22: Peak combat power exceeds 2000 stars

The lingering sensation of the space tearing was still trembling at his nerve endings when Lin Yuan's feet landed on a scorching, crimson land.

He opened his eyes; an endless wasteland extended to the horizon, and the smell of sulfur steamed from the cracked fissures in the ground.

Above the firmament, eight vast continents like primordial divine mountains floated, stacked one upon another to form a pyramid that suppressed the ages. Each layer emanated a terrifying pressure that suffocated the Soul, and chains of Law flickered in the Void Realm.

"The First Heaven..." Lin Yuan whispered, his soles sensing the surging, majestic power from deep within the earth, as if from the primordial era.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh—!"

Countless beams of light pierced the firmament, descending like a torrential rain! As each beam dissipated, it revealed a figure—some composed, some arrogant, others radiating intense Killing Intent.

In just a moment, the dead-silent wasteland was submerged by a surging crowd! Lin Yuan swept his Divine Thought across, his heart trembling slightly—this world had actually gathered hundreds of millions of Ultimate Realm Experts!

"The Xuanxiao Great World... its foundation is truly terrifying..." His gaze was like lightning, instantly locking onto hundreds of thousands of auras!

These figures were wrapped in intangible phantom crowns; they were all peerless Prodigies who had obtained the title of "King of the Extreme Realm"!

They stood like reefs in the sea of people, forming their own Domains, and no one dared to approach them easily.

"Boom—!!!"

The firmament was violently torn apart like a fragile curtain! A giant face, composed of rolling Chaos currents and vast enough to cover the entire sky, emerged!

Those eyes, like burning stars, swept indifferently over the hundreds of millions of living beings below, who were like ants. Wherever the gaze landed, space solidified, all sounds ceased, and countless Cultivators' Souls trembled, almost kneeling in submission!

"Welcome... to the Ancient Graveyard." The voice exploded deep within their skulls like billions of thunderclaps, cracking the crimson earth inch by inch! "You all carry Teleportation Talismans; you may activate them when near death... provided that... you hold on until they take effect!"

The giant face curled its mouth into a cruel arc:

"The First Heaven, Physique limit trial! First round—Xuangang Evil Qi! Survive for one hour... and you shall pass!"

The moment the voice fell!

"Hum—!"

At the far edge of the wasteland, a jet-black sky curtain connecting heaven and earth rose abruptly! Like a tide of death devouring the light, accompanied by a shriek that annihilated all things, it swept toward the center at a speed beyond comprehension!

Wherever the black tide passed, space emitted the sound of shattering glass, unable to bear the weight, and the earth silently turned into powder!

"Xuangang Evil Qi?!!!" A blue-robed Cultivator turned deathly pale, screaming in distortion, "20-star combat power means instant death upon contact, and we have to hold on for an hour!!"

"Trash, noisy!" Beside Lin Yuan, a youth carrying crossed swords on his back, whose aura was as sharp as a drawn divine weapon, sneered and looked around with disdain, "Such Evil Qi is... merely a warm-up for us Kings of the Extreme Realm!"

The speed of the black tide surpassed despair!

"Ah—!"

"Save me! I give up! I give up!!"

The Cultivators on the outermost edge were like snowflakes thrown into a furnace; their protective spiritual light instantly annihilated! Their flesh began to dissolve and vaporize the moment it touched the black tide!

Their screams were swallowed by the Evil Qi, and many did not even have the thought to activate their Teleportation Talismans before they turned into a handful of white ash that drifted away in the wind, leaving not even bones behind!

Lin Yuan remained unmoved. On his skin, the Golden Body patterns, flowing with the power of immortal stars, quietly lit up, forming a layer of pale golden divine radiance that was as thin as cicada wings yet indestructible. The moment the destructive black tide finally engulfed him—

"Chh—!"

An extreme cold, as if from the deepest depths of the Nine Nether Purgatory, carrying billions of invisible Soul-eroding poison needles, ignored the divine radiance defense and pierced directly into his bone marrow and Soul!

Even though Lin Yuan's will was like iron, he couldn't help but gasp! The sinister and overbearing nature of this Evil Qi far exceeded what was recorded in the classics!

"Hahaha! Intense!" Not far away, a giant nearly three zhang tall, with knotted muscles like cast iron, laughed wildly and spread his arms, letting the black tide wash over his bronze skin, creating the sound of clashing metal, "This is worthy of my 'Hunyuan Diamond Physique'!"

Lin Yuan swept his gaze over them. Most of the existences who had obtained the title of "King of the Extreme Realm" looked calm in the face of this Evil Qi that annihilated all things. Some closed their eyes to focus, runes flowing on their skin, actively drawing in the Evil Qi to temper their bodies!

"If they can... why can't I?" A purple-gold divine light flashed in Lin Yuan's eyes! The Eternal Evolution Body operated at full power! The golden patterns on his skin seemed to come alive, turning into countless tiny vortexes, and he began to whale-swallow the destructive Xuangang Evil Qi!

"Urgh!" The moment the Evil Qi entered his body, it was like billions of red-hot steel needles frantically piercing through his Meridians and internal organs! The intense pain caused Lin Yuan to furrow his brows.

But immediately after, a strange sense of tempering came from deep within his flesh! Under the stimulation of the Evil Qi, the golden patterns became more solid and profound, and the speed of their spread suddenly accelerated!

"It works!" Lin Yuan felt reassured and completely let go of all restraints! The pores all over his body dilated, as if he had turned into a bottomless black hole, swallowing this deadly "nutrient" even more crazily!

Time passed amidst screams and annihilation. The concentration and power of the black tide climbed exponentially! Cultivators who had been barely holding on fell in droves, swallowed by the white light of teleportation or the black light of complete annihilation. The number of people on the wasteland plummeted like an avalanche!

"Ahhhh—! I am not reconciled! I am a Prodigy of my clan! How can I stop here?!" A youth in luxurious clothing had blood spraying from his seven orifices, his golden armor melting inch by inch in the black tide; he reached out in vain, and the next moment he was completely swallowed, leaving not even a speck of dust behind.

At this moment, Lin Yuan had entered a mysterious state of forgetting both himself and the world. The Golden Body within him was undergoing an unprecedented qualitative change!

Every inch of flesh and every tendon and bone was undergoing a frenzied metamorphosis under the tempering of the Evil Qi! On the surface of his skin, more than three-quarters of the area had been completely covered by golden patterns flowing with divine radiance!

"Oh?" Not far away, a girl with waterfall-like purple hair and bewitching pupils let out a soft exclamation, looking at Lin Yuan with great interest, "He is... devouring the Xuangang Evil Qi to temper his body?" She licked her lips with her scarlet tongue, "Such fragrant flesh Origin..."

A Martial Artist shrouded in starlight beside her had a grave look in his eyes: "A Physique monster... this child... cannot be underestimated!"

When time passed to the last half-hour, the giant face in the sky declared indifferently: "Xuangang Evil Qi... Final Form!"

"Boom—!!!"

The originally pitch-black Evil Qi tide suddenly boiled, scarlet as blood! The temperature soared to the point of burning mountains and boiling seas! The crimson rocks of the wasteland instantly melted into rolling magma, and the air twisted into a blurred Purgatory scene!

"No—!!" A powerhouse with an aura close to 200 stars had his protective Divine Qi pierced through by the scarlet Evil Qi as if it were paper! He let out a miserable, excruciating scream, and his body melted and evaporated rapidly like candle wax!

Right in this torrent of destruction!

"Hum—!!!"

Lin Yuan's tightly closed eyes suddenly opened! Deep within his pupils, two purple-gold suns erupted!

The power of the Eternal Evolution Body accumulated to the limit within him, like a volcano suppressed for ten thousand years, finally broke through that invisible chasm!

"Break!!!"

A roar that pierced through the Purgatory! The golden divine patterns flowing on Lin Yuan's body instantly transformed entirely into a noble purple-gold color!

Countless more profound purple-gold dao patterns, seemingly containing the truths of star creation and destruction, intertwined and spread beneath his skin! A terrifying energy fluctuation capable of shaking the Star Domain erupted from him as the center!

"Boom—!!!"

The materialized purple-gold air wave swept around like a wild tide, actually forcing the surging scarlet Evil Qi back by several zhang! Forming a short-lived vacuum zone!

【Eternal Evolution Body promotion: Purple-Gold Body (2%)!】

【Physical Body combat power increase: 550 stars → 650 stars!】

This earth-shattering metamorphosis instantly attracted the attention of all the top existences on the battlefield!

"Oh?" A youth carrying a mottled ancient bronze sword, whose aura was as ancient as a rock, raised his lowered eyelids for the first time, a flash of brilliance appearing in his eyes.

"Heehee..." The greed in the eyes of the purple-haired girl, Purple Rakshasa, almost materialized, "Purple-gold flesh... too tempting..."

Lin Yuan ignored those gazes—some inquisitive, some greedy, some wary—and sank his mind into his body. With the Purple-Gold Body newly formed, every cell contained explosive power and flowed with immortal divine radiance!

The terminal Evil Qi, capable of melting the core of a star, washed over his skin, leaving only a faint burning sensation, unable to harm him in the slightest anymore!

"Last ten minutes! Those who persist... will be granted extra opportunities!" The voice of the giant face in the sky carried a hint of approval.

The survivors let out their final roars, struggling to hold on. But in the black tide that had turned into a scarlet Purgatory, people turned into flying ash every second.

"Nine hundred ninety-eight... nine hundred ninety-nine... one thousand..." Lin Yuan swept his Divine Thought, accurately counting those who had fallen. When the ancient bell signaling the end rang across the wasteland, the original torrent of hundreds of millions was reduced to less than ten million! And ninety-nine percent of them were Kings of the Extreme Realm wearing phantom crowns!

"First round, complete." The giant face was indifferent, "Those who passed, be granted 30 stars of base combat power! Rest for one hour, then face the second round—Thousand-fold Thunder Purgatory!"

The destructive black tide dissipated in an instant like a retreating demon army. The survivors sat cross-legged, seizing the time to adjust their breath.

The majestic warm current of 30 stars of base combat power surged into his limbs and bones, and Lin Yuan clenched his fist comfortably.

He noticed that, including himself, a small number of those who had performed in a Heaven-Defying manner in the Evil Qi tide had a thin layer of seven-colored light containing profound dao rhyme lingering on their skin—that was the sign of extra opportunities!

"Hey, newcomer." A cold voice, like a poisonous snake flicking its tongue, sounded behind him.

Lin Yuan turned around. A man wrapped in a black robe billowing with blood mist was staring at him with eyes as greedy as a jackal, making no effort to hide his Killing Intent.

"Hand over your Body Refining divine technique," the voice of Blood Fiend was like a bone-scraping cold wind, "This Seat can promise... to let you live a few more rounds."

Lin Yuan curled his lips into a cold arc: "You... can come and take it."

"Courting death!" Blood mist churned around Blood Fiend, and his Killing Intent soared!

"Giggle..." A crisp yet hair-raising laughter cut in, "Blood Fiend, bullying a freshly baked little Phoenix, have you no shame?"

Purple Rakshasa appeared beside Lin Yuan like a ghost, smiling beautifully, but her bewitching purple pupils locked onto Blood Fiend, "His flesh... this girl has reserved it; if you want to fight... come at me?"

"Purple Rakshasa! You!" Blood Fiend looked at the purple-haired girl, a flash of wariness in his eyes, and glared fiercely at Lin Yuan, "Hmph! Just you wait!" His figure turned into a blood shadow and fled into the crowd.

Purple Rakshasa turned to Lin Yuan, extending a palm so fair it was almost transparent: "Zixiao Domain, Purple Rakshasa. Little brother, what should I call you?"

Lin Yuan's gaze was as calm as a deep pool: "Lin Yuan."

"Lin Yuan... good name." Purple Rakshasa was not offended, her smile becoming even more bewitching. She leaned in and whispered, her breath like orchids but carrying a scent of blood, "Big sister is rooting for you... just make sure... not to die too quickly..." Before the words fell, her figure had dissipated on the spot like a bubble.

Lin Yuan's eyes narrowed slightly. This battlefield was indeed a dance of demons, filled with crises. He immediately sat cross-legged, sinking his mind into his body, feeling the vast power of the newly formed Purple-Gold Body, while simultaneously checking himself:

【Current Status】

Base combat power: 290 stars

Equipment bonus: 100 stars (Star-Moon Robe 50 + Xuan'a Sword 50)

Purple-Gold Body 2%: 650 stars

Mental Energy conversion: 120 stars × 5 = 600 stars

King of the Extreme Realm: 87 stars

Martial Skill: 【Zixiao · Nine Turns Slaying Reincarnation】: 290 stars

Peak combat power: 2017 stars!

In just one hour of Evil Qi Purgatory, his power had undergone such a heaven-turning, earth-flipping metamorphosis! The cruelty and opportunities of this ancient battlefield far exceeded his imagination!

"Second round, start!" The voice of the giant face in the sky was like a funeral bell, tearing through the brief calm, "Face... the wrath of the Thousand-fold Thunder Purgatory!"

Lin Yuan stood up abruptly! Purple-gold divine patterns flowed all over his body, and lightning and purple light intertwined in his eyes! He looked up at the firmament, where destructive thunderclouds were beginning to gather, and a Heaven-Defying Battle Intent soared into the sky!

No matter if it was the Nine Heavens divine punishment or the Netherworld blood sea ahead, this path of the King of the Extreme Realm... he had already taken the most solid step!