After Di Wanrong left, Ye Chen received a message from the Seventh Ancestor, asking him to come over.
Deep within the Ye Lineage, an old man and a youth sat facing each other in a quaint courtyard.
The old man was none other than Ye Wuhen, the Ye Lineage's Seventh Ancestor, whose fame resounded throughout the heavens and countless realms, and who, alone with his sword, had slaughtered other races until the mere mention of him struck terror into their hearts.
The youth was Ye Chen, who had come after receiving the message.
"Chen'er, your father should have told you already, right?"
The old man looked at Ye Chen, his eyes filled with affection.
Had those other races seen him like this, their jaws might well have dropped.
In their eyes, the old man was a murderous fiend, an executioner who had once destroyed an entire planet inhabited by another race with a single strike, slaughtering a hundred billion living beings.
"Father already told me. He said the ancestors wanted me to gain experience in the lower realm!"
Ye Chen spoke respectfully.
Although the seven ancestors took turns teaching him, he actually spent most of his time by the Seventh Ancestor's side.
When he was little, the Seventh Ancestor had spanked his backside plenty of times-and, of course, cleaned up his messes just as often.
The Seventh Ancestor had once declared, "Anyone who wants to teach Chen'er a lesson must first ask the sword in my hand!"
Thus, Ye Chen both feared and respected the Seventh Ancestor.
"Don't blame us ancestors. Who told you to dislike cultivating and spend every day making trouble?"
The Seventh Ancestor smiled and continued, "Also, you have a task on this trip to the lower realm. The place you're going is where the Ye Lineage originated. Although countless years have passed, some members of the Ye Lineage's branch families should still be there. You must guide them well in their cultivation and not disgrace our Ye Lineage's illustrious name!"
Ye Chen curled his lips at that. He himself was lying flat, yet now they were actually asking him to teach others to cultivate.
He had planned to go out and have a good time, only to get saddled with something like this.
Long accustomed to this reaction, the Seventh Ancestor patted Ye Chen on the head. "I knew you wouldn't be willing, brat. Oh, well. You've always wanted this sword, so I'll give it to you today!"
With a flip of the Seventh Ancestor's right hand, a blood-red longsword appeared in his grasp.
The sword's presence was incomparably sharp, its entire length enveloped in Great Dao laws. Looking closely, one could even see countless blood-colored runes flowing across its blade. Its pressure was terrifying beyond compare.
"This sword is called Demon Slayer. It was the sword I carried in my youth, accompanying me as I fought and killed my way to the Immortal King realm. Now, I'm giving it to you."
He then formed seals with both hands. Countless Great Dao runes flowed through his palms before sinking into the blade together. "This sword is an Immortal King-grade immortal artifact. You can't use it yet, so I've sealed it with ten layers of seals. Once you've made progress in your cultivation, you can gradually undo them. I'll teach you the incantation."
As soon as he finished speaking, an obscure, profound incantation entered Ye Chen's mind.
Ye Chen took the sword, overjoyed.
Despite how unremarkable the Seventh Ancestor made it sound, this sword was the strongest Immortal King artifact, famed throughout the heavens. It was said that when this sword struck, the myriad Daos fell silent.
Even sealed as it was now, the mere wisp of presence leaking from the sword was enough to make the void tremble.
"Go!"
Once Ye Chen put away the sword, the Seventh Ancestor waved his hand, and Ye Chen arrived at the Sixth Ancestor's palace.
"Chen'er, hurry and tell me what your Seventh Ancestor gave you!"
The moment the Sixth Ancestor saw Ye Chen, he asked with a sly look.
"I'm not telling!"
Ye Chen sprawled lazily in the Sixth Ancestor's rocking chair. "But if you have any more Great Dao Golden Pills, Law Golden Pills, or anything like that, I'll tell you!"
Seeing Ye Chen like this, the Sixth Ancestor stamped his feet in anger. "I knew you wouldn't start running until you saw the rabbit, brat!"
Then, with a pained expression, he took out a storage ring and tossed it to Ye Chen. "It's all in there!"
Ye Chen hurriedly caught it and immediately probed inside with his divine sense. He found it filled with pills-tens of billions of them. Their medicinal fragrance was so rich that it had condensed into a watery mist.
A mortal needed only one whiff to gain ten thousand years of life and become a peerless genius with outstanding cultivation talent.
Every kind of pill was there, covering every sort of effect.
One could say that these pills outnumbered the combined stock of several holy lands.
Not only that, there were even several Great Dao Golden Pills inside!
Great Dao Golden Pills were supreme-grade immortal pills. After taking one, a person could see the Great Dao intertwine and evolve for a certain period, granting an utterly heaven-defying effect on comprehending the Great Dao.
Whenever one appeared, even old monsters from holy lands would fight tooth and nail over it.
For the further one progressed in cultivation, the more it depended on one's comprehension of Great Dao laws.
Most importantly, only a handful of people could currently refine such golden pills, and their success rate was pitifully low.
The cost was too great. Without vast resources to support the process, they were extremely difficult to refine.
"Hurry up and tell me. What did your Seventh Ancestor give you?"
The Sixth Ancestor cast a pained glance at the storage ring and spoke resentfully.
"Nothing much. He just gave me Demon Slayer!"
Ye Chen answered casually as he inspected the pills, his eyes shining.
At that, the Sixth Ancestor's heart blossomed with delight.
That fellow really is stingy to the bone. All he gave was a lousy sword, while I gave away half my stock!
He thought smugly.
Then he glanced furtively around and whispered, "You mustn't tell anyone about the pills I gave you. Don't let the others know!"
"Got it, got it!"
"Chen'er, what did your Seventh and Sixth Ancestors prepare for you?"
A dark-skinned, plump old man wore an ingratiating expression.
Ye Chen took out a storage ring and waved it. "They prepared loads of good stuff!"
Then he asked with a smile, "Fifth Ancestor, you're the most generous of all. You must have prepared lots of things for me!"
At that, the Fifth Ancestor beamed.
He could tell at a glance what was inside the storage ring.
At the outset, the seven of them had agreed not to give Ye Chen anything for his trip to the lower realm, to prevent him from relying too heavily on external aids.
Who would have thought those two old fellows would have no martial virtue and secretly give him things? Fortunately, he had prepared something too.
Still, he had not expected that miserly Sixth Ancestor to spend so lavishly.
Usually, asking him for a Great Dao Golden Pill was like asking for his life, yet now he had given away five without batting an eye.
However, it didn't do a damn bit of good.
What he had prepared was not one bit less!
"Good boy, Chen'er. What your Fifth Ancestor prepared certainly won't be any less than what those two old fellows gave you!"
Then he tossed Ye Chen a storage ring and said, "Inside are all the talismans I've refined over tens of millions of years. If you run into someone you can't beat, just throw talismans at them. There are plenty!"
As he spoke, the Fifth Ancestor stroked his beard smugly.
Ye Chen's divine sense was inside the storage ring at that moment, and the sky-filling runes left him utterly stunned.
There were talismans of every grade inside, even ones capable of threatening top-tier Immortal Emperors.
He had no doubt that the quantity and quality of these talismans could even match those in the Ye Lineage's treasury.
"You mustn't tell anyone about the talismans I gave you. Don't let the others know!"
The Fifth Ancestor whispered mysteriously into Ye Chen's ear.
"Got it, got it!"
Since you old fellows aren't keeping your word, don't blame me for having prepared in advance.
"Chen'er, this is the gift I prepared for you. There are enough weapons inside for you to use. If you meet someone you can't beat, just pelt them with immortal artifacts. If you still can't beat them, use supreme divine artifacts. Don't worry about breaking them. There are plenty!"
"Also, you mustn't tell anyone about the weapons I gave you. Don't let the others know!"
"Got it, got it!"
The same scene played out over and over in the centralmost area of the Ye Lineage!
Within the Ye Lineage's ancestral hall, the Ye Lineage's patriarch hovered high in the air, his pressure unrivaled throughout the heavens.
Had anyone else been present, they would have been utterly horrified.
The figure who always remained hidden within the light of the Great Dao had actually revealed his true form-something that had not happened in hundreds of millions of years.
"Chen'er, this is a Chaos Dao Fruit. Keep it safe. It will be of great use in the future!"
The Ye Lineage's patriarch looked at Ye Chen affectionately.
"Be careful in all things on this trip to the lower realm!"
With that, before Ye Chen could react, he waved his hand and teleported Ye Chen away.
On the Heavenly Profound Continent, Ye Chen stared blankly at the towering tree before him.
One moment, he had been in the ancestral hall, with the patriarch looking at him affectionately. The next, he had arrived in the lower realm.
Who understood how this felt, fam?
In his mind, he flipped the patriarch the middle finger.
Suddenly, a mechanical voice rang out.
"Ding! Host detected..."
"Ding! Invincible All Heavens and Myriad Worlds Sign-in System activated. Binding in progress..."
"Ding! Congratulations, host. Binding successful!"