Chapter 222: The Auction Begins!

After seeing off An Miaoli and her niece, Ye Chen felt a bit baffled. What was that all about? But when he checked the system’s reward, his confusion melted away, replaced by a delighted grin.

“Lanke Jade: When worn by a cultivator, it protects the soul, ensuring immunity to heart demons before the Immortal Ascension Tribulation, nullifying all illusions, and continuously nurturing spiritual sense, raising its upper limit…”

No critical hit, but the reward was exactly what he needed. Heart demons were the greatest foe on a cultivator’s path. Some cultivators boasted unparalleled physical strength but faltered in willpower, easily succumbing to heart demons and failing at critical moments.

Ye Chen had read of a prodigy with Deity Transformation potential, nurtured meticulously by their sect. On the verge of breaking through to Soul Transformation, they dreamed of failing the breakthrough, their body possessed by a heavenly demon, slaughtering their sect, killing their partner, and refining their family into pills. That dream shattered their confidence, filling them with dread. He delayed his seclusion for the breakthrough, unable to muster the courage, and ultimately died with regrets.

That was the work of a heart demon—omnipresent, insidious, and relentless. With the Lanke Jade, Ye Chen would be immune to heart demons until his Immortal Ascension Tribulation. Its value was immense. Beyond that, it nurtured spiritual sense and raised its ceiling. He’d been disappointed when gifting An Yuyi the Soul-Nourishing Stone didn’t trigger a critical hit, but this reward from An Miaoli more than made up for it.

An Miaoli truly was a remarkable woman!

The next day, Li Feihuang arrived.

She informed Ye Chen that she was about to enter seclusion to break through to the Golden Core stage. Her urgency stemmed not only from the mounting pressure from the Great Chu Dynasty but also from her defeat in the Divine Will Cave Heaven. As a royal daughter of Great Chu, Li Feihuang had always been supremely confident, rarely meeting her match among peers. Yet Ye Chen had bested her twice.

The first loss she could brush off, but the second? With all her trump cards revealed, she couldn’t even withstand a single strike. The reality was hard to swallow.

Thus, she was determined to enter seclusion, form a ninth-grade Golden Core, and elevate her Fire Phoenix Spirit Body to the Moon Phoenix Body. If she could master even a fraction of the True Phoenix Treasure Technique during the process, it would be perfect. Then, Ye Chen would stand no chance against her.

“After I break through to Golden Core, my physique will advance as well, and I might even acquire the True Phoenix Treasure Technique,” she said earnestly before leaving. “When the time comes, if Fellow Daoist Ye has also reached Golden Core, I’d trouble you to test my strength.”

She called it a test, but her intentions were clear. As a royal daughter, how could she remain weaker than her vassal? In the cultivation world’s dynasties, unlike mortal empires, the emperor had to be the strongest under the ancestor to command respect.

Ye Chen understood her meaning perfectly and nodded calmly, agreeing to her request. Inwardly, he marveled at her unshakable confidence. Couldn’t beat me at Foundation Establishment, and now you think you’ll win at Golden Core? Just don’t cry when you lose again.

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He escorted her to the door, watching as she departed with a confident nod, her figure drifting away gracefully.

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