Heaven-Surpassing Divine Emperor

「In the Celestial Demon Ancient Realm.」

Just as it had been the last time Jiang Chen visited, the realm was calm and sunny, with Demon Beasts running rampant everywhere.

A Demon Beast with the head of a python and the body of a tiger was gnawing on its prey when it suddenly noticed Jiang Chen’s arrival. Its eyes flashed with a blood-red light as it charged toward him.

”Courting death!”

Jiang Chen snorted coldly.

The roar shook the heavens.

The Demon Beast shuddered, its massive body crashing heavily to the ground. It foamed at the mouth—Jiang Chen had actually scared it to death with a single roar!

”It brought this on itself. Who else is there to blame?” Jiang Chen shook his head, rose to his feet, and flew toward the Death Black Lake.

As before, the Death Black Lake was filled with an aura of death.

However, Jiang Chen’s body was now comparable to a Saint-tier Profound Weapon, so he had no fear of this deathly aura. In a flash, he arrived on the island in the middle of the lake where the Celestial Demon Ancient Castle was located.

He entered the Celestial Demon Ancient Castle, following the familiar path.

Gazing at the majestic fortress before him, Jiang Chen felt a surge of excitement. ’A Divine Soldier! If I can one day fully activate the Celestial Demon Ancient Castle, I’ll be able to fight even a Demigod!’

A Divine Soldier!

Let alone the Eastern Continent, even on the entire Qiankun Continent, Divine Soldiers were the pinnacle of Profound Weapons!

Even the top factions rarely possessed Divine Soldiers.

Jiang Chen took a deep breath. ’Little Black said that before Master passed away, he set up three trials in the Celestial Demon Ancient Castle. Only by passing all of them can I achieve initial ownership of the castle. The first trial, I believe, is to open the doors to the Central Hall!’

The Celestial Demon Ancient Castle was enormous!

Its interior was likely no smaller than the entire Imperial Capital of the Saint Martial Dynasty.

After some searching, he finally found the Central Hall.

A great door stood before him.

The door was forged from black metal and covered with strange, irregular markings that had no discernible pattern.

A single glance at the chaotic markings was enough to make him feel dizzy and his vision blur.

He had to activate his Divine Thought just to regain his clarity.

Jiang Chen gasped. ’What a terrifying Array. No wonder Little Black told me not to try refining the Celestial Demon Ancient Castle. Just the Array on this door is enough—without the Divine Thought Power of a Fifth-Grade Spirit King, I doubt one could even stay conscious. These markings must be a scrambled Array. The First Stage of the trial must be to restore it!’

Even though Jiang Chen possessed all of the Celestial Demon Emperor Venerable’s memories regarding Alchemy and Artifact Refining, he couldn’t perform the many techniques contained within them without sufficient Divine Thought Power.

After a full day and a night, Jiang Chen finally restored the scrambled Array to its original form.

HUMMM!

Once the Array took shape, it transformed, taking on the appearance of a Mountain River Map.

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

Every line on the Mountain River Map linked together, erupting in a brilliant glow. With a tremendous RUMBLE, the incredibly heavy door slowly swung open.

Jiang Chen had completed the First Stage of the trial.

He stepped into the great hall.

Inside the hall stood nine Great Tripods.

The Great Tripods were piled together, forming a small mountain.

As Jiang Chen entered the hall, a vast, thunderous voice echoed from within: ”My successor, to pass the Second Stage trial, you must use your own power to arrange the Nine Tripods into the Nine Palace Star Array!”

Jiang Chen paused. ’The Nine Palace Star Array? Isn’t that very simple?’

He couldn’t help but feel puzzled.

The Nine Palace Star Array was merely a Fourth Grade Array. Any Fourth-Grade Refining Master could complete it. It was far less difficult than restoring the Array on the great door.

’Could a trial set by the Celestial Demon Emperor Venerable be this simple?’

’Could there be some kind of catch?’

Jiang Chen gave it a try and immediately discovered the catch. A wry smile touched his lips. ’So that’s how it is… Each of these tripods is incredibly heavy. Even an expert at the Ninth Stage of the Human King Realm might not be able to move them. It’s a good thing my Divine Demon Tyrant Body has reached the Fifth Stage Realm!’

”HAAH!”

Jiang Chen grabbed one of the tripods with both hands and let out a great roar. The veins on his arms bulged high like a prison.

However... the Great Tripod didn’t budge an inch!

”Fuck...”

Completely exhausted, Jiang Chen stared at the Great Tripod in utter shock. ’This thing is absurdly heavy! It looks like I have no choice but to use the God-Devouring Realm!’

BOOM!

As the God-Devouring Realm manifested, every aspect of Jiang Chen’s power skyrocketed!

BANG! BANG!

Gripping the Great Tripod tightly, he unleashed his full power and finally managed to lift it by the barest fraction of an inch.

Taking heavy steps, Jiang Chen slowly maneuvered the Great Tripod. In the time it took for an incense stick to burn, he had only moved it a distance of two meters.

It was simply unbelievable!

After all, with Jiang Chen’s current strength, he could lift an entire mountain with ease, yet this was just a single tripod!

To arrange the Nine Tripods into the Nine Palace Star Array, even the one with the shortest distance to go had to be moved more than ten meters.

The Nine Tripods!

It took Jiang Chen ten full days and nights to finally move them into their proper positions. As the Nine Palace Star Array formed, it instantly bloomed with a network of bright lights. Specks of starlight burst forth from the Nine Tripods, converging into bands of light that connected with one another.

RUMBLE—

The Nine Palace Star Array began to operate on its own.

At the center of the Nine Tripods, a lake of condensed light appeared. From within this lake of light, a pool constructed from cyan stone slowly began to rise.

The pool was square in shape and stood a hundred feet high.

The pool was filled with a golden liquid, which rippled faintly like the surface of a lake.

”My heir, congratulations on passing the first two trials. This final trial is to absorb all of the Holy Blood within the Holy Blood Spirit Pool… My heir, to absorb the Holy Blood is to struggle against the heavens, against the earth, against other people, and against yourself. Do not lose sight of who you are. Good luck!”

The ancient, world-weary voice belonged to the Celestial Demon Emperor Venerable, and it carried a trace of sorrow. ”I, the Celestial Demon Emperor Venerable, was brilliant my entire life. Yet at the final moment, I lost sight of my true self, and all my efforts came to naught. How tragic… how magnificent…”

The Celestial Demon Emperor Venerable’s voice grew fainter and fainter until it disappeared completely.

In the vast, empty hall, only the Nine Palace Star Array remained, slowly emitting a faint glow that illuminated the Holy Blood Spirit Pool, which pulsed with an incomparably majestic Spiritual Qi.

Jiang Chen took a deep breath, his gaze fixed on the Holy Blood Spirit Pool as he unconsciously clenched his fists. ’The Holy Blood Spirit Pool? To struggle against the heavens is an endless joy; to struggle against the earth is an endless joy… Master, rest assured! I will not let you down!’

SWOOSH!

In a flash, his body plunged into the Holy Blood Spirit Pool.

But Jiang Chen, now inside the Holy Blood Spirit Pool, had no idea that the moment he submerged himself, a violent storm erupted across the entire Celestial Demon Ancient Realm. Thunder crashed across the heavens. The sky itself was torn asunder as Void Storms raged, and destructive gales and the Fire of Chaos swept through the entire Celestial Demon Ancient Realm with world-ending might…