Lord Xue Ying

Xue Ying entered the garden with a smile. He humbly greeted: “Paragon Master Pu Su, Paragon Master Bewitching Sword, Great Monarch Bone Clamor, Black Sovereign, and Hunter, it is the honor of I, Flying Snow, to meet the five of you here.”

“Hmph hmph.”

This was a thin red-eyed old man. The red-eyed old man had a loose red robe draped over him. Through the areas that he revealed, one could see how his entire body was composed of crimson-colored jade bones. Not a single strand of muscle or skin could be seen, and his bones were wrapped around by crimson mist. Of his entire body, only his head remained relatively normal. At this moment, he was giving a sinister sneer, “Flying Snow Brat, I bet you should have guessed that there must be something extremely rewarding here to attract the five of us over! But the bigger the advantage, the greater the danger. I encourage you to hurry and leave. Otherwise, you might just be killed and teleported out of the place.”

“Great Monarch Bone Clamor, how could there be no danger here in the Realm Heart God Palace? I am extremely satisfied to survive in the Realm Heart God Palace until now. Since there exists a huge opportunity here, I’ll naturally have to compete with everyone. It is fine even if I don’t get anything. If I were to get something, it’d be a huge harvest for me!” Xue Ying chuckled. He wasn’t as familiar as others with this place. Naturally, it would be better to remain low-profile in front of the group of Paragon Masters.

“Well-said!” Paragon Master Bewitching Sword nodded, “The Realm Heart God Palace is filled with countless dangers. It might be a good thing to attempt in a trial here. Monarch Flying Snow, you are on my side, utilizing your Mirage and Illusory Realm Technique for me and Brother Pu Su, helping the two of us fight against the enemies! I’ll do my best to protect you too.”

Paragon Master Pu Su slightly frowned. He glanced at Paragon Master Bewitching Sword, transmitting over: “Paragon Master Bewitching Sword, the 18 stages here are filled with countless dangers, yet you want him to support us? And for the two of us to defend him?”

“Pu Su, he specializes in soul technique. In my opinion, it is quite useful.” Paragon Master Bewitching Sword transmitted back.

“Hmph, in my opinion, it is fine just with the two of us. Thinking about having to spare some concentration to protect him? If we aren’t careful, both of us might suffer.” Pu Su transmitted. He wasn’t worried about himself. He specialized in the Dao of Time and could be considered top-ranked in survivability amongst those present. Even Hunter from the Myriad Realms Ancient Nation was slightly weaker than him in this aspect.

Actually, he was more worried for Paragon Master Bewitching Sword! Paragon Master Bewitching Sword was the youngest Great Paragon the Cang Clan had. His innate talent was extremely high, though he specialized in the Dao of Sword and ultimately lacked in survivability.

The Realm Heart God Palace was already a dangerous place, yet he wanted to spare some of the concentration to protect another person?

“Be rest assured. The two of us would definitely ensure our safety before helping him. Furthermore, he is part of our Summer Wind Ancient Nation.” Paragon Master Bewitching Sword transmitted back.

“Alright.” Pu Su no longer said anything.

He glanced at Xue Ying, nonchalantly saying: “In a while, just focus on using your soul technique to help both I and Younger Brother Bewitching Sword! As for those from other ancient nations? You don’t have to care about them.”

“Come over.” Paragon Master Bewitching Sword smiled.

Xue Ying did not reject the kind gesture from Paragon Master Bewitching Sword. He immediately answered: “Many thanks, Paragon Master Bewitching Sword.” After which, he walked over to the side of Paragon Master Bewitching Sword.

Even though he was confident, Xue Ying would naturally not reject to join the team of Pu Su and Bewitching Sword. The ‘further he walked’, the higher the chance for him to gain more. Even though he already gained greatly in the Chaotic Origin Pagoda, Xue Ying would naturally not reject if he could acquire more!

…

Xue Ying stood by the side of Paragon Master Bewitching Sword and Paragon Master Pu Su. He silently observed.

Paragon Masters relied on top-graded secret treasures to exert combat strength equivalent to what final realm Cosmos Gods could wield! In reality, due to the differences in the realms and differences between ‘top-graded secret treasures’, and different specialties between Paragon Masters, Paragon Masters would have differing threat. Presently, the two most dangerous experts were Paragon Master Pu Su and ‘Hunter’ from the Myriad Realms Ancient Nation. These were two very ancient Paragon Masters.

“Monarch Flying Snow.” Paragon Master Bewitching Sword transmitted, “Currently, what we will be entering is a relatively famous trial known as the 18 stages in the Realm Heart God Palace.”

“18 stages?” Xue Ying felt puzzled.

His teacher, Southern Cloud King, had never entered that many times here. When they mentioned how famous the ’18 Stages’ was, it was only between core members from the six great ancient nations. Xue Ying had never heard of it before.

“When participating in the 18 Stages, we will experience 18 stages of danger. We are rewarded for every three stages we pass. The further we advance, the more attractive the rewards would be, especially so if we could reach the final stage. By then, we would even be rewarded with a supreme-graded secret treasure.” Paragon Master Bewitching Sword transmitted.

Xue Ying was startled.

Supreme-graded secret treasure?

Even though the 18 Stages would bestow upon the participant a valuable reward after passing through the final stage, it wasn’t as shocking as what the Chaotic Origin Pagoda rewarded him.

But the Chaotic Origin Pagoda only gave Realm Heart Order holders a single chance to enter! They would gain just one opportunity in their entire life. As for the 18 Stages, it seemed relatively famous, which went to say that most had frequently attempted it.

“Many thanks, Paragon Master Bewitching Sword. Otherwise, I would be entering with my eyes covered.” Xue Ying transmitted back.

“It’s a minor matter. Since you are soon entering the 18 Stages, you would most likely discover these. Currently, we are on the eighth stage.” Paragon Master Bewitching Sword transmitted back, “It’s a pity that you came too late. It’s much easier to get through the earlier stages than the later ones. It might be possible for you to gain some rewards at least. Now that we are at the eighth stage, things are getting very dangerous. You must be careful later on.”

“Mn.” Xue Ying felt grateful for the other party in his heart.

He could see that Paragon Master Pu Su was slightly unwilling to protect him.

One had to know that the ‘Summer Clan’ and ‘Cang Clan’ from the Summer Wind Ancient Nation were both disdainful of outsiders. Paragon Master Pu Su came from the Summer Clan and Paragon Master Bewitching Sword came from the Cang Clan. And he was an Upper Honored Guest from the Fan Clan! According to normal logic, the other two would have been too lazy to care about him! But Paragon Master Bewitching Sword clearly chose to help him.

How the outside world saw him currently was that he still lacked a major realm as compared to these famous Paragon Masters.

Furthermore, the other party chose to tell him about the secrets of the 18 Stages too! And the fact that it was possible for the participants to acquire a supreme-graded secret treasure after crossing through the final trial. These factors made Xue Ying suspect… that Paragon Master Bewitching Sword might be overly kind to him? Despite feeling appreciative towards the other party, Xue Ying mumbled inwardly, could it possibly be a scheme too? Would the other two choose the make use of him at crucial moments during the process of crossing through the 18 Stages?

‘As long as I am careful.’ Xue Ying made his resolution. Prior to discovering the ‘scheme’, he would remain relatively grateful to Paragon Master Bewitching Sword.

Time passed.

“Remember not to be in a rush. Usually, there is a thousand-year between each stage. We just passed the seventh stage before you arrived here.” Paragon Master Bewitching Sword informed him through voice transmission, “Hence, we would most likely have to wait close to a thousand years before the danger arrives.”

“Oh?”

Xue Ying was not in a rush.

The six figures in the garden were split into four different groups. Xue Ying and the other two formed a single group. On the other side, each party maintained a distance between others. Like Great Monarch Bone Clamor, he was currently seated cross-legged temporarily at a corner.

Xue Ying also sat down beside Paragon Master Pu Su and Paragon Master Bewitching Sword, silently meditating. In his heart, the <Chaotic Origin Seven Strikes> appeared.

The <Chaotic Origin Seven Strikes> had indeed opened a new set of doors that proceeded to a higher level.

It enabled him to make use of the Chaotic Origin Energy at his current realm! This cultivation technique contained a genuinely profound and exquisite style of using the Chaotic Origin Energy, so much more than that of how the current avatar technique, Great Destructive Realm Teleportation technique, and Chaotic Origin Dao Scroll described. As for the Scarlet Cloud Combat Technique, the Arch Destruction, and Spectacular Painting techniques, they were even cruder.

Hence.

Xue Ying decided to gain experience from the <Chaotic Origin Seven Strikes> on how it applied the Dao of Void on controlling the Chaotic Origin Energy to improve the Scarlet Cloud Combat Technique, Arch Destruction, Spectacular Painting, and many other techniques!

Like the ‘Scarlet Cloud Domain’, since it was a domain of spatial distortion, Xue Ying easily improved it after learning the Chaotic Origin First Strike.

As for other techniques like the Spectacular Painting! Since it was too different from the Chaotic Origin First Strike, Xue Ying could only apply part of its theory…

‘With sufficient time, I could even alter the Great Destructive Realm Teleportation technique and Chaotic Origin Dao Scroll.’ Xue Ying muttered inwardly.

The Chaotic Origin Dao Scroll was too complex.

He had finished learning the first level of the Chaotic Origin Refinement Body, leaving just the second level of the Chaotic Origin Refinement Body. That was also the highest level that Emperor Summer had created currently! The moment he finished learning it, his body cultivation could be barely compared to level-three Cosmos Gods. Such techniques were hard even for Xue Ying to alter! It would likely take a very long time, and it was impossible for him to have sufficient time to do so within the Realm Heart God Palace.

Instead, the Scarlet Cloud Combat Technique, Arch Destruction, and Five Phases Sealing Technique were relatively easier to alter.

Currently, Xue Ying had fused six branches together. He had even succeeded in fusing all five branches of the Five Phases Sealing Technique together. Even if he did not rely on the Five Phase Beads, he could still execute the Five Phases Sealing Technique at the grand perfection realm. Hence, it was easier for him to alter it.

…

Time passed silently. In the blink of an eye, a thousand years passed. Paragon Master Pu Su, Paragon Master Bewitching Sword, and Xue Ying all stood up. They began preparing themselves carefully.