An opportunity to advance
Everyone present could clearly feel the terrifying power emanating from Zi Yan's body.
That power emanated from her dragon body, like an ancient divine beast slowly awakening, each breath causing the surrounding air to emit a low hum.
Even experts who had reached the Tier 9 Peak couldn't help but change color. The holders of the Golden Dragon Token standing on the river all had solemn expressions. Some subconsciously took a step back, while others placed their hands on the spiritual artifacts and then slowly released them.
Because they could sense that the power had already exceeded the realm of the Tier 9 Peak, as if one foot had already stepped onto another threshold.
The young man in the crimson robe stared at Zi Yan's shrinking yet increasingly refined Dragon Phoenix body. His lips moved, and after a long while, he uttered in a low voice, "Is she trying to use this Perfect Baptism to directly break through the threshold of the Earth Sovereign?"
The owner of the Cold Abyss Divine Body beside him narrowed his eyes slightly upon hearing this, remained silent for a moment, and slowly shook his head, saying, "It's not that easy. If the threshold of Earth Sovereign were so easy to cross, Earth Sovereign wouldn't be so rare in this world. However... after this baptism, she's probably closer to that threshold than all of us combined."
Above the Heavenly River, vast Spiritual Energy surged continuously, like a storm sweeping across thousands of miles of sky.
The streams of Spiritual Energy surged forth from the pillars of light that were being baptized, intertwining and colliding, turning the entire sky into a bubbling, turbulent broth.
Pulled by the Spiritual Energy, Fang Heavenly River also stirred up towering waves. The milky white river water rolled from the surface to hundreds of feet into the air, and the waves made a rumbling sound as they surged, like giant beasts that had been awakened and were turning over at the bottom of the river.
At this moment, almost everyone was subjected to the Heavenly River Baptism.
One by one, the cultivators holding various tokens soared into the sky above the river, releasing the Heavenly River Crystal they had accumulated over a long period.
The showers of light descending from the sky varied in size, some like babbling brooks, some like winding rivers, and some like cascading lakes. Multicolored lights shimmered and flickered on the surface of the river, making the entire Heavenly River look like an overturned palette.
However, because of Zi Yan's terrifying phenomenon, all the other baptisms seemed rather shabby.
That perfect Heavenly River stretching across the sky stood like a pillar supporting the heavens, dimming all other baptismal light, like stars meeting the bright moon, where even the brightest starlight could only become a backdrop.
However, apart from being somewhat frustrated by Zi Yan's Perfect Baptism, the vast majority of people felt extremely satisfied.
Those who had completed the Low-Tier Baptism felt the increase in Spiritual Energy and changes in their Dharma Bodies, and each of them wore a satisfied smile.
A cultivator at the Early Stage Tier 9 Supreme stretched his limbs and said to his companion beside him, "I've been stuck at the early stage for almost fifty years. This Low-Tier Baptism has probably saved me two hundred years of hard work."
His companion nodded and smiled, "Me too. I thought this was the end of my life, but I never expected to have such an opportunity."
This baptism was of immense benefit to them. The raindrops washed over their meridians and Dharma Body, cleansing away the impurities that had accumulated over the years and solidifying their loose foundations.
Even with this help, their future advancement will become much easier. The meridians and Dharma Body that have been strengthened during the baptism will be able to withstand greater Spiritual Energy impacts when they break through to higher realms in the future, just like a house that has been renovated, which is more solid and more spacious than before.
As time goes by, more and more baptisms begin to complete.
Those who had completed the baptism put away their Dharma Body and retreated towards the riverbank on the token boats. Some sat cross-legged on the river, closing their eyes to regulate their breathing and consolidate their gains, while others gathered in twos and threes to exchange their experiences.
Then the vast Heavenly River gradually calmed down, the surging waves slowly subsided, and the Spirit Mist on the river surface gradually dissipated, revealing the river surface that was illuminated by light.
Only a handful of High-Tier Baptism in the world continued. The owners of those Flood Dragon Token sat cross-legged on the light bridge, letting the waterfall wash over their Dharma Body, their auras rising step by step.
And of course, there's Zi Yan's unique Perfect Baptism.
The Milky Heavenly River, stretching across the sky, continued its mighty flow. Zi Yan's Dragon Phoenix body shrank and condensed in the river. A purple-gold and gold-red light shone through the gaps in her scales and Phoenix Feathers, illuminating the surrounding river.
As the baptism continued, Zi Yan's aura grew stronger and stronger, approaching the level of Earth Sovereign being.
Her Dragon Phoenix body had shrunk from nearly tens of thousands of feet to more than five thousand feet. Although its volume was less than 30%, the power contained in every inch of her flesh and blood was more than ten times stronger than it was at the beginning.
Those crystalline threads had densely covered her meridians, flesh, and bones, like a net that wrapped her entire body from the inside out, reinforcing every weak point in her flesh.
She could feel that the Spiritual Energy within her body had accumulated to its limit, like a cup of water that was about to be filled. The water level had already bulged out of the cup but had not yet overflowed. Only one drop was needed to completely overflow the threshold.
In her perception, that threshold was like a thin membrane, beyond which lay a completely new world, which could be broken with just a gentle poke.
But that one membrane has trapped countless Tier 9 Peak experts for their entire lives.
Seeing this, Lin Ming immediately took action.
He had been keeping watch from a short distance, his gaze always fixed on Zi Yan. When he saw that her aura had reached a critical point, he immediately made a decision.
With a flick of his wrist, Black Flame surged from his palm, and with a flick of his finger, the ball of Black Flame transformed into a black stream of light that flew towards Zi Yan and her Baptismal Heavenly River, like a giant black net enveloping that area.
At this moment, Zi Yan is facing advancement, and she certainly cannot miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
However, if she were to advance directly like this, the current situation wouldn't allow for Earth Sovereign to be present.
There is a suppressive array within the Heavenly River. Anyone who steps into the Earth Sovereign realm will be repelled by the power of that array and will be ejected by the array the moment she advances.
If Zi Yan were to go out now, those Earthly Earth Sovereign who are not allowed to enter would likely be unable to resist attacking her.
Those Old Monster who had been eyeing the Far Western Lands were like a piece of fresh meat placed in front of hungry wolves when they saw a newly promoted Earth Sovereign who possessed the Dragon-Phoenix Bloodline.
At that time, Zi Yan was outnumbered and in grave danger.
So at this moment, he directly pulled the baptized Heavenly River and her into his Inner World.
That was his territory, and his will was the supreme Law, so Zi Yan could advance with peace of mind.
He was able to do this not only because he possessed Inner World, but also because he received the inheritance from the Master of the Lin Residence, thus knowing how the entire Ancient Heavenly Palace's formation worked.
The structure, nodes, and operating rules of those formations were like a disassembled blueprint in his mind. Although he couldn't directly break these formations, he could still use them to his advantage.
Like someone who knows every secret passage and back door of their own house, they can't demolish the house, but they can still find a way that others can't.
During the baptism, Zi Yan sensed the aura of the Black Flame and naturally knew it was Lin Ming.
The familiar fluctuations contained within the Black Flame were like a pair of warm hands that gently lifted her up, and she was drawn into Lin Ming's Inner World without any resistance.
Her Dragon Phoenix body rapidly shrank under the envelope of the Black Flame, and along with the still-flowing Heavenly River of Baptism above her head, it was taken into Lin Ming's palm.
With the disappearance of Lin Ming's Black Flame, the strange Heavenly River also vanished.
The area in the sky that had been illuminated by Zi Yan's baptism suddenly darkened, as if someone had blown out a huge lamp, leaving only lingering purple-gold light spots in the air that were slowly dissipating.
This scene shocked everyone present once again. Those who were still watching stared wide-eyed, their mouths agape, as if they could fit an egg in them.
After all, there was more than one person who wanted to take the tempering Heavenly River. Among those who had completed the baptism, there were quite a few clever people. Some tried to wrap their own baptism stream with Spiritual Energy in an attempt to take it away, but as soon as the Spiritual Energy touched the stream, it was shattered by a huge force, and the person and the boat were thrown hundreds of feet away.
No one has ever succeeded; the resistance is so great that it feels like it's going to crush them, like an ant trying to move a mountain.
Moreover, their ordinary baptism was like this, but now this perfect baptism has been received by this person, how could they not be shocked?
A middle-aged cultivator holding Golden Eagle Token stared at the suddenly empty sky, his lips trembling several times before he finally managed to squeeze out, "He... he took away the Heavenly River that had undergone Perfect Baptism?"
The man next to him swallowed hard and nodded. "Take it all, not a single drop left."
Lin Ming ignored the gazes of these people. He turned and sped towards the riverbank, his black robes fluttering in the wind, like a falcon that had completed its hunt and calmly departed.
As Lin Ming left, many people stared at him with greedy expressions.
He possessed the Heavenly River that had undergone this Perfect Baptism; if we captured him, wouldn't the Heavenly River that had undergone this Perfect Baptism become our own?
That would provide a tremendous boost to advancing to the Earth Sovereign. Those veteran powerhouses who had been stuck at the Tier 9 Peak for many years had a gleam in their eyes, like a pack of hungry wolves watching a piece of fat meat walk by.
However, no one made a move even after Lin Ming's figure had completely disappeared.
Because, for them, the formation Lin Ming used to collect the Heavenly River Spirit was already beyond their ability to provoke.
That great formation could easily capture even Heavenly River Spirit comparable to Tier 9 Peak. They knew that if they faced that formation, they probably wouldn't even be able to escape.
And now, being able to receive Perfect Baptism from the Heavenly River, what must its strength be?
If they dared to confront such beings, they would likely lose their lives.
Everyone knows how to choose between death and opportunity.
So even though they were incredibly greedy, none of them dared to take any action, and could only watch helplessly as the dark figure disappeared into the horizon.
Upon seeing Lin Ming disappear, North King and Xia Jia hurriedly followed. They stomped their tokens, and the Golden Eagle Token and Bai Ying Token boats broke through the waves, transforming into two beams of light that sped off in the direction Lin Ming had gone.