Ye Yu, I Want You Dead!

As someone cried out in alarm, everyone's eyes fell on Ye Fan.

The Great Flame Emperor, who had been brimming with pride just moments ago, now wore an incomparably ugly expression.

Quite a few people from Azure Prefecture felt utterly delighted. Great Flame had risen at a terrifying pace in recent years, and its conduct had grown increasingly overbearing and tyrannical.

Many factions had long been dissatisfied with it, but constrained by its formidable national strength, they could only swallow their grievances and seek peace.

Now that this imperial prince Great Flame had cast out displayed such extraordinary talent, they were more than happy to kick him while he was down.

"Sigh, that child Xiao Yu just loves hiding his abilities. I've told him so many times, but he simply wouldn't listen." Qin Wushuang's smug voice rang out.

Only then did everyone come back to their senses. Ye Yu was now one of Great Qin's people!

At once, many turned envious gazes toward Qin Wushuang, though they could not help marveling at how sharp his eye was.

Had it been them, they could never have traded five spots in the War of a Hundred Dynasties for an imperial prince Great Flame had expelled.

"He's merely an abandoned child my Great Flame discarded. He's only a little faster. You don't seriously think he can surpass Xiao Xuan, do you?" Ye Fan glanced at Qin Wushuang and sneered.

Qin Wushuang merely shrugged indifferently, his gaze fixed on the light screen as he roared inwardly.

Ye Yu, surpass him for me! Slap Ye Fan's face hard!

When Ye Xuan stepped onto the eight-hundredth stair, he felt as though his entire body had been hollowed out. He was drenched in sweat, swaying several times and nearly collapsing to the ground.

Yet a smile curled across Ye Xuan's lips. Eight hundred steps were enough to prove that his talent was unmatched.

He also knew he could go no farther. He immediately prepared to sit cross-legged and receive the Ascending Heaven Staircase's reward.

But just as Ye Xuan turned around, a familiar face appeared before him.

"Ye... Ye Yu?!" Ye Xuan cried out in shock at the sight of that familiar face.

Ye Yu glanced at Ye Xuan and smiled. "What's this? You're not calling me Imperial Brother anymore? Then again, there's no one here now, so there's no need to keep pretending."

"Your spiritual root was... How can you still reach the eight-hundredth stair?" Ye Xuan's face was filled with disbelief.

A spiritual root was one of the most important measures of a cultivator's talent. Ye Yu no longer had one, so how could he possibly have reached this place?

Ye Yu sized Ye Xuan up and sensed that the Blood Demon Race's power still lingered within him. He could not help but sigh.

He had originally wanted to see whether the Blood Demon Race's power protecting Ye Xuan would be suppressed by the Ascending Heaven Staircase.

"Ye Yu, don't get cocky. So what if your talent is good?! You can't outplay me. As long as I want to, I can toy you to death anytime!" Ye Xuan said coldly, his expression venomous.

Ye Yu nodded at those words. "I believe you. But don't you think it's a little stupid to provoke me right now?"

Ye Xuan froze. Seeing Ye Yu's gradually rising smile, he instantly panicked. "What are you going to do?!"

"Nothing much. Don't you like Liu Ruyan very much? I'll let you go down and keep her company." With that, Ye Yu grabbed Ye Xuan by the collar, chuckled, and hurled him straight down.

"Ye Yu, I want you dead!" As Ye Xuan was thrown off the Ascending Heaven Staircase, he let out a venomous roar, his face twisted in fury.

Outside the secret realm, even Qin Wushuang clicked his tongue in secret at the sight, unable to stop himself from giving Ye Yu a mental thumbs-up.

He had imagined Ye Yu surpassing Ye Xuan, but he had never imagined that Ye Yu would simply throw Ye Xuan off the Ascending Heaven Staircase.

Then Qin Wushuang secretly glanced at Ye Fan.

Ye Fan's face was now gloomy to the extreme. Spiritual energy surged wildly around him, and his entire body trembled. Clearly, his rage had reached its limit.

"You unfilial bastard!!!!"

But anger was anger. Ye Yu was inside the secret realm now, and there was nothing he could do.

Seeing how Ye Fan now looked like an entirely different person from his earlier proud self, many people felt secretly delighted.

Qin Wushuang nodded to Situ Guang. Situ Guang immediately understood and hurriedly sent word back.

Delighted as he was, Qin Wushuang knew that Ye Yu had thoroughly provoked Ye Fan this time. Once he emerged from the secret realm, he would face Ye Fan's endless fury.

"Xiao Yu! Why did you do that?!" Within the secret realm, Ye Qingshuang's questioning voice rang out. She stared straight at Ye Yu, her face full of anger.

Ye Yu frowned at her words. He turned to look at Ye Qingshuang, pondered for a moment, then walked directly toward her.

As Ye Yu approached, Ye Qingshuang sensed that something was wrong. She had just opened her mouth when Ye Yu was already before her.

Then, under Ye Qingshuang's shocked gaze, she too was thrown down by Ye Yu.

After finishing everything, Ye Yu patted his hands. "Too noisy."

With that, Ye Yu turned and continued upward.

On the Ascending Heaven Staircase, everyone watching this scene marveled at Ye Yu's ruthless decisiveness, yet no one dared say a word, afraid that Ye Yu might throw them down as well if he was displeased.

After dealing with the annoying flies, Ye Yu quickly reached the nine-hundredth stair of the Ascending Heaven Staircase.

Everyone watching this scene sucked in a breath of cold air.

Nine hundred steps to heaven, talent fit for the Void Refinement Realm!

Back when the Sacred Pill Sect was still in its glory days, reaching the nine-hundredth stair would have been enough to become the sect master's direct disciple.

Just as everyone was marveling, Ye Fan was strangely calm. The fury in his eyes had completely turned into icy killing intent.

Ye Yu absolutely could not be allowed to live!

Ye Yu, who was currently on the Ascending Heaven Staircase, naturally had no idea what was happening outside. Nor had he expected that someone was spying on everything within the secret realm. Right now, he only wanted to keep climbing.

Upon reaching the nine-hundredth stair, Ye Yu had already begun to feel some pressure.

By the time he reached the nine-hundred-and-ninety-sixth stair, that pressure had reached its peak. Every step forward now required immense effort.

Moreover, according to ancient records, the rewards for the final ten steps of the Ascending Heaven Staircase were all the same.

Looking at the Sacred Pill Sect's palace so close at hand, Ye Yu frowned, then stopped. Leaving aside whatever dangers might exist within the Sacred Pill Sect's palace, the Nine Nether Blood Spring alone was troublesome enough.

Having expended so much strength on the Ascending Heaven Staircase, pressing onward was definitely not a wise choice.

With that thought, Ye Yu sat cross-legged and quietly waited for the Ascending Heaven Staircase's reward to arrive.

The next moment, a humming sound erupted throughout the entire secret realm. From the heavens, a dazzling pillar of light descended upon the mountain where the Sacred Pill Sect stood, enveloping Ye Yu within it.

Immediately afterward, Ye Yu felt an immense, pure surge of spiritual energy continuously pouring into his body.

Yet Ye Yu was in no hurry to refine this pure spiritual energy.

Under the wash of such vast spiritual energy, Ye Yu quickly reached his limit. Blood streaks even appeared across his body, but he continued waiting.

Only when Ye Yu was on the verge of exploding did a pure white aura appear.

Sensing that aura, Ye Yu grinned. He immediately formed hand seals with both hands and began refining the boundless spiritual energy.

With the sound of something shattering, a crack appeared on Ye Yu's golden core. Then a miniature Ye Yu began to gradually condense as the spiritual energy around him started transforming.

Outside the light screen, the Nascent Soul Realm experts immediately understood what they were seeing.

Ye Yu was breaking through into the Nascent Soul Realm!