Ye Chen frowned. This Zhao Hongyan had likely used some kind of youth-preserving technique; her actual age was probably over forty. Otherwise, there was no way her cultivation could have reached the King Martial Realm.
And the gap between their cultivation levels was immense. As exceptional as Ye Chen’s ability to fight above his level was, it still wasn’t enough to bridge such a gap.
But Ye Chen wasn’t too worried. Although he couldn’t beat Zhao Hongyan for now, someone else could—like the Sword Emperor, Jian Canghai.
The Sword Emperor still intended to make him a furnace for Jian Ling’er. There was no way he would stand by and let anything happen to Ye Chen.
Sure enough, just as Zhao Hongyan’s flying dagger came within a few meters of Ye Chen, the Sword Emperor casually released a surge of profound Qi and blocked it with ease.
“Sword Emperor, what is the meaning of this? Are you interfering in the affairs of our Unparalleled Holy Land?” Zhao Hongyan’s brows furrowed. Since she had already torn all pretenses with Ye Chen, she was determined to eliminate him today.
The Sword Emperor didn’t answer directly but countered, “As the ruler of the Sword Empire, I’m protecting the greatest genius our nation has seen in a hundred years. You call that meddling?”
The Unparalleled Holy Land was indeed powerful, but Zhao Hongyan, as a saintess, did not represent the entire sect.
And more importantly, in front of a massive crowd like this, he couldn’t let someone kill a Sword Empire prodigy in broad daylight—that would be a total disgrace.
But most importantly, Ye Chen was the furnace he had chosen for his daughter. He must not die!
Zhao Hongyan’s frown deepened. She knew she had no solid justification and realized that with the Sword Emperor present, killing Ye Chen today would be impossible.
“Senior Sister Zhao, you must not give him time to grow. Otherwise, he’ll become a huge threat!” Lin Tian said bitterly.
Today was supposed to be his big day to shine, yet Ye Chen had utterly crushed him. His carefully crafted plan had been ruined, his reputation destroyed, his body wounded, and even the remnant soul inside him had fallen dormant… he had lost everything.
But Zhao Hongyan wasn’t concerned. “Junior Brother Lin, you’re overthinking. That boy may have some potential, but he’s still far beneath us. And as time passes, the gap will only grow wider.”
Seeing Lin Tian still frustrated, Zhao Hongyan added, “Come back to the Unparalleled Holy Land with me. I’ll take you to the Sacred Pool for a baptism. We’ll help you level up before the secret realm assessment. Without the Sword Emperor to protect him in there, you can slaughter Ye Chen with your own hands.”
“Besides, among the other three empires, many of the young geniuses entering the secret realm assessment in three days are eager to join the Unparalleled Holy Land. I’ll have them help you kill Ye Chen too, just to ensure nothing goes wrong.”
The so-called secret realm assessment involved each of the Four Empires selecting 100 prodigies to enter a sealed secret realm, where they would hunt mystic beasts and collect beast cores.
Within that secret realm were towering mountain ranges, vast rivers, lakes, and seas, countless ferocious mystic beasts, and rare natural treasures that had existed for centuries.
There were no rules in that place—not even basic laws. Killing, robbing, and betrayal were as common as breathing…
Ye Chen didn’t go after him. With Zhao Hongyan around, he couldn’t kill Lin Tian just yet.
But the mention of the secret realm assessment lit up Ye Chen’s eyes. In his past life, Lin Tian had basically activated cheat mode during that assessment—finding numerous treasures and stumbling upon a major opportunity.
That very opportunity had allowed Lin Tian to leap to the Heaven Martial Realm and become famous across the Eastern Wasteland…
Ye Chen had already made up his mind. Once the secret realm opened in three days, he would silently tail Lin Tian. Whatever natural treasures or miraculous opportunities Lin Tian discovered—Ye Chen would take them all.
And finally, kill Lin Tian to eliminate all future threats!
After wrapping up the matter, Ye Chen took Qing’er straight to the Martial Meridian Hall.
In the Profound Sky Continent, martial meridians were everything.
The stronger the martial meridians, the greater the talent, and the faster the cultivation speed.
Martial meridians weren’t fixed forever; they could be upgraded as one’s strength improved, though the difficulty was immense.
What mattered now was that a cultivator’s initial martial meridian grade had to be tested using a specialized martial meridian stone in a proper testing institution.
Hence the existence of the Martial Meridian Hall.
At least in the Eastern Wasteland, every major city among the dozens of empires had a Martial Meridian Hall. Naturally, the capital of the Sword Empire was no exception.
In addition to testing initial martial meridian grades, the Martial Meridian Hall also had another important service: selling martial meridian pills to help improve one’s meridians.
Ye Chen was determined to test Qing’er’s martial meridians today so he could purchase the right grade of pills to help her improve.
The Martial Meridian Hall had many stones for testing.
Those placed in the main hall cost 10,000 taels of gold per use.
The ones in private rooms cost 100,000 taels of gold per use.
Ye Chen didn’t hesitate and immediately took out 100,000 taels of gold to book a private room.
He understood all too well the principle: “A man’s wealth is his crime.”
Before his true rise, he didn’t want Qing’er’s incredibly high-level bloodline to be exposed to the public.
In fact, if not for the need to determine which pill suited her grade, he would never have brought Qing’er here in the first place.
In the private room, Ye Chen pointed to a dark-colored martial meridian stone, about two meters in diameter, and continued, “If the stone glows red, that means you have a Human Grade meridian. Orange means Earth Grade. Yellow is Heaven Grade. Green is King Grade. Cyan is Emperor Grade. Blue is Saint Grade. Purple is Emperor Physique.”
His explanation made Qing’er visibly nervous.
Ye Chen patted her little head and said, “Don’t be nervous. My initial meridian was King Grade, and that broke the Sword Empire’s historical record. Yours will definitely be higher.”
He wasn’t just trying to comfort her. He truly believed it from the bottom of his heart. With how extraordinary Qing’er was, her meridians had to be at least Emperor Grade, possibly even Saint Grade—or perhaps even the legendary Emperor Physique.
Qing’er grew even more nervous. “Qing’er is dumb. I could never be even a thousandth as good as you, Brother.”
Under Ye Chen’s encouraging gaze, Qing’er placed her small hand on the stone.
One breath.
Two breaths.
…
Ten breaths passed. The martial meridian stone didn’t react at all—not even the faintest red glow.
“Brother, I’ve embarrassed you. I’m not even at the lowest Human Grade…” Qing’er bit her little canine tooth and tried hard not to cry.
But Ye Chen firmly shook his head. He took her by the hand and left the room. After paying another 100,000 taels, he entered a second private room.
In Ye Chen’s mind, the problem wasn’t Qing’er’s meridians—it was that the martial meridian stone in the first room was broken.
So they changed rooms. Changed stones.
But after Qing’er placed her hand on the stone in the second room, there was still no response.
Ye Chen didn’t hesitate. He pulled her into the third private room…
If he couldn’t determine Qing’er’s meridian grade, he wouldn’t be able to buy the correct martial meridian pills. That would severely hinder her future progress.
Half an hour later, they entered the fifteenth room—the last private room in the Martial Meridian Hall.
“Brother… there’s nothing wrong with the stones. It’s Qing’er’s meridians that are trash.” Qing’er had lost hope. She knew miracles wouldn’t happen.
But Ye Chen still shook his head. Then, after a brief pause, his face suddenly lit up with joy.