"Ancestor, what are we doing here?"
Ye Yan asked curiously.
"This is Azure Province. There's a secret realm here. Let's take a look!"
Ye Chen gazed into the distance and spoke casually.
This secret realm was the nearest one he had found with his divine sense.
"A... secret realm???!!!"
Ye Yan was stunned.
In his understanding, only those top Lineages were qualified to enter secret realms.
Neither the Clear Wind Kingdom nor even the entire Heavenly Profound Province seemed to have a single secret realm.
Rumor had it that every secret realm contained countless rare treasures, and even the complete inheritances of powerful cultivators.
That made them exceptionally precious.
His ancestor truly was his ancestor. Every move he made was on a grand scale.
"Ancestor, there seem to be a lot of people guarding this secret realm. It won't be easy to get in!"
Ye Yan saw the indistinct figures of many people up ahead and frowned slightly.
"Ignore them. We'll go straight in."
Ye Chen smiled.
Then the two vanished from where they stood again.
Some people nearby noticed them disappear into thin air and froze.
"Where did those two just go?"
"They seemed to disappear outright!"
"Holy shit, that's impossible, right? Were my eyes playing tricks on me?"
"When they appeared, they seemed to pop up there out of nowhere too!"
"..."
By then, Ye Chen and Ye Yan were already inside the secret realm.
Normally, this secret realm would not open for another few hours. Its restrictions would weaken then, allowing Azure Province's experts to join forces and open it.
But restrictions of this level were nothing more than a sheet of paper before Ye Chen, breaking with a single poke.
Ye Yan was rather excited.
The disciples of those great Lineages and factions were still waiting outside, yet he had already gotten in ahead of them.
In that case, wouldn't everything in the secret realm belong to his ancestor and him?
Ye Yan examined the secret realm carefully and found it so vast that he could not see its end.
Spiritual Qi was dense inside. Spiritual plants bloomed everywhere, and spiritual herbs filled the grounds, their medicinal fragrance washing over him.
These spiritual herbs all gave off a hazy glow. They were high-grade and well-aged, and most were things he had never even seen before.
Moreover, demonic beasts roared not far away. Their roars alone made his ears ache from the vibrations.
Their actual strength was absolutely terrifying.
"Let's go. We're heading to the very heart of this place. The secret realm's master's inheritance is there!"
Ye Chen spoke calmly.
Everything here was utterly useless to Ye Chen.
But for Ye Yan and the Ye Lineage at their current stage, it was immensely useful.
That was why he had specifically brought Ye Yan here.
"Yes!"
Although Ye Yan saw many high-grade spiritual herbs, he resisted the urge to pick them.
The inheritance at the heart of the realm was the most important thing. They could collect the resources on the outskirts later.
Taking Ye Yan with him, Ye Chen stepped into a palace in a single stride.
Whoosh!
Inside the palace, a gray-haired phantom suddenly appeared before them.
The phantom stared fixedly at Ye Chen, its expression exceedingly grave.
"Fellow Daoist, what is the meaning of this?"
Ye Chen's presence was unfathomably profound and boundless, giving it an extreme sense of danger.
Not even its master, Wuyazi, had ever given it this feeling.
Logically, an expert like this had his own inheritance and could not possibly make a special trip to its master's secret realm to snatch opportunities from juniors.
"You're an artifact spirit?"
Ye Chen asked in return.
"Yes, I am the artifact spirit of this entire palace!"
The phantom nodded.
"What core inheritances did your master leave behind?"
Ye Chen looked at the artifact spirit and asked.
"Well... never mind..."
The phantom felt rather helpless. Ye Chen was a Saint, and without its master, it was no match for him at all, so it answered truthfully, "My master was Wuyazi. Before his death, he left behind three great inheritances: the saint-grade cultivation technique, the Wuyazi Art; the saint artifact, the Azure Peak Sword; and the saint pill, the Nine-Turn Profound Heaven Pill!"
"Mm."
Ye Chen nodded. "I'll take them all!"
"B-but Master set a rule back then. You must pass all the trials to succeed!"
The artifact spirit's phantom grew rather anxious.
"Ye Yan, go take the trials!"
Ye Chen gave Ye Yan a calm glance.
Hearing this, the artifact spirit's phantom breathed a sigh of relief.
As long as its master's rules were not violated, that was fine.
"Yes!"
Ye Yan accepted the order and stepped into the trial space.
"Who was your master?"
With nothing to do, Ye Chen asked casually.
When the artifact spirit's phantom heard Ye Chen mention its master, a trace of pride involuntarily appeared on its face.
"My master was Wuyazi, a monstrous genius renowned throughout the Eastern Domain."
"He reached Spirit Refinement at twenty, Heavenly Palace at twenty-two, Dharma Form at twenty-five, Shattering at forty, King at sixty, and entered the Saint Realm at a hundred. He was one of the most monstrous geniuses a thousand years ago."
"Mm, barely passable!"
Ye Chen spoke calmly.
The artifact spirit's phantom was deeply unconvinced. "Across the entire Heavenly Profound Continent, only a handful have become Saints at a hundred. If my master hadn't been trapped by love, even becoming a Great Emperor would have been no difficult matter!"
In its heart, its master was the most monstrous talent of all. It could not bear anyone looking down on him.
"Oh! Not bad, then!"
Ye Chen remained just as indifferent.
Seeing this, the artifact spirit's phantom asked somewhat petulantly, "Then may I ask when you became a Saint, Senior?"
In its eyes, although Ye Chen looked young, he was surely the sort of old monster who liked pretending to be youthful. His actual age was probably over ten thousand.
"Me? I don't remember the exact time!"
The artifact spirit snickered.
Claiming he couldn't remember was just an excuse because he was too embarrassed to say it. He might have spent several thousand years entering the Saint Realm.
Ye Chen did not get angry at its reaction. He smiled faintly and said, "Not long after I reached the Saint Realm, I became a Quasi-Emperor, so I didn't even have time to experience what the Saint Realm felt like. I really don't know the exact time!"
???
!!!
What did he mean, he advanced to Quasi-Emperor not long after reaching the Saint Realm?
Did he think leveling up was like eating and drinking, something he could do whenever he pleased?
What the fuck did he mean, he hadn't even had time to experience the Saint Realm?!
He was blowing his boasts clean through the heavens.
It ranted furiously inwardly, but certainly did not dare say any of it aloud.
Seeing that it did not believe him, Ye Chen released a trace of his Quasi-Emperor presence.
Instantly, the artifact spirit felt as though lightning had struck it and turned to stone on the spot.
"H-holy shit, he really is a Quasi-Emperor!"
Towering waves surged through its heart.
A Quasi-Emperor. A living Quasi-Emperor.
It had only been talking earlier when it said its master had a chance to prove his Dao and become an Emperor. Deep down, it knew that was almost impossible.
Rumor had it that the road to becoming an Emperor had long since been severed.
A terrifying battle had taken place a hundred thousand years ago. After that battle, no new Great Emperor had appeared on the Heavenly Profound Continent.
The previous Great Emperors had all disappeared as well.
In this era, Quasi-Emperors were essentially the pinnacle, the very tip of the pyramid.
Yet here it was, in a mere Saint's secret realm, meeting a living Quasi-Emperor.
How could it not be astonished?
"Well? Believe me now?"
Ye Chen asked with a slight smile.
"I believe you! I believe you!"
The artifact spirit hurriedly answered respectfully, "May I ask when you entered the Emperor Realm, Senior?"
It asked with extreme caution.
It was rare to encounter a Quasi-Emperor, especially one so amiable, and its curiosity began to overflow.
"Just a few days ago, I suppose. I was almost eighteen!"
Ye Chen watched Ye Yan taking the trials and answered casually.
??????
!!!!!!
The artifact spirit completely lost its composure. Its defenses utterly crumbled.
Eighteen?
An eighteen-year-old Quasi-Emperor!
Folks, this was absurd! Completely off the charts!
Ye Chen could not possibly use something like this to deceive it, so what he said had to be true.
Its entire head was buzzing now, as though an enormous mountain had smashed into it.
At that moment, in its eyes, Ye Chen possessed the legendary potential of an immortal.
Just then, Ye Yan was attempting the fourth trial.
Four mirror images at the same cultivation realm as him were fighting him.
Ye Yan's stamina gradually failed, and he had suffered fairly severe injuries. He was on the verge of defeat.