Supreme of the Heavenly Realm
Chapter 475 - 472: Breakthrough

Chapter 475: Chapter 472: Breakthrough

The second level.

After Ye Xuan stepped into the second level of the Heavenly Burning Qi Refining Tower, he felt the surrounding temperature suddenly rise significantly. However, this second level seemed much quieter than the levels above—eerily silent as if there were no dangers at all.

"There’s something odd."

Ye Xuan did not let down his guard. Before entering, Xue Lingzi had warned him that the last two levels of the Heavenly Burning Qi Refining Tower were extremely dangerous and advised against entering them lightly. If it were only this level of difficulty, the other party would not have given such a solemn warning.

It must be close to the location of the Ten-thousand-year-old Earth Core Fire; it couldn’t be as calm as it seemed.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, Ye Xuan felt a faint movement within the tower level. The dark rock walls around him trembled slightly, and then, streaks of reddish flames formed patterns all around, suddenly constructing a large web of fire.

The moment the web of fire formed, streaks of fire energy suddenly converged, shooting beams of light that quickly gathered in front of Ye Xuan, forming a blazing ball of fire.

The fireball thrashed about, and in the next moment, the shape of a firebird emerged from within. From the moment it appeared, it charged towards Ye Xuan head-on.

Ye Xuan’s pupils contracted, and he instantly raised his palm, with Molten Lava Earth Core Fire quickly gathering in his palm, meeting the firebird head-on.

Bang!

Flames collided, instantly bursting and scattering sparks, which fell onto Ye Xuan’s body, instantaneously burning several black holes through his clothes.

However, after taking Ye Xuan’s palm strike, the firebird did not shatter; instead, it clung tightly to Ye Xuan’s palm, entangling with the Molten Lava Earth Core Fire Ye Xuan had released.

True Qi continuously flowed along Ye Xuan’s arm into the Molten Lava Earth Core Fire. After a stalemate that lasted for several minutes, the firebird was slowly subdued and began to crumble bit by bit in Ye Xuan’s hands.

Several breaths later, the firebird completely dissipated. However, beads of sweat the size of beans had appeared on Ye Xuan’s forehead, clearly showing the intense strain from the standoff with the fire spirit.

"So this is a Fire Spirit, indeed very troublesome."

Ye Xuan withdrew his palm. At this moment, his palm was charred, and even the power of the Molten Lava Earth Core Fire was penetrated by the strength of the fire spirit, nearly seeping into Ye Xuan’s meridians.

"This lad actually dispersed a Fire Spirit; he really has some skills."

The Tower Guardian Elder was taken aback. The ten levels of the Heavenly Burning Qi Refining Tower, with the difficulty of the bottom two levels being incomparable to the eight levels above, these last two levels of Fire Spirits had developed Spiritual Wisdom and were no longer merely pure energy; they could actively attack.

"This is only the first Fire Spirit; the more difficult ones are yet to come."

Xue Lingzi’s expression was solemn, not overly optimistic; he had been stopped in his tracks at this level during his first attempt to storm this tower. Ye Xuan had only just blocked an attack from one Fire Spirit; it was just the beginning, and the severe tests were still to come.

Even he had only lasted for less than two hours on this second level.

However, those two hours quickly passed.

"He’s still holding on?"

Xue Lingzi was truly shocked at this point. He looked at the mirror showing Ye Xuan, who was sitting cross-legged with his eyes tightly shut, having already surpassed his own performance.

Time gradually elapsed, and more than five hours had passed since Ye Xuan entered this fifth level.

"It’s incredible; I wonder if he can break Crown Prince Feng Tian’s record."

The Tower Guardian Elder also had a hint of excitement in his eyes. The highest record during a first attempt at the Heavenly Burning Qi Refining Tower was set by the leader of the Crown Prince Party, Crown Prince Feng Tian. He had stayed in the tower for a total of six hours—a record that no disciple of this generation had yet to break.

When Crown Prince Feng Tian first stormed the tower, he had received the corresponding guidance and was even bestowed treasures by the Sect’s high echelons to protect his body. By comparison, Ye Xuan’s current conditions were far more challenging.

However, this didn’t necessarily mean that Crown Prince Feng Tian was much stronger than Xue Lingzi, only that his resistance to fire was stronger, which was only a part of his strength, not the entirety.

However, just as the Tower Guardian Elder finished speaking, they saw Ye Xuan, after enduring an attack from a bear-shaped Fire Spirit, suddenly tremble. A sudden tightness gripped their hearts—could it be that he was about to falter at this critical moment?

In the sightline, Ye Xuan was forced to retreat continuously by the giant bear Fire Spirit. Even with the protection of the Molten Lava Earth Core Fire, he still couldn’t withstand the fierce offensive of the bear-shaped Fire Spirit. His body was covered in scorch marks, seemingly on the verge of not holding on any longer.

Clang!

In a moment of desperation, Ye Xuan drew the Dragon Abyss Ancient Sword, its blue sword light flickering like a water curtain, as he struck the fiery giant bear, igniting a series of brilliant sparks.

With each slash, flames surged, and although the spirit of the giant bear was depleted, it was continuously replenished by the surrounding endless fire energy, rejuvenating it vigorously.

Boom!

Suddenly, the fiery giant bear violently swiped a paw, infused with domineering fire energy. Taking advantage of the moment Ye Xuan swung his sword, it fiercely hit him right in the chest.

Spurt!

Struck by this paw, Ye Xuan couldn’t help but spit out a mouthful of fresh blood, his internal organs shaken by the overpowering force of the fire energy.

"Sigh..."

Seeing this, the Tower Guardian Elder paused, then shook his head slightly in disappointment, lamenting, "I suppose my expectations were indeed too high..."

"Elder, he lasted about five and a half hours, such skills are already quite impressive. Only the Crown Prince Fengtian could slightly surpass Ye Xuan. Isn’t such an achievement sufficient, uh?" Seeing the expression of the Tower Guardian Elder, Han Yue couldn’t help but feel a bit helpless, wasn’t he just making him feel ashamed?

"Heh heh, indeed, it is quite good..." The Tower Guardian Elder laughed awkwardly and then his expression became much more solemn, "It’s our turn to make a move. Since this young man can’t hold on anymore, we must quickly rescue him, otherwise, if something goes wrong, the Sect will suffer a great loss."

Ye Xuan’s potential, in the eyes of the Tower Guardian Elder, was undoubtedly brilliant, and nothing could be allowed to go wrong.

"Wait a moment."

Just then, Xue Lingzi suddenly stepped forward to stop him. Just as the Tower Guardian Elder was about to rebuke him, Xue Lingzi’s voice rang in his ears again, "This guy can still handle it."

"What?"

The Tower Guardian Elder’s expression changed, and he hurriedly looked at the Crystal Mirror. Within that mirror, Ye Xuan was still fighting fiercely with the fiery giant bear. Even though Ye Xuan was heavily scarred and his heart nearly ripped open by the bear’s claw, it was very dangerous. Yet, he suddenly unleashed a startling sword strike, decapitating the fiery giant bear in one fell swoop.

Whoosh whoosh!

In the moment he killed the fiery giant bear, Ye Xuan felt a surge of immensely vigorous fire energy sweeping towards him from the body of the fiery giant bear, then fiercely pouring into his body.

An intense, scorching sensation instantly spread throughout his body. Ye Xuan’s face turned exceedingly red in the blink of an eye, and his skin all over his body seemed to have been scorched by flames, red-hot.

"Suppress it!"

Ye Xuan quickly stimulated the two Martial Souls within his Dantian, the Sword Martial Soul, and the Demon Dragon Martial Soul, and mobilized the True Yuan that had condensed inside his body to suppress this extremely powerful fire energy.

Molten Lava Earth Core Fire, Heavenly Realm’s soul power, and even Sword Intent—everything that could aid in suppressing the fire energy, Ye Xuan nearly used it all. At that moment, he was doing his utmost to suppress the power, otherwise, he would explode and die.

This situation had occurred before in the Heavenly Burning Qi Refining Tower.

In front of the Crystal Mirror, Xue Lingzi and the Tower Guardian Elder also watched this scene unblinkingly, knowing that Ye Xuan’s situation was very precarious. If things went wrong, he might end up dead without a resting place.

While suppressing the violent fire energy, the remaining True Qi in Ye Xuan’s Dantian and meridians, much like boiling water, began to vigorously boil. Under the impact of the vigorous fire energy, it transformed into a liquid state and merged into the True Yuan.

In that instant, the remaining True Qi inside Ye Xuan’s body astonishingly and speedily transformed into True Yuan.

In less than a minute, all the remaining True Qi in Ye Xuan’s body had completely transformed.

Ye Xuan had already refined quite a bit of True Yuan in the previous eight layers, leaving not much True Qi in his body. Now, on this second layer, after having absorbed the power of several Fire Spirits, Ye Xuan finally completed his final transformation, reaching the critical point of breaking through to Martial Venerate.

Whoosh!

The moment all the True Qi inside his body fully transformed, Ye Xuan’s body suddenly trembled as if a membrane had burst. The next moment, a tremendously astonishing fluctuation swept out from his body, forming a gust that spread in all directions.

A spark of fierce light flashed in Ye Xuan’s eyes, like a spark of lightning zigzagging through the void.

"Finally, he’s had a breakthrough."

Xue Lingzi and the Tower Guardian Elder, having witnessed this moment, were both staggeringly shocked. They had watched Ye Xuan’s tower challenge and knew how challenging this breakthrough was for him, much more so than when they had tackled the tower themselves.

However, it was precisely because of this that Ye Xuan’s potential stood out. Given the difficulty of breaking through one Martial Venerate Realm, one could easily infer that Ye Xuan’s True Qi must be exceptionally pure—otherwise, he wouldn’t have needed so much fire energy to refine his True Yuan.

Xue Lingzi’s expression bore an introspective look as Ye Xuan’s strength at the Half-step Martial Venerate level had already been significant. This breakthrough to Martial Venerate must have greatly enhanced his strength, and it would not be just by a small margin.