Time Passing, Divine Artifact Finally Forged

The brief conflict in the Icefire Yin Yang Well valley was merely an insignificant ripple in the operation of the plane to Lei Chen, who was deep in the core of the Star Dou Great Forest forging a divine artifact, and was simply not worth his attention.

This was because he truly felt extremely at ease regarding Wang Qiu'er's safety.

Not to mention that the residual dragon souls of the Icefire Dragon Kings at the Icefire Yin Yang Well would naturally feel close to her since she bore the Golden Dragon King Origin, the power of destiny possessed by Wang Qiu'er herself was enough to let her turn misfortune into fortune in the vast majority of situations.

Therefore, Lei Chen did not pay excessive attention to the situation over at the Icefire Yin Yang Well. Had he known that this minor episode had mistakenly stimulated Zhongli Wu and planted the obsession seed of breaking through to the god-level at all costs within his heart, he likely would have worn an expression of rare approval.

Zhongli Wu possessed both talent and ruthlessness, but because of his Evil Soul Master temperament, he was often easily swayed by various desires and emotions, which was the greatest obstacle to him breaking through the hundred-level threshold.

Now that he had been heavily suppressed by Wang Qiu'er relying on the power of the god-level dragon soul, this experience where life and death hung solely on the single thought of a god-level powerhouse could instead ignite Zhongli Wu's determination to break through the hundred-level barrier. The breakthrough probability, which might have originally been less than thirty percent, was likely raised to over fifty percent through this stimulation.

For Ye Gu Yi, who needed a god-level sacrifice to recast the Angel Godhood, this was undoubtedly good news.

Of course, these were matters for later.

Over at the Icefire Yin Yang Well, those seven so-called peak powerhouses of the continent had completely come to terms with a certain fact.

The background and potential of that blonde-haired, red-eyed girl were unfathomable and definitely not something they could afford to provoke. Therefore, the somewhat subtle atmosphere originally present in the valley instead became pure.

Everyone restrained their respective thoughts and poured all their energy into the cultivation of tempering their physical bodies with the aid of the ice and fire forces and comprehending the Innate Secret Art.

As time passed, this worldly treasure basin grew increasingly lively.

Aside from cultivating here, these seven powerhouses would also occasionally leave this place, returning to their respective factions to pass down the optimized Innate Secret Art and lead the Super Douluos with soul power cultivation above level ninety within their factions to cultivate at the Icefire Yin Yang Well.

For a time, this valley that had originally been rarely visited unexpectedly became a gathering place for the peak powerhouses of the Douluo Continent.

Amidst the bone-chilling cold of the ice spring and the scorching heat of the fire spring, soul masters from different factions and differing righteous or evil alignments formed a peculiar "tacit" atmosphere centered around cultivation for the sake of a single goal—breaking through mortal limits and touching the god-level realm.

Spring departed and autumn arrived, winters and summers alternated, and more than half a year of time quietly slipped away amidst such an intense cultivation atmosphere.

During these past six-plus months, the situation on the Douluo Continent had also quietly undergone profound changes.

Shrek Academy officially announced the removal of all statues of the Sea God Tang San within the academy, while renaming Sea God Lake to Mirror Lake, Sea God Island to Gathering Worthies Island, and Sea God Pavilion to Sky-Piercing Pavilion, sparking widespread discussion and speculation in the continent's soul master community.

The Noumenon Sect officially made the Innate Secret Art public, setting off a body-tempering frenzy in the soul master community and allowing many soul masters trapped at bottlenecks to see new hope.

After obtaining the alchemy inheritance from a different plane, the Sun Moon Empire's soul tool research seemed to have entered a new burst period, and the few newly styled soul tools that occasionally leaked out all displayed design concepts vastly different from the past.

Holding the Angel Holy Sword, Ye Gu Yi acted like the most precise hunter, wandering through the dark corners of the continent based on the "Evil Soul Master Distribution Map" in her mind, the light of the holy sword growing ever brighter amidst wave after wave of purification...

All of these changes pointed their sources directly at that Plane Lord who sat cross-legged by the Lake of Life, seeming to merge completely with heaven and earth.

The core of the Star Dou Great Forest, the Lake of Life.

The life energy here had already grown dense to an unimaginably fantastical degree, the hazy milky-white spiritual mist on the lake surface practically transforming into a liquid, while the exotic flowers and rare herbs by the shore exhaled rosy light, every single leaf seeming to be carved from jade.

That towering Golden Ancient Tree flowed through its entire body with a soft and eternal golden halo, its trunk growing increasingly thick and its crown blocking out the sun and sky as though it were propping up this entire world.

Lei Chen sat cross-legged by the lake, his figure completely motionless for over half a year. His aura had thoroughly merged with the entire Lake of Life and the Golden Ancient Tree; had he not been visible to the naked eye, his existence could hardly have been perceived.

And today, he slowly opened the eyes he had kept closed for a long time.

Reflected within those profound pupils were no longer simple lake reflections and mountain scenery, but countless dense, intricate rule-threads containing the birth, growth, prosperity, and reincarnation of life.

His gaze pierced through the solid trunk of the Golden Ancient Tree and landed upon its inner core.

There, the Life Gold that had originally been jade-green and flowing in liquid form had undergone an essential transformation after being nurtured by the source of the Golden Ancient Tree day and night for over half a year without rest, and continuously inscribed and tempered by the Life Law guided by Lei Chen with the plane's will.

Its color gradually transformed from the initial emerald green into emerald-gold, finally settling into an incomparably pure and noble brilliant golden color. Its form was no longer a simple liquid, either, but had transformed into a flawless golden sphere roughly the size of a fist.

On the surface of the sphere, countless profound patterns billions of times finer than a hair seemed to have naturally formed. These patterns were not stationary, but slowly flowed, deducing the origin and evolution of life while containing the ultimate mystery of the life laws of the entire Douluo Plane.

It quietly suspended itself within the core of the Golden Ancient Tree, like a sleeping emperor awaiting the moment to awaken it.

Looking at that golden sphere, Lei Chen's pupils suddenly lit up. He slowly raised his hands and formed a strange and ancient seal in front of his chest, a seal that seemed to communicate with that sliver of vitality origin from the very beginning of heaven and earth.

Hum—

A clear chime that did not propagate through the air, but instead rang out directly in the depths of the souls of all living beings in the Star Dou Great Forest, suddenly spread outward with the Golden Ancient Tree at its center!

The next moment, the entire body of the Golden Ancient Tree erupted with indescribably brilliant golden light!

This golden light was not simple radiance, but the manifestation of highly condensed life laws. A pillar of light soared into the sky, piercing straight into the clouds and dyeing the clouds in the sky gold, as though plating the entire sky with a layer of sacred glory.

The golden light rapidly spread and diffused like a golden tide, sweeping across every corner of the forest.

Whether it was towering ancient trees, delicate little grass, ten-year soul beasts, or hundred-thousand-year fierce beasts, at this moment, they all felt a warmth and joy originating from the root of life, as though the vitality of the entire forest were cheering and leaping for joy!

The Star Dou Great Forest, at this moment, transformed into an ocean of gold and a holy land of life!

The grand phenomenon lasted for about ten breaths of time. Afterward, the soaring golden pillar of light began to recede, ultimately gathering upon the trunk of the Golden Ancient Tree.

Under Lei Chen's calm gaze, that brilliant golden orb slowly emerged from within the tree trunk like a fruit ripening. It detached itself from the Golden Ancient Tree and drifted lightly to suspend itself before Lei Chen.

Lei Chen reached out and grasped this brilliant golden orb that had gathered the plane's life essence and was inscribed with the Life Law.

It felt warm to the touch without any sense of heaviness; instead, there was a fit of blood-connected, arm-like coordination. He could clearly feel the sea-vast life origin and creation power contained within it.

A trace of a satisfied smile finally surfaced at the corner of Lei Chen's mouth.

He spoke softly to himself, his voice carrying a trace of imperceptible emotion and achievement:

"It is done."