18: I am the King of the Extreme Realm

In the cultivation room, time seemed to freeze. Lin Yuan sat cross-legged, like an ancient boulder. The Chaos Jade Slip in his hand, which had carried a puzzle unsolved for three thousand years, had long since turned into a stream of light flowing with the Chaos Origin, merging into the depths of his brow.

Within his Sea of Consciousness, a strange scripture composed of countless twisting, wriggling Chaos runes that seemed to possess life, hovered above the Chaos Star Vortex.

Every rune was like a living creature, at times collapsing into a singularity that swallowed light, at other times expanding into an embryo nurturing a galaxy, ever-changing, emitting an ancient Aura that made the Soul tremble.

"Chaos Observation Method》... truly extraordinary." Lin Yuan's mind sank into his Sea of Consciousness, keenly perceiving that these runes were not dead things. They were adjusting and reorganizing themselves with a mysterious rhythm, as if actively adapting to his unique Mental Energy fluctuations that had fused with the Primordial Purple Qi!

Suddenly!

"Buzz—!!!"

All the runes exploded simultaneously without warning! It was like the supernova explosion of billions of stars at the core of his Sea of Consciousness! The terrifying shockwave instantly unleashed a Soul tsunami akin to the end of the world!

The stable Chaos Star Vortex at the center of his Sea of Consciousness, like a windmill thrown into a hurricane, spun crazily to the limit, emitting a groan of being overwhelmed, struggling to maintain the Sea of Consciousness so it wouldn't collapse completely!

Just at the Peak of this Chaos and destruction, those exploded rune fragments did not scatter; instead, pulled by some supreme Law, they converged frantically toward the center of the storm like a hundred rivers returning to the sea!

Fragments collided, fused, and reorganized... Finally, a phantom of a huge stone millstone, ancient, desolate, and seemingly carved directly from a stubborn stone from when Chaos first opened, slowly condensed and took shape at the center of the Sea of Consciousness!

"chaos millstone?!" Inspiration struck! Lin Yuan did not hesitate in the slightest. He immediately poured all his focus and vast Mental Energy, like a breached galaxy torrent, fiercely into the slowly forming millstone!

"Boom—!!!"

The millstone moved!

It was as heavy as pushing the rotation of the entire Universe! The first circle rolled over! Unimaginable, excruciating pain instantly swept through every particle of Lin Yuan's Soul! It felt as if his Soul had been thrown into the depths of the millstone, crushed and ground inch by inch by billions of tons of Chaos stubborn stone!

That pain transcended the limits of the Physical Body and reached the Origin of life! His whole body convulsed violently, and from his seven orifices, bright red blood gushed out like a stream, instantly staining the ground in front of him!

However, at the core of this extreme pain, an indescribable, pure "newborn" power was refined from the crushed Mental Energy! The "Impurities" of the Mental Energy were completely stripped away, and the remaining essence, like divine metal tempered a thousand times, shone with an unprecedented brilliance!

[Mental Energy: 8 stars → 8.3 stars!]

"One circle... just one circle, and it increased by 0.3 stars?! This efficiency... is Heaven-Defying!" Lin Yuan was shocked. This was more than ten times more terrifying than the thunder tempering in the Mental Energy tempering tower! But immediately, he keenly noticed that the rotation of the millstone... was slowing down! It seemed to have lost its source of power.

"Energy! It needs a massive amount of energy to drive it!" A sharp glint flashed in Lin Yuan's eyes. Without hesitation, he grabbed a handful of crystal-clear top-grade Spirit Crystals from his storage ring and clenched his five fingers fiercely!

"Crack—!"

A tidal wave of Spiritual Qi, as pure and massive as liquid, instantly surged into his body! But this time, the Spiritual Qi did not directly transform into Origin Power; instead, it was greedily captured and transformed by his dormant Primordial Dao Body! A higher-order purple-gold energy containing the Aura of the Chaos Origin was continuously pumped into the Sea of Consciousness, injecting into the slowly stagnating chaos millstone!

"Boom—!!!"

Nourished by this Chaos power, the millstone, as if injected with star core fuel, saw its rotation speed suddenly soar! The grinding power increased exponentially!

[Mental Energy: 8.3 stars → 8.7 stars → 9.2 stars → ...]

The terrifying pain of Soul grinding struck again like a tidal wave. Lin Yuan's body trembled like a withered leaf in a gale. He gritted his teeth so hard his gums bled, but his eyes burned with a crazy fire! Pain! But it was worth it!

Five days and five nights, without sleep or rest! When the last top-grade Spirit Crystal turned into powder and slipped through Lin Yuan's fingers, his tightly closed eyes suddenly opened!

"Buzz—!"

Two gray beams of light, condensed as if real, with Chaos Star Vortexes seemingly forming and destroying within them, shot out from his eyes! Wherever the beams passed, the sturdy walls and defensive Formations of the cultivation room, which were capable of withstanding attacks from the Peak of the Gathering Origin Realm, emitted a harsh "sizzle" sound, revealing spiderweb-like energy cracks, groaning under the strain!

"chaos millstone... is this your power..." Lin Yuan whispered, his voice hoarse but carrying the majesty of controlling everything.

Looking inward at his Sea of Consciousness, the scene had completely transformed! The original Chaos Star Vortex was now perfectly embedded in the center of the huge, slowly rotating millstone that emitted the Aura of Chaos, the two becoming one!

This chaos millstone did not need Lin Yuan to deliberately urge it; it operated autonomously, never stopping, like the core of the Universe! It was constantly grinding, purifying, and compressing his Mental Energy, pushing it to a height unreachable by Mortals! This was a... perpetual motion machine that acted on the level of the Soul!

[Mental Energy: 20 stars]

[Base combat power: 55 stars]

[Eternal Evolution Body · Bronze Body: combat power + 10 stars]

[Remaining evolution points: 15033]

"System, evolve the Eternal Evolution Body!" Lin Yuan's will was like iron.

[Consume 5000 evolution points! Eternal Evolution Body promotion: Bronze Body → Silver Body!]

[combat power increase: 10 stars → 50 stars!]

"Boom—!!!"

It was as if a star had exploded within him! Lin Yuan's bones roared like thunder! Deep in his bone marrow, the brilliant silver light points that originally flowed burned and sublimated, transforming into a more dazzling, more condensed, incandescent divine radiance carrying an immortal Aura!

This divine radiance, like a galloping galaxy, instantly washed through his limbs and bones!

His bone density soared, taking on a jade-like metallic luster; muscle fibers were completely broken down and reorganized into a more efficient, tougher, perfect structure; on the surface of his skin, the complex and exquisite silver patterns became deeper and more mysterious, as if branded with the Laws of the Universe, shining in the dim room, emitting a heart-stopping pressure!

"Silver Body!" Lin Yuan slowly clenched his fist. The moment his five fingers closed, the air around his palm was compressed by extreme force, emitting a harsh sonic boom! He felt that with this Physical Body alone, he could tear apart an ordinary Peak Gathering Origin Realm expert with his bare hands!

[Remaining evolution points: 10033]

Pushing open the heavy alloy door of the cultivation room, the long-lost sunlight poured down on him like a golden waterfall, setting off the incandescent silver radiance flowing all over his body, making him look like a god descending!

In the distance, that Limit combat power Challenge Tower, which symbolized the Peak of power, stood like a sleeping ancient beast, pitch black, its spire submerged in the rolling and roaring purple thunderclouds, with the silhouette of the legendary tenth floor vaguely visible in the destructive lightning.

"Lin... Senior Brother Lin!" A round-faced youth ran over like a frightened rabbit, the third-level silver star badge on his chest flashing crazily in the sunlight, his voice filled with extreme awe and excitement, "Chief... Chief Instructor has ordered! As soon as you leave seclusion, go... go immediately to..."

"The Limit combat power Challenge Tower." Lin Yuan's voice was calm and waveless, but carried a determination to sever everything. He stepped forward, his pace not fast, but seemingly containing the Profound Truth of shortening distance.

Wherever he passed, all the students practicing in the square were frozen as if by an invisible Divine Might, their movements instantly stiff, like a flock of geese whose necks had been grabbed, not daring to breathe.

They watched in horror as with every step Lin Yuan took, the bluestone slabs under his feet, which were engraved with reinforcement Formations, silently melted and collapsed, leaving behind scorched, smoking footprints!

In front of the tower, the one-eyed old man guarding the tower was dozing off leaning against a stone tablet. When Lin Yuan's Aura, like a prehistoric beast, approached, he woke up with a start, his only eye instantly widened, almost splitting his eye socket: "My goodness! Kid... kid! Five days! Only five days! This Aura of yours... did you eat an ancient Vicious Beast?!"

"Start the challenge." Lin Yuan flicked his identity Jade Slip accurately into the old man's arms.

"Buzz—!"

The ancient stone tablet suddenly erupted with ten thousand feet of golden light, like a blazing sun falling to the ground, dyeing the entire square in gold! A majestic announcement resounded in all directions:

[Challenger: Lin Yuan]

[Current base combat power: 55 stars]

Stepping into the first floor, the space instantly expanded into a vast arena. A swordsman condensed from pure energy, emitting a biting Sword Intent, had just solidified in the center of the arena, his sword tip pointing at Lin Yuan from afar.

Lin Yuan didn't even look at him properly, just indifferently raised his eyelids.

"Boom—!"

An invisible, shapeless, yet mountain-heavy 20-star Mental Energy, like an invisible siege hammer, instantly crossed space and smashed fiercely into the warrior's core!

"Bang!" The warrior couldn't even raise his sword, and like a fragile glass statue, exploded into a rain of light flying across the sky!

[First floor cleared! Reward: permanent combat power + 1 star (56 stars)!]

The teleportation pillar of light lit up, and Lin Yuan's figure disappeared. The subsequent battles were completely a crushing slaughter!

Second floor: The dual-blade Martial Artist's blade light was like a waterfall. Lin Yuan's Purple Heaven Startling Thunder Sword slashed casually, and a thread of purple-gold lightning, condensed to the limit, tore through the blade screen, splitting the warrior and his weapon in two!

Third floor: The heavy-armored warrior charged with a roar, the earth trembling! Lin Yuan did not dodge or evade, his Silver Body shone, and he threw a punch! The silver fist imprint pierced through the heavy armor, and the warrior's huge body flew backward like a broken sack, smashing through the tower wall!

Fourth floor: The shadow assassin merged into the Void Realm, the killing intent attacking from a tricky angle! Lin Yuan struck back with his sword, the tip of the sword precisely pointing at the tip of the dagger appearing in the Void Realm! The terrifying lightning power conducted along the dagger, the assassin charred all over, twitching and falling to the ground!

...

Without any existence being able to make him use a second move! He was like a God of Destruction walking on earth, every strike precise, concise, and fatal!

Seventh floor, the 70-star combat power Red-Armored General, with black cracks tearing through space entwined around the long halberd in his hand, swept over with the momentum of destroying the world!

Lin Yuan's figure flickered, "Sky Wandering Steps" driven to the limit, seven afterimages as solid as his real body pounced from different directions like ghosts! The general roared, his halberd dancing like a windmill!

However, the real killing intent was hidden beneath the afterimages—a purple-gold fatal lightning bolt that had almost merged into the shadows of space! Like a snake spitting its tongue, it precisely pierced the throat of the general's energy core!

[Seventh floor cleared! Reward: permanent combat power + 7 stars (83 stars)!]

Eighth floor, the 80-star twin assassins, their figures like smoke and mist, their attack trajectories tricky and strange, cooperating perfectly! Lin Yuan snorted, and the chaos millstone slowly rotating in his Sea of Consciousness suddenly accelerated!

The 20-star Mental Energy turned into two invisible mental chains, crossing space and instantly wrapping around the two! The assassin's ghostly figures fell into a quagmire, suddenly frozen!

"Startling Thunder — Heaven Breaking!" The Purple Heaven Startling Thunder Sword turned into a purple-gold divine spear piercing the heavens and the earth, instantly piercing the chests of the two, the violent lightning power completely tearing their energy bodies apart, the remaining power even leaving a terrifying sword mark several feet deep with scorched edges on the indestructible tower wall!

【Eighth floor cleared! Reward: Permanent combat power + 8 stars (91 stars)!】

Stepping onto the teleportation array, Lin Yuan appeared on the ninth floor. An old man wearing golden robes with flowing white whiskers stood with his hands behind his back, his Aura as deep as the sea. He was the Guardian with 90-star combat power! His eyes held a hint of vicissitudes and approval: "Three hundred years... finally, someone in the Xuanmu District has been able to stand before this old man again..."

Lin Yuan couldn't be bothered with small talk! 91-star base combat power + 50-star Silver Body = a terrifying Aura of 141 stars erupted! The Purple Heaven Startling Thunder Sword let out an excited dragon roar, transforming into a roaring thunder dragon of world destruction, tearing through space, and striking straight at the old man's heart!

The golden-robed old man's expression changed drastically; in his haste, he gathered his life's cultivation and struck out with a palm! However, as Lin Yuan's sword light approached, it twisted strangely. A purple-gold lightning snake, tricky to the extreme, as if it had predicted the future, struck with pinpoint precision at the old man's chest center point, where his energy core was located.

"Ugh!" The old man's illusory figure shook violently, his eyes filled with disbelief as he slowly dissipated.

【Ninth floor cleared! Reward: Permanent combat power + 9 stars (100 stars)!】

【Reward: Saint-rank Martial Skill "Nine-Turn Battle Soul Art" Legacy Jade Slip!】

Thunderclouds churned, and the teleportation light gate leading to the legendary tenth floor—the hidden challenge layer—slowly appeared amidst the destructive thunder light! At the same time, a cold, grand voice, like the judgment of the Heavenly Dao, resounded throughout the tower:

【Challenger Lin Yuan's base combat power has reached 100 stars! Standard for opening the hidden challenge met!】

【Hidden Challenge: Duel against a 300-star Ancient Battle Soul!】

【Success: Crowned with the 'King of the Extreme Realm' title!】

【Failure: Deprivation of all combat power rewards from the challenge tower!】

Lin Yuan did not immediately step into that destructive light gate. He raised his hand to catch the "Nine-Turn Battle Soul Art" Jade Slip floating in the air. It felt cold to the touch, and the ancient, profound patterns on the Jade Slip actually resonated wonderfully with the chaos millstone in his Sea of Consciousness!

Relying on the terrifying Comprehension Ability brought by the chaos millstone and the blessing of the Primordial Dao Body, the moment he held the Jade Slip, a massive amount of combat Profound Truths flooded into his mind, instantly mastering the basics!

"System, upgrade 'Nine-Turn Battle Soul Art'!"

【Consumed 3800 evolution points! "Nine-Turn Battle Soul Art" upgraded to—Transcendent!】

【combat power boost: 80% of base combat power!】

"Boom—!!!"

In an instant, Lin Yuan felt as if he had experienced a thousand years of time and ten thousand life-and-death battles! Countless combat techniques, the essence of power exertion, and realizations from life-and-death moments were branded deep into his Soul!

His muscle memory was reshaped, and every inch of his muscles and bones mastered the most perfect and explosive way to conduct power! At this moment, even a casual punch or finger flick contained terrifying destructive power capable of collapsing mountains and splitting the earth, comparable to the Spirit Refining Realm!

【Current combat power: 100 (base) × 1.8 (Transcendent Nine-Turn) + 50 (Silver Peak) = 230 stars!】

【Remaining evolution points: 6233】

230 stars! Although still inferior to the 300-star Battle Soul, but... enough for a fight!

"Fight!" The Battle Intent in Lin Yuan's eyes burned like a star as he leaped and fiercely charged into the lightning-ravaged portal!

Heaven and earth inverted, Laws shifted!

Lin Yuan found himself in a boundless, vast starry sky! Beneath his feet was a slowly rotating, brilliant galaxy, and all around were cold stars floating since ancient times.

At the other end of the starry sky, a huge figure bound by nine Law chains as thick as mountain ranges slowly raised its head!

Its form was blurry, as if condensed from pure will of war and destructive energy. With just the action of raising its head, the terrifying 300-star Divine Might swept over like a cosmic tide! Under this pressure, the surrounding stars instantly dimmed and flickered!

"Challenger..." The Battle Soul's voice was like the roar of billions of stars exploding simultaneously, carrying an Aura of annihilating everything!

"Kill!!!" Lin Yuan didn't give the opponent any chance to build up momentum! His 230-star combat power erupted without reservation!

With the "Nine-Turn Battle Soul Art" pushed to the limit, he transformed into a burning purple-gold meteor, actively charging towards that starry behemoth! Fists, palms, elbows, knees... every part of his body turned into the most terrifying weapon of slaughter!

Every strike carried the power to shatter stars; wherever his fist wind passed, space shattered inch by inch, forming jet-black trails!

"Boom—!!!"

The first collision of their fists! Like two neutron stars colliding! A destructive shockwave spread out in a spherical shape!

The nearest few small stars, like fragile glass beads, silently turned into cosmic dust!

Lin Yuan groaned, his body flying backward as if hit by a starship. The surface of his Silver Body was covered in spiderweb-like cracks, and pale golden blood spilled from the corner of his mouth! The Battle Soul's massive body also shook violently, a huge, energy-dissipating indentation blasted into its chest!

"Thrilling! Come again!!" Lin Yuan was not afraid; instead, he became wilder the more he fought! In his Sea of Consciousness, the chaos millstone spun frantically, like the most precise combat AI, recording every action and energy flow trajectory of the Battle Soul, frantically deducing and optimizing!

Beneath his skin, the purple-gold divine patterns of the Primordial Dao Body flowed rapidly like living things. A massive amount of Chaos energy was extracted, repairing the cracks in his Silver Body at a speed visible to the naked eye!

Amidst countless life-and-death collisions, a startling realization exploded in Lin Yuan's heart! He attempted to infuse the vast 20-star Mental Energy in his Sea of Consciousness, like an invisible blade, forcibly into every one of his attacks!

"Hum—!"

The power of his attacks underwent a qualitative change instantly! His fist not only contained the power to tear through matter but also carried a terrifying mental shock that directly annihilated the Soul!

Mental Energy acted like a catalyst, pushing his already violent attack power to an unimaginable height once again! Each star of Mental Energy now transformed into a 5-fold base combat power bonus! (20-star Mental Energy → 100-star additional combat power bonus!)

The 108th collision! Lin Yuan finally captured the one-in-a-billionth-of-a-second energy lag when the Battle Soul switched attack modes!

"Now! Nine-Turn—Soul Breaker!!!"

Lin Yuan let out a roar that shattered the galaxy! He combined all his power—100-star base combat power, 50-star Silver Body, 80-star Transcendent Nine-Turn boost, and 100-star Mental Energy Fusion bonus!

Purple-gold thunder, blazing white starlight, and gray Chaos Mental Energy blended perfectly at this moment, turning into a destructive torrent that pierced through the Origin of the Universe!

This punch transcended the shackles of space and time!

This punch reached a world-destroying power of 330 stars!

"Puff—!!!"

The Ancient Battle Soul, which had condensed 300-star combat power, had its chest, composed of pure energy, instantly pierced through by this destructive torrent as if it were made of paper!

A huge hole, with edges flowing with Chaos Aura, appeared in its chest!

The Battle Soul's movements froze completely, a trace of relief seemed to flash across its blurry face, and its massive body began to disintegrate inch by inch, turning into the most primitive energy light points and dissipating into the vast starry sky.

【Tenth floor! Ultimate clear! Created a record unprecedented in the history of the Xuanmu District Spirit Martial Hall!】

【Reward: Points + 100000!】

【Reward: Permanent combat power increase + 30 stars!】

【Crowned: King of the Extreme Realm title (30% permanent increase to base combat power)!】

"Boom—!!!"

It was as if the Treasure Trove of the Universe had been opened! A pillar of Chaos light, more brilliant than the galaxy and containing endless life Origin and Heaven and Earth Laws, crashed down from the deepest part of the starry sky, completely enveloping Lin Yuan!

His ruptured Silver Body greedily devoured this supreme energy, the cracks on its surface healing instantly, and on that blazing white background, wisps of incredibly noble, pale golden divine patterns quietly emerged!

When the light pillar slowly dissipated, Lin Yuan stood in the starry sky, feeling the earth-shattering transformation within his body—his base combat power had already reached a shocking 130 stars!

【Final Status Panel:】

Base combat power: 130 stars

Mental Energy: 20 stars

Maximum burst combat power: 130 × 1.8 (Transcendent Nine-Turn Battle Soul Art) + 50 (Silver Body) + 39 (King of the Extreme Realm title) + 100 (Mental Energy 5-fold bonus) = 423 stars

Talent: Primordial Dao Body (0.1%), Eternal Evolution Body: Silver Body, Thunder Origin (Advanced)

Title: King of the Extreme Realm

Primordial Purple Qi Fusion rate: 2%

Remaining evolution points: 6233

The moment he stepped out of the Limit combat power Challenge Tower, the entire training camp fell into a state of absolute, suffocating silence.

At the top of the tower, the destructive thunderclouds that had churned and roared for who knows how many years had now completely dissipated! Beneath the clear sky, the tenth floor of the tower emitted an eternal radiance more dazzling and holy than the sun, shining for a thousand miles! That light seemed to be announcing the birth of a king of a new era!

On the distant horizon, seven vast and terrifying Auras, like primordial divine mountains, were tearing through the sky and rushing over at a speed surpassing space! The seven sub-hall masters were simultaneously alarmed by this vision that had shaken the ages!

In front of the tower, the one-eyed old man guarding the tower trembled violently, turbid old tears streaming down his face. He knelt deeply towards the light at the top of the tower, his voice choked with emotion, carrying the piety of a pilgrimage: "Ultimate Realm Experts... my Xuanmu District has always been able to produce a few every thousand years... but the King of the Extreme Realm... this old man... this old man has guarded this tower for three hundred and seventy-nine years... to actually... actually be able to witness with my own eyes... the birth of a king... I have no regrets in death... no regrets in death!!"

"Swish!"

A moon-white figure was the first to tear through space and descend in front of the tower! It was none other than Mu Qingge! This War Hall Master, who had always been as cold as ice and looked down upon all living beings, now had a face filled with unprecedented shock and disbelief on her stunningly beautiful countenance!

She looked at Lin Yuan, whose body flowed with blazing silver radiance and pale golden divine patterns, his Aura like an abyssal star sea. Her red lips parted slightly, and she was speechless for a moment: "Lin Yuan... you... you actually..."

The youth slowly raised his head, his gaze piercing through layers of space, as if falling upon that unknown ancient battlefield. The pale golden divine patterns flowing on his Silver Body seemed to sense their master's will, suddenly lighting up and reflecting the holy radiance at the top of the tower!

His voice was calm, yet it was like a thunderclap from the Nine Heavens, exploding deep within everyone's Soul: "Hall Master. When does the ancient battlefield open?"

The moment his words fell, the entire square, all the kneeling students, instructors, and even the other six Hall Masters who had just arrived with monstrous Auras, felt as if they had been struck hard by an invisible heavy hammer, shaking violently!

They all knew. When this "King of the Extreme Realm," who had been crowned in the most domineering manner, stepped into that ancient battlefield that buried countless Prodigies and contained endless Opportunities and dangers... the glory and future of the entire Xuanmu District Spirit Martial Hall... would be completely rewritten! His name would surely be unforgettable to them for the rest of their lives!