun, no one in all of Domain City would dare to bully Xiao Yan.

"Many forces have already expressed their intention to visit the Yu Family," said one of the Yu Family's elder ancestors.

Visiting the Yu Family was, in essence, visiting the newly ascended Da Zun, Yu Yan.

"Elder Ancestors, I believe the most urgent matter at hand is to clean up the Yu Family's act," said Yu Chao Long.

Ever since Lin Yuan was taken to Domain City by Qing Fen Hou, the Yu Family had become a first-rate family, and Yu Chao Long had sensed that the members of the Yu Family had started to act arrogantly and unrestrained.

Yu Chao Long had already intended to address this issue, but with the news of Xiao Yan becoming a Da Zun, he felt that they could not afford to wait any longer.

Otherwise, these members of the Yu Family might use Lin Yuan's reputation for who knows what kind of mischief.

Yu Chao Long was very self-aware. He knew he couldn't help Lin Yuan, but he would never allow anyone to hold Lin Yuan back.

"Of course."

Upon hearing this, the elder ancestors of the Yu Family immediately nodded in agreement.

It was clear that having clan members act arrogantly would only bring trouble.

Qing Fen City.

Fen Tian Institute.

Lin Yuan and Qing Fen Hou sat facing each other.

"So that Zi Meng was the mastermind behind all this!"

Qing Fen Hou looked at the Ten Thousand Array Crystal in Lin Yuan's hand and felt a sense of relief.

On the surface, Zi Meng Hou had used a portion of his true body's origin to hold off Qing Fen Hou, while simultaneously causing chaos in Qing Fen City with hundreds of peak Sovereign puppets.

In secret, he had his disciples hold the Ten Thousand Array Crystal, replicating the various grand formations within the city.

Even if Qing Fen Hou were to realize this later, it would be too late. As long as this replicated core of the grand formations within Qing Fen City fell into Zi Meng Hou's hands, it would render all the defensive grand formations within the city ineffective.

The consequences of such an event were unimaginable.

Zi Meng Hou would only need to gather a few powerful experts at the Da Zun level to easily invade Qing Fen City, and the entire Qing Fen Domain would fall.

"I was also lucky," Lin Yuan said.

When he saw the Ten Thousand Array Crystal in the purple-haired woman's hand, he had also roughly guessed her plan.

"Fortunately, fortunately, you were there."

Qing Fen Hou's tone carried a hint of relief. If not for Lin Yuan, the purple-haired woman and her group would have successfully left Qing Fen City with the Ten Thousand Array Crystal.

How could he be sitting here so calmly now? It was uncertain, as Qing Fen Hou had no idea where Zi Meng Domain's true scheme lay, and even if he had his suspicions, he couldn't be sure.

"This time, Zi Meng has really lost big. I speculate that this Ten Thousand Array Crystal was bestowed by the higher-ups of the ancient country."

"She will definitely be punished for losing it."

"No wonder her face looked like that when I broke free from the woven dream."

A smile appeared on Qing Fen Hou's face.

Now that he thought about it, Zi Meng Hou had undoubtedly lost both the game and his soldiers.

"I wonder how valuable this Ten Thousand Array Crystal is?" Lin Yuan asked as he caressed the crystal in his hand.

While the Ten Thousand Array Crystal was of great strategic value to a power, it wasn't of much significance to Lin Yuan.

As for the numerous grand formations contained within it? Lin Yuan had already comprehended them during the time he had the Ten Thousand Array Crystal.

In simple terms, Lin Yuan had already grasped the essence of the Ten Thousand Array Crystal and could replicate the grand formations within it at any time. He himself had become a Ten Thousand Array Crystal.

"You want to sell this Ten Thousand Array Crystal?" Qing Fen Hou looked at Lin Yuan, slightly surprised.

"Yes."

Lin Yuan nodded.

Nowadays, the amount of resources he needed for his daily cultivation and further advancement was immense. Relying solely on Qing Fen Hou? Lin Yuan felt a bit embarrassed, and even Qing Fen Hou couldn't support him for long.

Although one of the abilities of the Blazing Sun Divine Body was to burn and devour, turning all external objects into Lin Yuan's cultivation resources, the impact of doing so was simply too great. Occasionally devouring a few times was fine, but making it a daily practice? It would easily attract the attention of the truly powerful experts of the Blazing Sun Ancient Country.

"The Ten Thousand Array Crystal is very valuable and easy to sell."

Qing Fen Hou thought for a moment before speaking, "Leave this matter to me. I'll contact potential buyers who are interested in the Ten Thousand Array Crystal."

As a well-known peak Da Zun level expert, Qing Fen Hou naturally had many friends.

Moreover, with Qing Fen Hou's involvement, this Ten Thousand Array Crystal would fetch the highest price. If Lin Yuan tried to sell it himself, he might easily fall into a pit.

After finalizing the details of selling the Ten Thousand Array Crystal, Lin Yuan and Qing Fen Hou shifted the topic of their conversation to the Zi Meng Domain.

"Zi Meng Hou wouldn't give up so easily with such elaborate schemes," Lin Yuan said.

From holding back Qing Fen Hou to replicating the grand formations within the city using the Ten Thousand Array Crystal, one scheme led to another, showing Zi Meng Hou's determination to obtain Qing Fen City and even the entire Qing Fen Domain.

Now that his plan had failed, would Zi Meng Hou truly give up? Moreover, the actions against Qing Fen City might not have originated from Zi Meng Hou himself. It was highly likely that the Ten Thousand Array Crystal was bestowed by the higher-ups of the ancient country, and the true instigator was someone from the upper echelons of the Zi Meng Domain's ancient country.

"I am naturally aware of this."

Qing Fen Hou nodded. With his speed of thought, he had naturally deduced many possibilities.

"I'll take my leave first. Several of my friends are quite interested in your Ten Thousand Array Crystal."

Qing Fen Hou stood up and left.

After Qing Fen Hou's departure, Fen Tian Institute fell silent once again.

"Zi Meng Domain," Lin Yuan's thoughts turned, and he soon stopped thinking about it.

Regarding the Zi Meng Domain and even the hostile ancient country, Qing Fen Hou's understanding was definitely far superior to his own. As for how to deal with the Zi Meng Domain, Qing Fen Hou knew what to do.

What Lin Yuan needed to do now was to continue cultivating and improving his strength.

No matter the time or place, improving one's strength was always the right choice. The strong respected the strong, and this principle applied to any world.

"The Blazing Sun Seeds I've condensed have already reached over thirty-one thousand. From now on, it will become increasingly difficult to condense new ones," Lin Yuan thought to himself.

In fact, after reaching thirty thousand Blazing Sun Seeds, the difficulty of condensing them increased by several dozen times. At over thirty-one thousand, the difficulty surged by several dozen times again.

"At the current rate of condensing Blazing Sun Seeds, it will probably take six to seven hundred years to reach thirty-three thousand three hundred and thirty-three," Lin Yuan estimated in his mind.

This estimation was based on the premise that the difficulty of condensing each subsequent Blazing Sun Seed would be slightly greater than the previous one.

"It seems that I still have a long way to go compared to those core royal families of the ancient countries."

Lin Yuan felt the difficulty of cultivation even more keenly. At least in terms of condensing Blazing Sun Seeds, he was quite envious of those core royal families who could passively condense them even while sleeping.

What Lin Yuan didn't know was that even the core royal families with the purest bloodlines in the Blazing Sun Ancient Country didn't find it easy to condense Blazing Sun Seeds, especially after surpassing twenty thousand. Each additional seed required an enormous amount of time, measured in tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of years.

Even with the advantage of their bloodline and the radiance of the Blazing Sun, it still took an incredibly long time. Sleeping and condensing seeds simultaneously? It was normal for them to sleep for tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of years.

"Take it slow.

"I'm not in a hurry."

Lin Yuan reined in his thoughts. He didn't have a long stay planned for this particular Source World, so there was no need to rush his cultivation. Taking it one step at a time would suffice.

"Aside from the Blazing Sun Seeds, there's my seventh type of physical divine ability."

Lin Yuan carefully sensed the depths of his physical bloodline, where strands of root power were intertwining and tempering.

"The physical divine ability I'm condensing now is probably related to the Blazing Sun Ancestor, or perhaps it's some kind of innate talent of that thirteen-stage time lifeform?" Lin Yuan speculated. In the Blazing Sun Ancient Country, all lifeforms capable of condensing Blazing Sun Seeds had the bloodline of the Blazing Sun Ancestor flowing within them, albeit in an extremely diluted form.

But no matter how diluted, as long as it existed, it could be condensed by the Martial Evolution Path.

Purple Dream Domain

Deep within Domain City stood a grand hall.

Zimeng Hou, clad in a purple skirt, stood silently within.

As time passed, one figure after another descended and appeared in the grand hall.

These figures were clearly incarnations, but the fact that they dared to stand alongside Zimeng Hou indicated that they were undoubtedly Da Zun-level experts.

"Zimeng, not only did your scheme fail, but you also lost the Ten Thousand Array Crystal bestowed upon you by His Highness?" A deep voice rang out, and the other figures present turned their gazes toward Zimeng Hou.

"I will explain this matter to His Highness personally," Zimeng Hou replied after a moment of silence. "However, I was unaware that there was another Da Zun hidden within Qing Fen City, a secret disciple cultivated by Qing Fen Hou himself."

If she had known about the presence of a Da Zun within Qing Fen City, she would have planned differently. Among those who infiltrated the city, she would have at least included a Da Zun-level expert.

"What's the point of explaining now that it's failed?" another figure interjected, his eyes cold as he looked at Zimeng Hou.

"Alright, enough arguing," a third figure said. "His Highness has arrived."

At these words, the figures in the grand hall fell silent and stood quietly in their places.

Soon after, a vast consciousness descended, materializing into a tall figure within the hall.

"Your Highness," the figures bowed slightly.

"Hmm," the tall figure acknowledged with a sweep of his gaze. He was known as 'Spirit Sovereign King', a Sealed King-level expert.

In the Source World's various ancient countries, there were only two ways to become a king.

The first was to attain the Heavenly Venerable realm and then receive the ancient country's official appointment.

This was the most common path taken by the numerous Immortal King-level experts in the ancient countries.

The second method was to become a king by virtue of being a member of the ancient country's royal family.

The royal family line carried the bloodline of the ancient country's founder, and becoming a king as a member of this lineage required having a bloodline concentration close to that of the core royal family, as well as possessing the Da Zun realm cultivation.

A Da Zun-level expert with a core royal family bloodline would have true combat power that, while perhaps not equal to a Heavenly Venerable, would not be far off. Thus, they qualified for the title of king.

This 'Spirit Sovereign King' had become a king through the second method, and his body carried a rich concentration of the founder's bloodline.

"Now, tell me how we're going to take down Qing Fen Domain," Spirit Sovereign King said, his eyes scanning the group before briefly resting on Zimeng Hou.

He had already figured out the situation regarding Qing Fen City and knew that it wasn't Zimeng Hou's fault. Who could have predicted that there would be a Da Zun hidden within Qing Fen City? In fact, before taking action, Zimeng Hou had anticipated this possibility and had confirmed the whereabouts of Qing Fen Hou's Da Zun-level friends, as well as those of dozens of other Da Zun-level experts from nearby major domains.

This was to prevent any visits from Qing Fen Hou's Da Zun-level friends during the execution of her scheme.

However, no one could have anticipated that Qing Fen Hou had secretly cultivated a Da Zun-level disciple. How could he have endured keeping such a secret for so long?

"Your Highness, now that Qing Fen Hou is on guard, it will be difficult to take down Qing Fen City with minimal cost," one of the figures said in a low voice.

That was the truth.

If the scheme had succeeded, Zimeng Hou would have replicated all the grand formations within Qing Fen City, after which Spirit Sovereign King would have invited formation masters from the ancient country to decipher them.

By completely mastering the grand formations within and around Qing Fen City in the shortest time possible, they, as a group of Da Zun-level experts, could have secretly infiltrated Qing Fen City and launched a surprise attack.

In that case, even if Qing Fen Hou managed to escape, Qing Fen City and even Qing Fen Domain would undoubtedly fall.

But now?

The possibility of taking down Qing Fen City with minimal cost had almost vanished.

After this incident, Qing Fen Hou would surely report the matter to the higher-ups of the Blazing Sun Ancient Country, and there might even be experts from the ancient country's capital already present within Qing Fen City.

Even with the grand formations of Qing Fen City disabled, they wouldn't dare to enter.

"If we can't take it with minimal cost, then we'll just have to take it by force," Spirit Sovereign King said indifferently.

As a newly minted king who had achieved that status at the Da Zun realm, his prestige and strength were insufficient, so he needed a war to solidify his position.

In the various ancient countries, the royal family was revered and unchallenged by those below the Da Zun and Heavenly Venerable realms.

However, in the eyes of Da Zun and Heavenly Venerable-level experts, the royal family was only slightly more fortunate, with slightly purer bloodlines.

After all, everyone carried the bloodline of the founder, and just because someone had a purer bloodline, it didn't mean they had the strength or prestige to command respect.

Especially for Heavenly Venerable-level experts, whose strength had reached the pinnacle, even the core royal family members of the ancient countries could barely match them in power.

Heavenly Venerable-level experts didn't really pay much heed to the ancient country's royal family; they only acknowledged the ancient country's founder.

"Take it by force?"

Zimeng Hou and the other Da Zun-level experts present paled slightly. This implied that a war would break out between the two ancient countries, albeit a localized one involving only a few or a few dozen major domains.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end