Breakthrough to True Condensation Realm

P.S.: Yesterday we broke three hundred votes. Everyone has been incredibly supportive. I hope we can keep it up today. Taixu thanks you all in advance!

The banquet did not end until dusk. Most of the guests were flushed red-faced and bleary-eyed with drink.

Meanwhile, Ye Chen, Ye Hai, and several other Ye Family juniors gathered around a table, eating, chatting, and drinking together, forming the beginnings of friendship.

At that moment, Ye Tianhao suddenly called Ye Chen over.

"Chen'er, this is Uncle Xu Tai, chief escort of the Riding Wind Escort Agency. This is his second daughter, Xu Mei." Ye Tianhao pulled Ye Chen over and introduced them with a beaming smile.

"Greetings, Uncle Xu!" Ye Chen gave the pair a once-over. Xu Tai was a burly man in his forties, dressed in a chief escort's uniform and carrying an imposing air. His second daughter, Xu Mei, was only sixteen. Clad in a scarlet martial outfit, she had a graceful figure and delicate features, her charm tinged with a heroic spirit. When she saw Ye Chen looking at her, a faint blush of shyness appeared on her face.

Xu Tai was also studying Ye Chen. After a moment, he burst into laughter. "A hero indeed emerges from youth! At such a young age, you already possess the decisive, killing aura of one who acts without hesitation. You are no creature meant to be trapped in a pond."

These were not empty words. Xu Tai had roamed the martial world for many years and seen every sort of person. Some extraordinary figures revealed their differences from a young age, their talent already jutting forth like towering horns. Though Ye Chen appeared refined and handsome, like a scholarly young master, there was a faint, awe-inspiring presence between his brows that could not be underestimated.

Ye Chen modestly replied, "Uncle Xu, you flatter me."

Xu Tai shook his head. "Your Uncle Xu is a rough man. I don't understand all this modesty or not. To me, modesty is hypocrisy, and it won't do. I find you pleasing to the eye, and my daughter finds you pleasing to the eye too. Why not find some time to get acquainted?"

Although Ye Tianhao knew that Xu Tai had always been this straightforward, he was still rendered speechless. Even so, he wanted to see how Ye Chen would answer.

"Uncle Xu, since you are so forthright, I will speak plainly as well. Until I reach my father's level of strength, Ye Chen will not consider matters between men and women," Ye Chen said seriously.

Xu Tai was stunned for a moment before sighing helplessly. "It seems my daughter has no such fortune. So be it. You will surely become a true dragon in the future. Mei'er cannot hold on to you."

Ye Tianhao was inwardly pleased with Ye Chen's ambition, but he rebuked him aloud, "Nonsense. A true man never fears matters between men and women."

He then turned to Xu Tai. "Brother Xu, let the children settle their own affairs. Even if we wanted to interfere, we could not. Wouldn't you agree?"

Xu Tai nodded. "That is true. In that case, we shall take our leave first. We can gather again when there is a chance. Mei'er, let's go."

Ye Tianhao made a token attempt to keep them. "Brother Xu, you are leaving so soon? It is still early."

"No need. My wife is at home stewing soup for me." Xu Tai waved a hand and strode away, with Xu Mei following close behind.

After the two had gone far away, Ye Tianhao turned and stared at Ye Chen until his scalp prickled.

After a long while, Ye Tianhao said, "You must be quite tired after today's matches. Go back and rest quickly!"

"Mm. I'll go say goodbye to Ye Hai and the others."

Watching Ye Chen's retreating back, Ye Tianhao revealed a smile. Heaven had truly given him a surprise—and at a time when he had held no hope at all.

Shen Yuqing walked over. "Tianhao, what is it?"

Ye Tianhao smiled. "Tell me, how far do you think Chen'er will go in the future? Luocheng City has not produced a Star Extremity Realm expert in over a hundred years."

"You really dare to dream. Still, our Chen'er truly is different from before. Haven't you noticed?"

"It seems I have noticed something, yet it also seems I have seen nothing at all. Who cares! As long as he is our Chen'er, that is enough."

The night was deep and still, with a crescent moon hanging above the treetops.

Light shone from Ye Chen's room, illuminating the gauze-covered windows.

On the clean, spacious bed.

Ye Chen sat cross-legged in the center, fully clothed, with billowing mist rising from his head.

According to Ye Chen's original estimate, he would only have a chance to step into the True Condensation Realm after seven days. Who could have imagined that today's several battles would temper his Internal Energy to an extraordinary degree, showing signs of liquefying into True Qi.

Such an opportunity was rare, and Ye Chen did not wish to miss it. Thus, as soon as he returned to his room, he cast aside all distracting thoughts and threw himself into breaking through the bottleneck.

As his Internal Energy circulated and compressed without cease, the liquid True Qi within Ye Chen's Dantian gradually increased. What had once been mere threads and wisps soon became ribbon-like streams, clearly distinct from his Internal Energy.

One hour.

Two hours.

Five hours!

The horizon gradually brightened. The Ye Family servants rose one after another and began their day's work.

Who knew how much time had passed.

The gauze windows of Ye Chen's room trembled violently, producing sharp slapping sounds, as though they were being battered by a wild wind beyond their control.

Inside the room, invisible currents of air formed an inverted funnel around Ye Chen. Every relatively light object rose into the air and floated in midair.

Buzz!

A strange fluctuation spread from Ye Chen's Dantian. The floating objects immediately fell back down, creating an unbroken clatter.

"Finally, the True Condensation Realm."

Ye Chen slowly exhaled a deep breath and opened his eyes. Brilliant light flashed within them like lightning, darting wildly through the empty air.

After a long while, the gleam receded, and a confident smile appeared on Ye Chen's face.

In truth, before last night, he had not even possessed a fifty-percent certainty of breaking through to the True Condensation Realm—perhaps only thirty or forty percent. After all, liquefying Internal Energy into True Qi was no simple matter. It required prolonged refinement and compression. Otherwise, so many people would not have remained stuck at the peak Qi Cultivation Realm Tenth Layer for half a year, with some only breaking through after a full year. Even Wu Zongming, the former First Disciple of the outer sect, had taken more than half a year to successfully advance and officially become an Inner Sect Disciple of the Flowing Cloud Sect.

As for geniuses like Zhang Haoran, who broke through to the True Condensation Realm within merely one or two months, they were exceedingly rare—one might not appear even among ten thousand people.

It could be said that only martial artists who reached the True Condensation Realm could be considered true martial artists. Before that, they were merely at the very bottom of the True Spirit Continent, no different from apprentices.

Once one reached the True Condensation Realm, however, one's strength did not merely double—it increased severalfold. One could even kill from afar, taking a person's life from dozens of steps away.

If Ye Chen were to fight Ye Xuan now, he was confident that he could defeat her within a few moves, easily and without expending much effort.

"Let's first see what this True Qi is all about."

Ye Chen muttered to himself, directing his consciousness toward the Dantian in his abdomen.

The large, scattered vortex of energy from before had vanished. In its place was a whirlpool-shaped mass of True Qi, superior to Internal Energy by an entire level in both quality and quantity. As it rotated, it resembled the nebulae in the heavens and whirlpools in water, brimming with a sense of power.

With all his might, Ye Chen circulated the Pure Origin Skill, and his robes swelled around him.

Ha!

He threw a punch through the air. The gauze window ten steps away exploded violently, turning into hundreds of fragments that shot in every direction. The fierce gale of force pierced all the way into the courtyard.

"From today onward, I can cultivate the Hegemon Fist. I wonder how powerful it will be."

Not feeling particularly tired, Ye Chen did not sleep. He got up, washed and freshened himself, then opened the door and walked outside.