'My goal of proclaiming myself as Astral Reaching tyrant is finally met.' Ye Chen wasn't being arrogant, but simply stating the truth.
In terms of sword intent, he was at the realm of Sword Soul Embryo, with a power rivaling True Sword Soul realm, and sufficient strength to contend against ordinary Sea of Soul realm sword artists.
In terms of cultivation base, although he was only at the late Astral Reaching realm, it was hardly any different from the peak of late Astral Reaching realm. After all, he cultivated a peak earth rank technique- Green Lotus Sword Arts, and had cultivated it to the peak of thirteenth layer. His True Yuan far exceeded experts of peak Astral Reaching realm both in quality and quantity. He was not inferior, but only superior.
In terms of mentalities, Ye Chen had attained the limits of thunder and wood mentality, followed by fast and slow mentality, then cloud mentality and earth mentality. Be it quality or number, he was at the forefront.
In terms of martial skills, all the skills he had were of peak quality.
His movement technique was Shadow Transformation technique, and had the amplification of Flo Three Mystery Spell- peak earth level techniques.
His sword technique was Green Lotus Sword Arts, which consisted of nine styles in total, and each style being more powerful than the previous. It was no less than a peak earth level technique.
Heaven Disintegrating Cloud, which had already been fused up to the seventh style, had a might no less than that of the eighth style.
Four Swift Strikes, the sword technique he had created by himself, used the fast concept as basic. Each strike was swifter than the previous, and was unrivaled as far as swiftness was concerned.
It was possible to say that apart from not possessing an upper level artifact, Ye Chen had completely surpassed other Astral Reaching paragons, and that too not just by a small amount.
More frighteningly, even after arriving on this step, Ye Chen's potential still hadn't been exploited to the limit. In terms of cultivation base, he could ascend to the peak of late Astral Reaching realm, whence his battle power would further increase by twenty percent, and this twenty percent would equivalent to thirty-forty percent of his peers.
Dual Sword King and Iron Sword King's will sculptures had crumbled. Looking at the flagstone before their rubble, Ye Chen shook his head, 'Forget it.' Xuan Hou was Xuan Hou, and Ye Chen was Ye Chen. There was no need to leave behind the sign of his presence here.
His gaze moved from the flagstones to the first, Star King's sculpture. Ye Chen thought out aloud, "Star King's will approaches the heavenly dao. It should be much more powerful than Battle King's. Of course, if I were to cultivate martial dao, I would have risked my life to face his trial. Unfortunately, I cultivate the sword dao. Although I need not stick to the old conventions tightly, now is not the time. Someday, when my accomplishments of the sword dao reach the level of Battle King, I'll be able to absorb all the knowledge available and sharpen my sword dao."
"Let it be for the fated one in the future!"
Ye Chen turned around, heading towards the closed stone gate.
Rumble!
The stone gate slowly opened from inside. From the crack, Ye Chen saw Grand Elder Chen and Liu Mei sitting on the ground in meditation.
"Grand Elder Ye, you succeeded?" Grand Elder immediately regretted his words as soon as he said them. What a joke! If Ye Chen hadn't succeeded, he would have been dead already. Accepting will's test was not like a master teaching their disciple. It was a matter of life and death. Ye Chen had walked out alive and kicking, which meant that he had successfully passed the test.
Ye Chen didn't bother with his words and faintly nodded, "You two really won't take the test? Such an opportunity doesn't come by easily."
Liu Mei shook her head, "I can't. A King's will test is not something anyone can take at will. Reaching the Seas of Soul realm in this time lifetime is enough for me. As for the higher realms, I have no hope. I believe this test won't give me the talent to enter Life and Death realm either, so why take the risk?"
"Grand Elder Liu is correct. Not anybody can sustain the attack of a King's will. On True Spirit continent, only three out of ten who take the test can make it out alive, and none among these ten lack an astonishing talent. There is no need to encourage us."
Ye Chen was silent. It was just as they said. Accepting this test was indeed a dangerous task. Dual Sword King's slaughter sword will could even slice his will into thousands of pieces. If it had been someone else, their will wouldn't have lived, and if that happened, they would die in reality as well. Iron Sword King's will was even more frightening; it completely shattered his will, and he couldn't even feel his own existence. He felt completely muddled, not even knowing whether he was alive or dead. If he had not relied on his immortal intent, he believed that the chances of him overcoming this state were no more than thirty percent.
To undergo a test of King's will, one must have the qualifications. Otherwise, death was inevitable.
Before leaving, Grand Elder Chen and Liu Mei glanced inside the partially opened stone gate. With great astonishment, they saw that two out of the eleven sculptures had collapsed. Did this mean Ye Chen had undergone two tests back to back? Such a will was terrifying.
"Eh, there is a conveyor gate inside the stone forest, though it hasn't been activated." Ye Chen's soul power range had become enormous. On the third day, he eventually found a hope to leave.
Of course, to conceal his soul power, Ye Chen didn't immediately announce his discovery. Instead, he willfully moved in that direction and only told them when they were within fifteen li from the gate.
"Conveyor gate, haha! There is hope." Grand Elder Chen let out a sigh of relief. This place was too desolate. If they were to be stuck here forever, their lives would be miserable. On Bewilderment Fog Island, there were millions of people and a lot of experts. It was countless times better than here.
Liu Mei also revealed a smile, "Although it's not activated, something is always better than nothing."
The conveyor gate was slightly damaged. On its surface were carved some simple and unadorned lines, which were ever so slightly shining. This conveyor gate was clearly not trash.
"Let's all three of us channel True Yuan together and see if it activates." Grand Elder suggested.
"Alright!"
Ye Chen and Liu Mei nodded.
Ha!
The three occupied three corners and gently pressed against the door. The Zhen Yuan in their entire body soared as they uniformly channeled it into the door.
As Zhen Yuan entered the door, the lines increasingly brightened, and a black light soon circled through the lines.
Buzz!
The lines shone resplendently, and a black vortex appeared inside the gate.
"We can leave!"
The three entered the vortex together and disappeared.
The fog pervading the heaven and earth was so thick one couldn't even see their fingers.
Three figures suddenly appeared, floating above the lake water.
"Haha, Grand Elder Ye, Grand Elder Liu, our luck is really good. We were actually transported within a thousand miles of the island. The perceptive ball is responsive." Grand Elder Chen took out a Perceptive Ball from his ring. As he saw the flickering orange light, he couldn't help but laugh heartily.
Ye Chen smiled, "For us to make out from there is good fortune in itself."
"Right. Before five hundred Bewilderment Fog Beasts, even an Astral Reaching paragon's chance of keeping his life intact is quite low. Of course, it was all thanks to Grand Elder Ye."
If not for Ye Chen, even if they had hidden themselves underground, escaping from the pursuit of Bewilderment Fog Beasts would have been quite hard. After all, in the Astral Reaching realm, who would possibly be able to use soul power? Soul power transcended spirit power, and the latter would have served no purpose in scanning Bewilderment Fog Beasts. If it had been an Astral Reaching paragon, he or she would have absolutely not relied on spirit power to find a way. In that case, they would have no means to escape or retaliate.
"Let's return to the island!"
"En, let's go!"
With Perceptive Ball's presence, the three did not need to worry about the direction, and could head straight towards the island.
Inside the Palace Hall…
"What, those three have come out alive?" The black-robed Island Master was quite astonished. He then immediately revealed a smile and thought, "The rumors of Defiant Nine Turn Spirit Grass are not false. It really exists. A few centuries ago, someone went missing for no apparent reason. When he came back, he accidentally revealed about the Defiant Nine Turn Spirit Grass during a drinking session, then was chased by others. Chances of these three coming out with the Defiant Nine Turn Spirit Grass are quite high. And on this island, who will be the one to decide if not me?"
"Haha, have them come to me." The black-robed old man said to the bowing attendant.
"Yes!"
The attendant turned around left the hall.
A few moments later, Ye Chen and the other two arrived outside.
"Come in!"
The black-robed old man didn't tell anybody else. He didn't wish to leak the information about Defiant Nine Turn Spirit Grass, so that he could reap the benefits alone.
The three entered inside.
"Greetings Island Master!"
Grand Elder Chen and Liu Mei cupped their hands.
Ye Chen, however, faintly bowed.
Black robed old man's brows faintly creased. He shot a glance towards Ye Chen and said, "I am quite glad for you three to return back safely. What about others?"
Grand Elder Chen said dejectedly, "All dead. Bewilderment Fog Ship is also destroyed."
"You were chased?"
"Correct. That place had a lot of Bewilderment Fog Beasts. For us to make out alive alone is a great fortune." Grand Elder Chen said ambiguously. He didn't mention any details. Firstly, Ye Chen was present, and secondly, they had harvested many rare spirit grasses, and had no intentions of handing them over.
"So that's what happened. For you to come out alive is indeed your great fortune." He nodded, then continued, "However, your gains this time must be plentiful. Take out your storage rings! I'll only claim a part and obviously won't leave you with nothing."
He couldn't just ask for Defiant Nine Turn Spirit Grass out loud, so he asked for their spirit rings.
Grand Elder Chen and Liu Mei's faces suddenly changed, "Island Master, there is no such rule, is there?"
The purpose of Bewilderment Fog Ship was indeed to search Defiant Nine Turn Spirit Grass. However, it didn't mean that one had to hand over their gains to the island. Instead, one needed to notify the island of the location, then experts of the island would naturally be mobilized.
The black robed old man's face sank, "What? If I ask you to hand over your spirit rings, then hand it over. Don't forget what the consequences of defying me will be."
At this moment, Ye Chen spoke, "Pardon, but your order is hard to comply with."
"Grand Elder Ye, you really some nerve. You think you can go against me just because your cultivation base has increased? I spared your life before, and I can similarly take it right now."
Grand Elder Chen and Liu Mei exchanged a glance. Although they were prepared beforehand, at this critical moment, they couldn't help but feel a little weak. Island Master's reputation had been accumulated over a long time, and had been etched deep into the hearts of the people. Normally, they would never dare to go against Island Master.
"Grand Elder Liu, what do you think?" Grand Elder Chen sent a Zhen Yuan transmission to Liu Mei.
Liu Mei irresolutely said, "I'll trust Ye Chen!" After spending time with him, they were quite clear of Ye Chen's strength. He was absolutely a paragon.
Ye Chen's tone was neither servile nor overbearing, "The things we've obtained by putting our lives on the line, why do we need your permission to keep them?"
The Island Master said densely, "Being the person who controls the island, those who don't heed my words all die without exception. You've already committed a capital offense. Do you know that?"