In a secluded alley behind the Golden Cauldron Pavilion, Ye Chen took off his cloak, a mocking smile on his lips.
Nalan Jie thought he had snatched the treasure, but he didn't know that when Ye Chen tossed the spirit stones onto the stall earlier, he had already used a slight sleight of hand to swap the true core of the iron fragment with a useless piece of ordinary rust.
Ye Chen opened his palm. Lying quietly in his hand was a dark golden, thumb-sized bead that looked like an eyeball. This was what was hidden inside the scrap iron.
He quickly returned to his wooden hut on the back mountain of the Ye Family, locking the door tight.
Sitting cross-legged on his bed, Ye Chen held the dark golden bead and took a deep breath. He could feel an extremely ancient and terrifying killing intent sealed within it.
"System, can I use this?"
[Ding! Detected incomplete 'Sword Embryo of the Heavenly Desolate Emperor'. Does the Host wish to refine it?]
"An Emperor's Sword Embryo?!" Ye Chen's heart skipped a beat. A weapon of an Emperor was something that could annihilate an entire empire with a single swing!
"Refine it immediately!"
[Ding! Refining in progress...]
[Congratulations to the Host! Triggered an unprecedented 1,000,000x Critical Strike!]
BOOOOOOM!
The entire wooden hut violently shook. If it weren't for the system automatically erecting a sound-proof barrier, the entire Ye Family would have been alarmed.
The dark golden bead in Ye Chen's hand completely melted, turning into a stream of terrifying golden liquid that flowed directly into his Dantian.
Inside his sea of Qi, the golden liquid rapidly transformed, solidifying into a three-foot-long, jet-black longsword. The blade was entirely dark, with ancient, blood-red runes carved into the metal, exuding an aura of absolute slaughter and supremacy.
[Ding! The 'Sword Embryo' has successfully evolved under the million-fold critical strike into the Supreme Divine Weapon: The Heavenly Desolate Demon-Slaying Sword (Incomplete State)!]
[Current Grade: Earth-Tier Peak (Will upgrade as the Host's cultivation increases)!]
"A weapon that grows with me!" Ye Chen's eyes lit up with ecstatic joy.
In this world, weapons were divided into Yellow, Black, Earth, Heaven, Divine, and Emperor grades. The Ye Family's most treasured weapon was only a Mid-Tier Black Grade sword, guarded by the Patriarch himself. And now, he had an Earth-Tier Peak weapon residing in his Dantian!
"With the Primordial Chaos Body, the Thunderbolt Sword Intent, and now the Heavenly Desolate Demon-Slaying Sword..."
Ye Chen slowly stood up, his bones cracking like popping beans. The residual energy from refining the sword embryo surged through his meridians.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
His cultivation broke through three minor realms in an instant!
Fourth Stage of Qi Gathering!
Fifth Stage of Qi Gathering!
Sixth Stage of Qi Gathering!
He clenched his fists, feeling the explosive power flowing through his veins. At this moment, even if he faced a cultivator at the Ninth Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm, he had the absolute confidence to kill them with a single strike.
"Knock, knock, knock."
Just then, hurried footsteps sounded outside the door, followed by Ye Qingyue's anxious voice.
"Brother Chen! Are you inside? The Family Tournament is about to begin! The First Elder has explicitly announced that if you don't show up to the martial arena today, you will be permanently expelled from the Ye Family!"
Ye Chen's eyes narrowed, a dangerously cold light flashing within them.
"Expel me? Let's see if they have the qualifications to do so."
He pushed the door open, looking at the bright sun in the sky, a chilling smile on his face.
"Let's go, Qingyue. It's time to teach those old dogs a lesson they will never forget."