ISWI Chapter 709-710

Chapter 709: Why Is Ye Chen Taking So Long This Time?

Outside, the fall of the Holy Prince and Prince Lu Ya caused a storm that shook the world. The Heir of the Heavenly Emperor's reputation grew ever more invincible. People were already comparing him to that generation's Innate Sacred Body Dao Embryo who had crushed all opposition. Because Ye Chen truly was too heaven-defying.

Toyed with the Holy Prince, caught a supreme Extreme Dao Weapon bare-handed, and killed Lu Ya twice. This kind of strength no longer meant merely unrivaled in his generation. Even among the previous generation, few could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with him. Thus, Ye Chen's legend of invincibility spread farther and farther.

But Ye Chen himself couldn't care less. After returning to Heavenly Evolution Holy Land, he settled down to cultivate in peace. With the Dao Cauldron and Enlightenment Tea Tree, progress was terrifyingly fast. He also rapidly mastered the complete Stasis, Array, and Foresight Secrets. He had already begun planning: once he broke through to the Third Heaven of Mahayana, he would repair his two supreme Extreme Dao Weapons.

During this time, Ye Chen tested Luo Bingling again. He gifted her another precious, feedback-eligible treasure. After all, her attitude had changed a lot. And she already had a four-thousand-times multiplier—worth a try. But something absurd happened. Still no crit. Not even a flicker.

This…

Ye Chen looked at her, utterly helpless. But after this gift, he finally gave up all hope of ever getting a crit from Luo Bingling. He even started thinking: maybe just take her as a proper Dao companion. He had already kissed and tasted everything. And trained her this well. He definitely couldn't let her go to benefit someone else. Turning her into a Dao companion would actually yield more.

With the dao companion bonus, four thousand times would become eight thousand. And gift cooldown would drop to one day. She could become a ruthless, emotionless feedback machine.

But something Ye Chen never expected happened. After one session of turning cherries into big cherries and hinting at going further, Luo Bingling rejected him without a second's hesitation.

This…

Ye Chen was rendered speechless by her. But he never forced anyone. If she didn't want to, so be it. And just like that, half a year flashed by in perfect calm. Ye Chen's cultivation reached the absolute peak of the Second Heaven. He formally entered seclusion in his cave abode, preparing to break through to the Third Heaven.

…

Outside Ye Chen's secluded cave abode, Luo Bingling's face was filled with shock. Ye Chen… was simply too fast. This was the Mahayana stage! In roughly two and a half years, he was about to cross the entire Second Heaven and charge toward the Third. This was beyond absurd.

The Dao Cauldron alone wasn't enough. There had to be the Enlightenment Tea Tree too. Even combined, she still felt it wasn't sufficient. Ye Chen probably had other treasures that accelerated cultivation. This only made her anticipation grow.

But Luo Bingling wasn't anxious. She had Ye Chen completely in her grasp now. In the past, she had always been the one taking the initiative. Yet not long ago, Ye Chen had actually wanted to go all the way.

What did that mean? It meant Ye Chen was utterly enchanted by her, desperate to possess her completely. Men were all the same: when they truly loved someone, they wanted every inch, inside and out.

So from now on, all she had to do was keep dangling the bait. She was certain that to win her fully, Ye Chen would slowly hand over the Dao Cauldron, the Enlightenment Tea Tree, and every other cultivation-accelerating treasure he owned.

It sounded unbelievable. Those things were priceless. But the Stasis Secret and similar treasures were equally valuable—comparable to supreme Extreme Dao Weapons—and hadn't Ye Chen given them away without blinking?

Handing her immortal artifacts later would only be logical. As for whether she would let him succeed after getting them? Of course not. Everything she had done before was for the Dao Cauldron. A little waist, a little foot—mere flesh, meaningless. But her chastity was sacred. How could she truly give it to a mere human like Ye Chen? Dream on…

Thinking of how the hunter had become the hunted, Luo Bingling couldn't stop smiling. And soon, she herself would break through. Every day felt like she had an unlimited supply of Dao Charm Pills. Plus, not long ago, Ye Chen had gifted her an extremely rare top-tier spiritual root that had nearly gone extinct in the cultivation world. Planting it in her cave-heaven had brought tremendous feedback.

So even though War God Clan members cultivated slowly in the Mahayana stage, after all this time, she could feel the moment of breakthrough approaching. She was ready to step into mid-Third Heaven…

…

Ye Chen had no idea Luo Bingling already believed she had him completely hooked and planned to string him along. At this moment, he sat cross-legged in his cave abode with utmost seriousness, preparing for true seclusion.

Piles of spatial divine stones lay scattered around him. He released his domain. It instantly shifted, swallowing every single stone. He circulated his technique. The originally illusory domain began to flow, undergoing the transformation from illusory to real.

His domain already contained eight divine abilities; it had always been monstrous. Turning it real required terrifying amounts of energy. Not only did it consume even more spatial divine stones, the demand for spiritual qi was astronomical.

Ye Chen feared draining the entire holy land dry, so he stopped drawing from the outside. Instead, he directly opened his inner world's treasury. Mountains of top-grade spirit stones towered within. These were the fruits of years of painstaking accumulation. Now he spent them like water, smashing mountain after mountain into his domain. Just this process alone lasted a full half-month.

And half a month later, the instant his domain officially began converting into a cave-heaven, Ye Chen unhesitatingly fused the fragments of his inner world with it…

In that moment, an even greater upheaval occurred. These were genuine world fragments, precious beyond imagination. Some holy lands that possessed them would turn them into blessed lands for the sect. No one would extravagantly use them as nourishment to forge a personal cave-heaven.

Yet Ye Chen did exactly that. It was the height of extravagance. After all, downgrading a small world into a cave-heaven was an immense waste. But Ye Chen didn't care. He slowly, carefully merged his cave-heaven with the inner world fragments. This was an enormous project. The process was arduous and intricate; it would consume vast amounts of time.

Yet Ye Chen felt no impatience. He calmly controlled the fusion, letting it proceed gradually. He could feel it. As the fusion deepened, his strength rose steadily. Terrifying cave-heaven power was constantly being born. He believed that once the fusion completed and the cave-heaven was truly forged, he would officially break through to the Third Heaven. His strength would soar once more.

…

Time loses meaning in the mountains. In the blink of an eye, Ye Chen had been in seclusion for two full years.

Luo Bingling, who had been eagerly waiting to reel in her hooked fish, now stared in utter confusion.

"Wasn't Ye Chen always super fast before? Why is it taking so long this time?"

Chapter 710: The Terrifying Celestial Prince!

Luo Bingling, having rejected Ye Chen's attempt to go further, had been certain the next phase would be her home field. She was full of anticipation for their future interactions. Yet she had only taken two months to break through to mid-Third Heaven, and Ye Chen was still in seclusion. One year passed—still in seclusion. Now two full years, and he still hadn't emerged.

Luo Bingling was starting to worry—was something wrong with Ye Chen? Had he deviated during breakthrough? Or had he advanced too quickly and destabilized his foundation? It was only the Third Heaven—why was it taking so long?

When she had broken through to Third Heaven, it had only taken her a year. Could Ye Chen really be that big? His cave-heaven that vast? Her own cave-heaven already spanned ten thousand li in length and width—an extremely rare scale. Among geniuses, it was absolutely top-tier. No matter how big Ye Chen's was, how much bigger could it be? What on earth was Ye Chen doing that it required so long?

Without Ye Chen, there wasn't even anyone to eat cherries. She had clearly hooked him, yet every night she dreamed of reeling him in completely—making him kneel obediently and offer the Dao Cauldron and Enlightenment Tea Tree, trapping Yi Qingwu in front of her while he earnestly ate cherries, only to dodge at the last second and splash her instead. She had planned everything perfectly, but the man himself wasn't here! It drove Luo Bingling mad with frustration. She wished Ye Chen would come out right now and make her dreams a reality.

…

Meanwhile, in the Northern Domain—the land of exile where the myriad races had once been driven by the Heavenly Emperor—at the very heart of that frozen wasteland, a towering snow peak pierced the clouds.

At its summit lay a massive, flawless divine source block, silently absorbing the essence of heaven, earth, sun, and moon. The divine source was perfectly transparent, yet no matter how one looked, nothing inside could be seen clearly. Only endless flames burned within, like divine fire that would never extinguish.

"Celestial Prince, the Heavenly Demon Clan has pledged allegiance. Their ancestor offers this generation's prodigy, Yao Yuezhi, hoping that when you emerge, she may serve as your personal attendant. The ancestor has already agreed.

"However, Yao Yuezhi appears unwilling. She has thrown herself at this generation's Heir of the Heavenly Emperor, embracing and kissing him publicly. She is no longer worthy to serve you. The Heavenly Demon Clan must be punished! And for Yao Yuezhi's actions—insulting you, Celestial Prince—she must be eradicated, body and soul!"

Before the divine source, a black-robed man knelt respectfully. Divine flames burned in his eyes; his aura was terrifying. He radiated at least Semi-Saint might. Yet before the divine source, he was utterly reverent.

After finishing his report, the man prepared to rise. But in the next instant, the divine source trembled. Faint cracks spiderwebbed across its surface. The being within seemed on the verge of awakening. Yet the cracks vanished as quickly as they appeared. The divine source returned to flawless perfection. A faint, illusory face materialized before it.

When the illusory face vanished, the man lowered his head even further, shouting with fanatical excitement: "Celestial Prince, you have finally awakened!"

The face that had appeared was encircled by five-colored divine rings, noble beyond measure, like a divine son descended to the mortal world. His hair was crystalline, giving an otherworldly, pure sensation. But the most astonishing were those eyes. Deep and ancient, yet brimming with vitality. Gaze deeper, and one could see mountains and rivers evolving, the passage of ages, ascension to immortality. Those eyes seemed to have come from the primordial beginning.

A Mahayana cultivator of slightly lower realm who met them would likely have their soul swallowed whole. And this was the Celestial Prince. The direct son of the Undying Celestial Emperor. Sealed in divine source for a million years, now finally awakening.

"Celestial Prince, now that you are awake, I will immediately inform the clan elders and the entire cultivation world!"

The man was beside himself with joy. Yet the Celestial Prince's phantom calmly shook its head.

"The Great Dream of Ten Thousand Ages Art truly is terrifying. Worthy of a technique my father obtained beyond even the immortal scriptures. But the time was insufficient; there are still flaws. Nothing about me is perfect yet. I need another ten years before I can truly step out. So there is no rush. Also, do not let anyone disturb me for now."

The man's eyes widened further. Others sealed in divine source lost all sense of time, their consciousness sinking into chaos, waking as if a lifetime had passed. Yet their Celestial Prince had done it to cultivate a technique beyond immortal scriptures. For a full million years. Terrifying.

The rewards at the end would surely be equally terrifying. Immortality would not even be the end. After all, clan legend said the Undying Celestial Emperor had ten sons, each a dragon among men. But the tenth possessed the highest talent. The Undying Celestial Emperor had even declared that the tenth son's future achievements might surpass his own.

Thus, the position of Celestial Prince had been given to the tenth. If mere immortality were the goal, no matter which immortal path reopened, the Prince could suppress all rivals and ascend effortlessly. Thus, the man was certain: the Prince's future would transcend true immortality, reaching even greater heights.

"I obey the Celestial Prince's command!"

The man bowed and prepared to withdraw. But the next moment, the Prince spoke again, voice faint and ethereal, as though all worldly matters were mere passing clouds.

"Since this generation's Heavenly Demon prodigy is unwilling to be my attendant, so be it. As for this generation's Heir of the Heavenly Emperor… take him with her. Send them both on their way together."

The Prince didn't care in the slightest. He gave the order casually. Those who follow me prosper; those who defy me perish. Since he was awakening in this era, this era would be his. Anyone standing against him could simply die. The Heir of the Heavenly Emperor? He couldn't even be bothered to look. Just send someone to crush him.

In his eyes, only the Heavenly Emperor himself was a worthy opponent. Back then, he had met the Heavenly Emperor. At first, the Heavenly Emperor had been far weaker, constantly hunted by him, only knowing how to flee. Only later had he been defeated by the Heavenly Emperor. That defeat had nearly killed him.

The Heavenly Emperor's methods were too numerous. Even when his father personally acted, he could not be fully healed; his life force had continued to drain. That was why he had sealed himself in the divine source and cultivated the Great Dream of Ten Thousand Ages Art his father had brought back from the Immortal Realm.

It was not active cultivation. It was a dream. While sealed, he had lived entirely within that dream, experiencing everything. The benefits were beyond imagination. Yet that illusory face, gazing at this unfamiliar era, carried a trace of melancholy.

One sleep—millions of years gone. Everyone he had once known had either ascended or turned to dust. No matter how stunning one's splendor, without immortality, all became a handful of earth.

After a brief moment of sentiment, the Prince's face hardened once more. In his eyes, only the Heavenly Emperor was a rival. As for the Heir? He couldn't be bothered to glance. Just send someone to kill him.

"Heavenly Emperor, though I slept a million years, I will soon catch up. I only hope you do not disappoint me, dying too early, denying me the chance to repay the humiliation of that day…"