Qin Yu bitterly smiled. This was another attempt where he perished together. It seemed that wanting to defeat himself was something incomparably difficult. He softly left the Battle Room, slapped himself awake, and then took out some pills and swallowed them, continuing to cultivate.

The passage of time was purer and more incorruptible than anything else in this world. It wouldn’t change or distort because of any outside force.

When Qin Yu finished refining the pills within his body and was preparing for another workout round, the form of the guide slowly appeared and lightly said, “Dear guest, there are only four hours left of your allotted time in the Dao Arena. Please tidy up and gather your personal belongings. We welcome your presence in the Dao Arena in the future.”

After having experienced this sort of dull and lonely training, if it were anyone else, they might feel overjoyed at having been freed from this hell. But, Qin Yu’s first thought was: are you joking with me here? Just how long had passed? It hasn’t even been three months! He huffed in indignation and took out his handphone. Thanks to the durable cultivator technology that built this handphone, it still hadn’t shut down after all this time, allowing Qin Yu to clearly see the date marked on it.

It was actually true.

After a brief dazed pause, he swept his eyes around, a look of loss in them. He decided that if he had a chance in the future, he would definitely return to the Dao Arena. This place was simply too wonderful to ignore! With only four hours left, there wasn’t any point in continuing to cultivate. Before he left though, there were still some things to do. He walked in front of the combat strength assessor tool. Then, with a deep breath, he punched out a fist.

Hum –

Light wove together. Combat strength, 431 horses!

Nascent Soul, fourth level.

In three months, through stacking up a massive amount of pills, Qin Yu had gone from barely meeting the requirements of the third level to rising to the middle fourth level of the Nascent Soul realm. Even within the Land of Divinity and Demons, this cultivation speed was…around the middle tier and up. Yes, that was right, it was the middle tier and up. Otherwise, it would have been useless to call this place a land where there were more talented geniuses than dogs.

If there were a truly heaven-gifted cultivator that possessed the same training resources as Qin Yu, he would have reached at least the sixth level of Nascent Soul. This was the reason why talent was so incredibly important to a cultivator.

As Qin Yu thought to here, he sighed. But he wasn’t discouraged. Since there were treasures that could increase talent, he would be able to slowly search for them in the future. And with the little blue lamp in hand, he would be able to amass tons of wealth. He was confident that in a worst case situation, he would just buy them all up!

With such dashing heroic spirit and vigor lifting his heart, his robes began to swirl around him. He lifted his hands, white, black, blue, red, and yellow divine lights flowing around his fingers. They transformed into the Five Element Swords, tearing into the metal column. All of the sword light crashed into the column. There seemed to be a brief moment of silence before a thunderous explosion sounded back, like the eruption of the sea, a tsunami crashing onto land.

Qin Yu narrowed his eyes and looked at the radiant silver lights gathering into a line of characters. A look of happiness filled his face…as well as relief. It wasn’t easy, but after training bitterly in the Dao Arena for three months, he had rid himself of the ‘mountain bandit’ status.

Combat Strength: 76831 horses, strength of 76 flood dragons. You can gain the title of a team member of a large city’s military troop. You have the authority to control the life and death of food stalls on the side of the road and extort them!

Alright. That review at the end, please ignore it.

With his cultivation level having risen by one and his combat strength rising by 21 flood dragons, this was the result of Qin Yu’s background, his secret skills, and his mortal body superimposing upon each other, thus creating this terrifying outcome. This was how cultivators in the Land of Divinity and Demons truly calculated one’s overall combat strength.

In the Land of Divinity and Demons, the core disciples of the largest sects had all sorts of earthshaking supernatural arts and could utilize various secret techniques. Even though their true cultivation might only be at the Nascent Soul realm, in a crucial moment, they could unhesitatingly erupt with a strength that could exterminate a Divine Soul, even a peak Divine Soul.

Simply put, it was the ability to leap past realms to fight.

Compared to those proud elites of heaven, Qin Yu’s current performance could only be counted as mediocre. That was it.

But for the current Qin Yu, this result was more than satisfactory. He turned around without hesitation and walked into the Battle Room.

Hum –

A beam of light fell down, covering Qin Yu.

Two hours later, the light beam within the room vanished. The guide appeared, bowing and saying, “Dear guest, congratulations on completing the Self Vanquishing Tempering Experience. You are ranked ninth in history. According to the rules, you may leave behind your name so that future cultivators can pay their respects to you.”

As the guide spoke, a giant stone tablet phantom appeared in the Combat Room. Although it was just a phantom, one could feel pressure and the aura of endless years emanating from it.

Qin Yu was silent for several breaths of time. Then, he slowly said, “Qin Yu!”

In the next moment, the ninth place on the stone tablet lit up, and the characters Qin Yu appeared.

The name originally in ninth place was moved down to tenth. As for that friend that was at tenth place, he dropped off from the list.

The guide bowed once more and then vanished along with the stone tablet.

Qin Yu shook his head. He didn’t place this small event in his heart. He sat down cross-legged and swallowed a pill, beginning to restore himself. Because he was unfamiliar with the Dao Arena and he had a lack of information, Qin Yu simply didn’t know what it meant to be ranked ninth in history, nor did he know what sort of shock and uproar it would create.

The Dao Arena had a secret and unknown background. It appeared 10,000 years ago and started to grow with astonishing speed. Soon, it became a symbol which various nations used to judge their own strength.

The Middle Mountain Nation, a nation attached to the Zhao Empire.

There was a Dao Arena built amongst the mountains and clouds. Luminous rays cast down, almost as if a holy light was shining upon the land.

At the main entrance of the Dao Arena, there was a sudden thunderous ring in the skies above the front plaza. In the vault of heaven, winds and clouds surged, forming a giant vortex. The phantom of a stone tablet slowly appeared and an incomparably dignified voice spread out from deep within that swirl, as if the distant heavens and earth were speaking out in unison. “The Ancient Perishment Decree’s ninth place has changed – the name Qin Yu!”

The boundless voice came from nihility, surging out in all directions. Countless cultivators looked up in shock, envy and awe thick in their eyes.

It had been over 1000 years. This was the Ancient Perishment Decree, said to only be reachable by vanquishing oneself, and after such a long time, a new name had suddenly appeared on it! Who was this Qin Yu? Could he be the hidden legacy disciple of some super large sect? Otherwise, how could he fight his way onto the Ancient Perishment Decree as soon as he appeared and have such a startling achievement!

The Jin Nation attached to the Qin Empire, the Li Nation attached to the Yan Empire, the Song Nation attached to the Qi Empire…at almost the exact same time, all over the world, this phenomenon appeared at every place where there was a Dao Arena stationed. The vortex, the stone tablet, and the voice that seemed to come from the world itself…all of this caused the name of Qin Yu to be spread throughout the Land of Divinity and Demons like a hurricane, sweeping out in all directions.

To vanquish oneself was known to be one of the most impossible feats to accomplish. But as long as one could achieve this, they were destined to be an amazing and brilliant character that would be a peerless representative of their time. The Land of Divinity and Demons had countless resources. As long as one piled up enough resources, even a pig could become a divine pig that flew in the skies.

But, if one wished to reach an unrivalled cultivation and become a peak powerhouse that ruled over their own dominion, this wasn’t something that could be accomplished by piling up resources alone. A cultivator needed potent talent. This was one of the most important qualifications for a cultivator to take that crucial step towards the path of the heavenly dao.

In the eyes of countless people, the name ‘Qin Yu’ suddenly had the qualifications to take this crucial step. Thus, a frenzy of orders were passed down.

“Find Qin Yu!”

“I have a feeling that this person is in the south. Order the Southern Ministry to investigate; do not delay!”

“Ask the Stargazing Division to explore the stars and lock onto this person’s position. He must be brought to us.”

“This sort of future Blue Sea will have the qualifications to be positioned in the core of my sect. Send out orders to the world that my sect welcomes Qin Yu to come and join us in cultivating.”

Qi Empire, Imperial Capital Dark Overlook.

In the city, countless vicious beasts knelt on the ground, their heads looking up towards the great sun rising in the east. They looked as if they were swallowing the essence of the sun and moon, their momentum earth-shaking.

Because of the condensing of imperial strength, the empire’s destiny was suppressed and stabilized. The heavenly dao above Dark Overlook was not obvious. Here, there was a supreme ruler with no one above. This wasn’t because the great Qi Emperor was rampant and wanted to challenge the world, but because his own terrifying cultivation had melded together with the destiny of the nation, forming a single momentum. This was done with the approval of the world. The Seven Empires within the Land of Divinity and Demons all had this status.

Within Dark Overlook’s Dao Arena, there was no vortex or stone tablet that appeared. But, that voice still echoed outwards in all directions.

“The Ancient Perishment Decree’s ninth place has changed – the name Qin Yu!”

It was unknown whether it was an illusion or not, but this boundlessly dignified voice seemed to have a bit more fear and discretion in its tone, as if it wasn’t willing to easily pass through the Qi Empire’s imperial capital.

The billowing voice tumbled through the void. It seemed to possess the power of rules, ignoring any spells or array formations as it spread throughout the entire Dark Overlook.

Emperor Palace.

Above a golden temple, a man sitting on a nine dragon throne slowly opened his eyes. Divine light flashed in his pupils, as if thunder were crashing down from the nine heavens and ten earths. He let out a gentle humph. In the next instant, that billowing voice that reverberated through the skies above Dark Overlook suddenly stopped, as if utterly erased from this world by some invisible strength.

“Your Majesty, the Dao Arena has been slowly growing in influence these past years. They have interwoven with numerous secret forces and their arrogance grows increasingly unbridled with every passing day. Does this official need to appear to shatter their power and influence and suppress their destiny?” Below the temple, a black-armored general appeared and bowed. His aura swirled around his body, causing space to disintegrate and countless tiny cracks to appear.

The Qi Emperor lightly responded, “Behind the Dao Arena, there are great figures personally assuming guard. There is no need to worry about this for now. I will make a statement on it later. Minister Yan, I have had a faint feeling recently. The Infinite Realm will soon open. Pass down an order to the largest sects of my Qi Empire and to all the juniors of the royal family. Screen out the most outstanding amongst them and prepare them to step into the Infinite Realm and seek out their own good fortune.”

Not too far away from that golden temple, in a magnificently built palace, there were a number of women cultivating in a chamber. One of them had tears unconsciously streaming down her face. Someone across from her was awakened from her trance, and her complexion changed as she saw what was happening. “Senior-apprentice sister Ning, are you alright?”

Ning Ling shook her head, wiping away her tears. “I’m fine.”

The girl’s eyes turned. It was clear that senior-apprentice sister Ning didn't want to speak further. She smartly didn’t ask any more.

Ning Ling’s head hung down, concealing all of the emotions flitting in her eyes. Countless thoughts raced through her mind, finally transforming into a sigh. In such a short period of time, she didn’t expect for Qin Yu to find a chance to step into the Land of Divinity and Demons. At the very least, even if he did smoothly step into the Land of Divinity and Demons, how was it possible for him to rise to the ninth place on the Dao Arena’s Ancient Perishment Decree. That was the Dao Arena’s Ancient Perishment Decree! In the Immortal Sect, she had several proud and talented genius senior-apprentice sisters and brothers who pursued that step but weren’t able to accomplish it…whatever, it should only be that their names were similar.

Ning Ling took a deep breath, suppressing her roiling thoughts and returning her mind to tranquility. Soon, her aura changed and she seemed like an immortal fairy exiled to the world, noble and inviolable. In the cultivation methods of the Immortal Sect, they paid close attention to severing all mortal desires and feelings. Only by losing all worldly connections could one conform to the immortal cultivation methods and rapidly increase their cultivation.

The girl cultivator across from her revealed a look of envy. No wonder senior-apprentice sister Ning was able to obtain the favor of the Elders within the sect even though she came from the land of exiles. Her talent was just as the rumors said. She was a powerful competitor for the future role of Saintess.

However, what was with that fierce fluctuation in mood just now? Was it because of the change in the Ancient Perishment Decree? Qin Yu…the female cultivator quietly recorded this name in her heart.