Best Young Master

"Does he seem to have more energy left? Could he possibly ascend to the seventh level?"

After witnessing Ye Fan’s stunning performance, the crowd fell completely silent. After a long while, someone couldn’t believe what they were seeing and spoke up.

For most people, reaching the sixth stone step signifies a formidable divine soul power. Unless one cultivates the soul with a special cultivation technique, the strength of the soul can only progress with the realm and can never surpass it.

These individuals are geniuses from the Five Great Domains. Although they have emerged victoriously from their respective domains, demonstrating their strength and extraordinary prowess,

They possess great fortunes, and although they lack the heritage of the Di Clan and the Holy Land’s successors, their strength is not much different.

Most of them only managed to reach the sixth stone step before being bounced back from the seventh step.

Ye Fan’s realm is not as high as theirs, so reaching the fifth stone step was already incredibly impressive.

At this moment, Jin Changgeng and the others clenched their fists, silently praying for Ye Fan to climb a few more steps. As for reaching the summit, they hadn’t even considered it.

"Perhaps he really could reach the top..."

The White Wolf murmured softly.

"Hmm... White Wolf, why do you say that?"

Hu Fei heard the White Wolf’s muttering, felt a shock in his heart, and quickly asked.

"This kid has practiced the Divine Soul Sword Technique, and as far as I know, there’s a Divine Soul Flame in his sea of consciousness, constantly training his soul’s power every moment. The Heaven and Earth Bridge might not be a challenge for him!"

The White Wolf learned this information from Shen Tu and the others when they returned to the Xuanwu Sect, so it’s naturally known.

"This kid’s luck is overwhelming, obtaining such a divine object as the Divine Soul Flame. No wonder he is so confident!" Hu Fei and Shi Ye exclaimed.

With the Divine Soul Flame coupled with a technique specialized in training the soul like the Divine Soul Sword Technique, only a freak would find Ye Fan’s soul power lacking.

Pa!

Swiftly, Ye Fan took another step, ascending to the sixth stone step, a blue light rising, exuding a dreamy color like eternal blue gold.

Hmm?

Ye Fan carefully sensed the eternal energy in this light. Though the pressure on his soul increased, it still hadn’t reached his limit.

Each stone step of the Heaven and Earth Bridge doubles the pressure, posing a tremendous test of the soul’s power and endurance.

On the sixth stone step, Ye Fan remained still for an hour, seemingly petrified, making Gu Hao and the others truly break out in a sweat for him.

"Can he still continue upwards?"

Witnessing this, almost everyone inwardly questioned themselves.

No answer!

Wu Jingtian observed everything silently from afar, his face expressionless.

As a successor to Emperor Wu, he bore his own pride and had not participated in the trials, so no one knew the depth of his capabilities yet.

Not far from him, Yue Chuan also kept a keen eye on Ye Fan. Ye Fan had amazed everyone with his extraordinary skills and talent in the trials at the Ancient Battlefield and the special training in the Void Sky Illusion Realm, making even the strongest successors of the Di Clan pay attention.

Though attending the academy for learning and cultivation was a priority for these individuals, another goal was to recruit talents for their clans. Even a vast entity like the Di Clan needed to attract talents to balance various power dynamics.

The peaceful life currently enjoyed on the Tianxuan Continent was hard-won, and no one wished to see it disrupted, for fear of sparking warfare across the land again.

Ye Fan’s performance certainly warranted their efforts to recruit him, as no Di Clan had ever produced two Great Emperors, becoming almost a rule. Historically, any Great Emperor did not emerge from the Di Clan, hence their special attention to extraordinarily gifted individuals not from a large sect or clan.

A Di Clan’s strongest successor, once matured, can protect and uphold the clan’s glory for millennia. However, the prerequisite is their successful growth.

No strong individual with the Emperor Bloodline willingly stays behind others; all aim to prove their Dao. Yet, the Emperor Road is fraught with countless corpses, where innumerable strong people compete with only one emerging victorious.

It’s not just them; some female cultivators also exuded brilliance in their eyes, looking at Ye Fan standing on the sixth stone step with interest.

Whether it be geniuses or prodigies, it is not merely a world of men. Female prodigies are also abundant, particularly in this epoch, where numerous prodigies and geniuses arise, with some Holy Maidens from Holy Lands or Great Sects even surpassing the Saint Heirs.

This is vividly illustrated in the Qing Family, where Qing Zi is acclaimed as the Southern Domain’s top genius, yet still lags behind his sister Qing Lian.

Pang! 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Finally, Ye Fan moved again, after gaining profound insights on the sixth stone step and advancing further in understanding soul power, he took the seventh step.

As Ye Fan stood on the seventh stone step, soul pressure surged dramatically, as if an Ancient Divine Mountain weighed upon his soul. His soul roared, and the Divine Soul Sword trembled, dissolving this terrifying pressure.

"Heavens, he’s actually reached the seventh step?"

The cultivators around the Heaven and Earth Bridge were utterly astonished. Ascending to the seventh stone step with a Holy Embryo Realm, possessing a soul power stronger than other Divine Power Realm strong people, could only shock them!

Simultaneously, a vast purple light soared upward, majestically reaching for the heavens, awe-inspiring and prestigious beyond words.

Within the purple light, Ye Fan perceived the divine soul’s power, and the Thunder Power also seethed. Under the immense pressure, there was even a hint of fusion with the soul.

This... caught Ye Fan by surprise!

The soul is extremely fragile, especially fearing the Heavenly Tribulation. Even though Ye Fan’s soul had endured several tribulations, it hadn’t merged with Thunder Power until now when such a trend emerged, leaving him bewildered!

The Divine Soul Sword flickered with silver light, groaning under immense pressure, and Ye Fan felt his divine soul was about to give out.

"Human strength has its limits. When one reaches their limit, they must undergo transformation; transformation leads to understanding!"

Ye Fan contemplated this phrase. Although it seemed unrelated to the power of the divine soul, all things are ultimately interconnected, and the fundamental principles of everything are the same.

Though the Divine Soul Sword is a weapon of slaughter, it lacks hardness despite its sharpness. It can unexpectedly sever the enemy’s divine soul in battle, achieving the effect of a lethal strike. However, it does not reflect the true power of the divine soul.

Faced with limits, one must transform; transformation leads to understanding!

Ye Fan pondered over this phrase and ultimately decided to take a risk. Under tremendous pressure, he personally shattered the Divine Soul Sword and merged it into a furnace.

Crack!

With a crisp sound, Ye Fan’s Divine Soul Sword broke apart, and the pressure suddenly increased, causing blood to ooze from his seven orifices, yet he remained unmoved.

Under this pressure, comparable to the Ancient Divine Mountain, Ye Fan shattered his Divine Soul Sword, merging it into a furnace. As his mind surged, his divine soul condensed into a primal and majestic great seal.

The Heavenly Tao Seal, inscribed with the markings of the Heavenly Tao!

Ye Fan broke and then stood anew, finally succeeding. His divine soul transformed into a great seal, able to withstand the pressure.

"This kid is a genius!"

This transformation even made Elder Xuan unable to help but exclaim in admiration.

Just now, Ye Fan had recklessly shattered his Divine Soul Sword, which greatly startled him. The divine soul is the root of a person; if the divine soul disappears, the person ceases to exist.

In that instant, Elder Xuan nearly used a forbidden technique to re-condense Ye Fan’s divine soul, though doing so would have been immensely costly, beyond what he could bear.

The sword, though a gentleman’s weapon, was unsuitable for withstanding such terrifying pressure. Ye Fan shattered it and re-consolidated it into the Heavenly Tao Seal, inscribing the markings of the Heaven and Earth Great Tao. Its power was a hundred times stronger than the Divine Soul Sword.

The Heavenly Tao Seal, condensed from the divine soul, stood immovable as a mountain. Ye Fan’s eyes were clear, with sun, moon, and stars flickering within them, and his blood surged powerfully within his body.

This time, he lingered longer on the seventh stone step, allowing the Heavenly Tao Seal, condensed from his divine soul, to inscribe as many Heaven and Earth Tao markings as possible.

This was a transformation, and also a great opportunity. Without immense fortitude, one could not possibly possess such an opportunity.

"Even if he can’t take another step forward, being able to linger so long on the seventh stone step is already defying the heavens!"

The crowd could not help but exclaim. Ye Fan had reached this point, far surpassing other geniuses, nearly catching up to Zhou Zhaolong and Qi Tianlin.

"This is a true demon!"

Amidst the envious and jealous gazes, amidst the sighs of admiration, amidst the blessings of friends, Ye Fan once again took resolute steps, continuing to ascend!

Boom!

Ye Fan stepped onto the eighth stone step, causing the entire Heaven and Earth Bridge to tremble, emanating a strong aura. A pillar of black light shot skyward, as if the sky had darkened, and the terrifying pressure made those who had not stepped onto the stone steps feel a chill of fear.

"He’s crazy, truly crazy. He actually stepped onto the eighth stone step; it’s practically mythical!"

"It’s unbelievable. He’s only at the Holy Embryo Realm, yet his divine soul power is stronger than ours at the Divine Power Realm. Is there no fairness?"

"I want to extract this guy’s divine soul and see how he cultivates!"

Some geniuses at the Divine Power Realm could not take this blow, complaining in resentment.

They all hailed from various places, considered the elite among the younger generation, yet here they suffered repeated setbacks.

It’s one thing for Qi Tianlin and Zhou Zhaolong to be stronger than them; after all, they had made their mark years ago. But where did this Ye Fan come from?

He had always been unknown, with no one even aware of him, and he hailed from the Xuanwu Sect of the weakest Tianyuan State.

In Tianyuan State, Xuanwu Sect might be considered a not insignificant sect, but it wasn’t much in the entire Southern Domain.

However—

From this long-underachieving sect emerged Ye Fan, this astonishing demon, whose divine soul power almost rivaled the two demons Zhou Zhaolong and Qi Tianlin.

In just a year, Ye Fan went from obscurity to becoming a famous name in the Southern Domain, with even the other Four Great Regions knowing this name.

Single-handedly, he nearly crippled the first family of Qing Province, a feat they couldn’t imagine achieving.

And at that time, Ye Fan hadn’t even reached the Holy Embryo Realm. In just a little more than a year, he soared, from the True Essence Realm to the Peak of the Holy Embryo Realm, a pace that left even the Saints of certain Holy Lands dumbfounded!

At this moment, he stood on the eighth stone step, his divine soul power no less than that of Zhou Zhaolong.

In the distance, Li Tianfeng’s complexion was extremely ugly. He had been hailed as an extraordinary genius of the Li Family, having reached the early-stage Divine Realm at the age of sixteen, yet he had only made it to the sixth stone step. Ye Fan’s divine soul power had long since left him far behind.

"How can this be? Could he really be stronger than Brother Zhao Long?"

Li Tianfeng asked himself, eyes flickering with blood-red killing light.

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