Chapter 558: King Lingwei

Yu Family.

Ever since Lin Yuan and Qing Fen Marquis headed to the Domain City, the Yu Family has been living quite comfortably.

How could they not be comfortable?

Qingfen Great Venerable personally arrived and took Lin Yuan away. With such supreme honor, how many people are there in the entire Azure Ember Domain?

"The Domain City is too big, filled with scheming and plotting. I wonder if Xiaoyan is used to it over there."

Yuchi Ling sighed, worrying about her son.

"If one wants to achieve great success, they definitely need to go to a larger place," Yu Chao Long said from the side. "If he continues to stay in the Yu Family, no matter how much talent Xiaoyan has, he will be buried, and at most in the future, he will just be about the same as the several Old Ancestors."

"As for heading to the Domain City and staying by Qing Fen Marquis's side, Xiaoyan has a great hope of stepping into the Sovereign Realm in the future, and even—"

Yu Chao Long had a sentence in his heart that he didn't say, which was that Yu Yan might have a tiny sliver of hope to touch the Great Venerable Domain.

There were quite a few Disciples under Qing Fen Marquis who reached the Sovereign Realm, but he had never seen this Heavenly Venerable level expert look at them with any special regard.

"I'm just a bit worried," Yuchi Ling said. "I'm worried that Xiaoyan will be bullied in the Domain City; after all, his strength is so weak right now."

"Bullied?"

Yu Chao Long fell slightly silent. With Qing Fen Marquis's regard, on the surface, definitely no one would dare bully Yu Yan, but what about in secret or in even more covert aspects?

A tree that stands out from the forest will be destroyed by the wind.

Qing Fen Marquis showed such high regard for Yu Yan, what would the other Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters think?

A short time didn't matter, but over a long time, having only favor without strength was not a good thing.

"This—"

Yu Chao Long inevitably began to worry as well.

Just at this moment,

spatial-temporal fluctuations came from outside, and a figure descended, immediately rushing into the Yu Family.

"Clan Chief, over at the Domain City, something big has happened over at the Domain City!" This figure was precisely a Yu Family expert specifically responsible for gathering external intelligence.

"Domain City? Something big?"

Yu Chao Long's heart tightened; his son was currently staying in the Domain City, could it be related to Yu Yan?

Yuchi Ling beside him obviously made a similar association, and her expression likewise grew tense.

"What big event happened in the Domain City?"

The figures of several Yu Family Old Ancestors appeared, their expressions grave.

"Young Master Yan, Young Master Yan—" The stopped Yu Family expert's expression flashed with a trace of incredulity, obviously having been shocked by the intelligence he received.

"What happened to Xiaoyan?"

Yu Chao Long furrowed his brows tightly; even if Yu Yan had truly caused some massive disaster in the Domain City, there was no need to stutter and hesitate like this.

"Young Master Yan has become a Great Venerable."

The Yu Family expert steadied himself, his voice carrying a trace of trembling.

As soon as these words were spoken,

everyone, including the several Yu Family Old Ancestors, was stunned.

Great Venerable?

Yu Yan?

"What nonsense are you babbling?"

Yu Chao Long immediately reacted.

"Clan Chief, this matter is 100% true; Qing Fen Marquis said it personally," the Yu Family expert immediately said.

When he first received this news, he also thought it was fake, but after confirming it multiple times—especially regarding the incident where the Purple Dream Domain wreaked havoc in Azure Ember City—

he finally confirmed that their young master had already become a Great Venerable.

"I'll go inquire about it."

The several Yu Family Old Ancestors looked at each other and immediately contacted their friends to inquire about news and intelligence regarding the Domain City.

Yu Chao Long did the same.

After a long while,

the several Yu Family Old Ancestors opened their eyes, their expressions brimming with excitement.

In fact, even if they didn't inquire, at this moment, many factions would almost certainly take the initiative to contact the Yu Family to inform them of this matter and strive to build friendly relations with the Yu Family.

"Great Venerable, Xiaoyan has indeed become a Great Venerable."

"According to what Qing Fen Marquis said, a long time ago, when he accidentally passed by the Yu Family, he discovered Xiaoyan's talent and Aptitude, and accepted Xiaoyan as a Disciple right then."

"However, this matter was not made public until Xiaoyan stepped into the Great Venerable Realm. Upon learning of this, Qing Fen Marquis personally arrived to take Xiaoyan away."

"To think that Xiaoyan actually stepped into the Great Venerable Realm right here in our Yu Family? Exercising such forbearance and keeping a low profile, yet I, as an Old Ancestor, was completely unaware of it?"

"And that Dongyang Family? They actually dared to ambush and assassinate Xiaoyan? To assassinate a Great Venerable? Hhahahaha, it was fortunate that Xiaoyan couldn't be bothered to argue with them at the time."

The several Yu Family Old Ancestors were emotionally stirred and extremely excited.

They had no doubts about this explanation; after all, without Qing Fen Marquis secretly guiding and cultivating him, what would Lin Yuan have used to step into the Great Venerable Realm?

"My son has stepped into the Great Venerable Realm?"

Yu Chao Long was also shaken in his heart. Originally, he thought Yu Yan would, after countless years, fortuitously touch the threshold of the Great Venerable Realm, but as a result, he was already there now?

"Xiaoyan—" Yuchi Ling was also filled with joy. At least with Yu Yan as a Great Venerable, no one in the entire Domain City would dare bully him.

"There are already many factions planning to visit our Yu Family," said a Yu Family Old Ancestor.

Visiting the Yu Family was actually visiting Yu Yan, this newly advanced Great Venerable.

"Old Ancestors, I feel that the most urgent task right now," Yu Chao Long said, "is to clean up the atmosphere within our Yu Family."

Originally, when Lin Yuan was brought into the Domain City by Qing Fen Marquis and the Yu Family became a first-rate Family, Yu Chao Long had vaguely sensed that the members of the Yu Family were starting to become arrogant and spoiled.

Yu Chao Long already had some opinions about this and intended to straighten them out after some time.

Now that the news of Yu Yan becoming a Great Venerable had arrived, Yu Chao Long instantly felt that he could no longer wait.

Otherwise, who knows what bad deeds or disasters those Yu Family members would commit by borrowing Lin Yuan's reputation.

Yu Chao Long had great self-awareness; he couldn't help Lin Yuan, but he absolutely would not allow anyone to hold Lin Yuan back.

"This is only natural."

Hearing this, the several Yu Family Old Ancestors immediately nodded in agreement.

Family members being arrogant and reckless was definitely not a good thing.

Azure Ember City.

Burning Heaven Courtyard.

Lin Yuan and Qing Fen Marquis sat facing each other.

"So that Purple Dream actually had this plot!"

Qing Fen Marquis looked at the Myriad Array Crystal in Lin Yuan's hand, suddenly feeling a lingering fear.

On the surface, Purple Dream Marquis expended a portion of her true body's Origin to hold back Qing Fen Marquis, and then used hundreds of Peak Sovereign Realm Puppets to wreak havoc in Azure Ember City.

In secret, she had her subordinates hold the Myriad Array Crystal to replicate the numerous Formations within the city.

Even if Qing Fen Marquis noticed afterwards, it would be too late. As long as this Myriad Array Crystal—which replicated the city's Formations—fell into Purple Dream Marquis's hands, it would be equivalent to all the defensive Formations of Azure Ember City losing their effect.

Such consequences were unthinkable.

Purple Dream Marquis only needed to gather several Experts at the Great Venerable level to easily break into Azure Ember City, and by then, the entire Azure Ember Domain would fall.

"I was just lucky," Lin Yuan said.

Upon seeing the Myriad Array Crystal in the Purple-haired woman's hand, Lin Yuan also roughly understood the opponent's scheme.

"Fortunately, fortunately you were there."

Qing Fen Marquis's tone carried a trace of relief. If it weren't for Lin Yuan, letting the Purple-haired woman and her group successfully leave Azure Ember City with the Myriad Array Crystal…

how could he possibly be sitting here so securely right now?

Not necessarily, because Qing Fen Marquis fundamentally wasn't sure where the true scheming point of the Purple Dream Domain was; even if he had some guesses, he couldn't be certain.

"This time, that Purple Dream has suffered a massive loss. I deduce that this Myriad Array Crystal was bestowed by the higher-ups of the Ancient Kingdom."

"Since she lost it, she will definitely Face punishment."

"No wonder when I broke free from the woven dream back then, her expression was like that."

A smile surfaced on Qing Fen Marquis's Face.

Thinking about it now, Purple Dream Marquis had undoubtedly suffered a double loss.

"I wonder what the value of this Myriad Array Crystal is?" Lin Yuan stroked the crystal stone in his hand and asked.

The Myriad Array Crystal possessed immense strategic value for factions, but it didn't mean much to Lin Yuan.

As for the essence of the numerous Formations contained within? During the time Lin Yuan had obtained the Myriad Array Crystal, he had long since fully comprehended it.

Simply put, Lin Yuan had now fully comprehended the essence of this Myriad Array Crystal and could replicate the Formations contained within it at any time; Lin Yuan himself was a Myriad Array Crystal.

"You want to sell this Myriad Array Crystal?" Qing Fen Marquis looked at Lin Yuan, slightly surprised.

"Yes."

Lin Yuan nodded.

Nowadays, the resources needed for his daily cultivation and further advancement were astronomical. Relying solely on Qing Fen Marquis? Lin Yuan felt a bit embarrassed, and Qing Fen Marquis wouldn't be able to support him for long either.

Although one of the abilities of the Blazing Sun Divine Body was burning and devouring, any external object could become Lin Yuan's cultivation resource.

But the impact caused was simply too great. Devouring a few times occasionally was fine, but using it as daily cultivation? It would very easily draw the gaze of true Experts from the Blazing Sun Ancient Kingdom.

"The Myriad Array Crystal is of extremely high value and easy to sell."

Qing Fen Marquis thought for a moment and said, "Leave this matter to me. I will contact buyers in need of the Myriad Array Crystal."

As a long-established Peak Great Venerable expert, Qing Fen Marquis naturally knew many friends.

Furthermore, with Qing Fen Marquis stepping forward, this Myriad Array Crystal could be sold for the highest price; if Lin Yuan went to sell it himself? It would be very easy to fall into traps.

Having finalized the details of selling the Myriad Array Crystal,

Lin Yuan and Qing Fen Marquis shifted the conversation to the Purple Dream Domain.

"With Purple Dream Marquis making such a layout, she presumably will not let this matter rest," Lin Yuan said.

From stalling Qing Fen Marquis to replicating the city-wide Formations using the Myriad Array Crystal, every step was interlinked, showcasing Purple Dream Marquis's absolute determination to secure Azure Ember City and even Azure Ember Domain.

Now that the scheme has failed, would Purple Dream Marquis truly give up?

Furthermore, the action against Azure Ember City did not necessarily originate from Purple Dream Marquis; the Myriad Array Crystal was most likely bestowed by the higher-ups of the Ancient Kingdom, and the one truly wanting to make a move against Azure Ember City was a certain high-ranking official of the Ancient Kingdom where Purple Dream Domain is located.

"I naturally know this."

Qing Fen Marquis nodded; with his rate of mental processing, he naturally deduced numerous possibilities.

"I will take my leave first; several good friends are already quite interested in that Myriad Array Crystal of yours."

Qing Fen Marquis stood up and left.

Qing Fen Marquis vanished.

Burning Heaven Courtyard grew quiet once more.

"Purple Dream Domain…" Lin Yuan's thoughts churned, and he immediately stopped thinking about it.

Regarding the understanding of Purple Dream Domain and even the hostile Ancient Kingdom, Qing Fen Marquis was certainly far superior to himself; how to Face Purple Dream Domain next was something Qing Fen Marquis knew how to handle.

What Lin Yuan needed to do now was to continue to Cultivate and keep enhancing his strength.

No matter when or where, increasing one's strength was always the most correct approach, and the rule of the strong being supreme applied to any world and heaven and earth.

"The Blazing Sun Seed that I have condensed has already reached over thirty-one thousand. From now on, wanting to continue condensing new Blazing Sun Seeds has become increasingly difficult."

Lin Yuan thought silently in his heart.

In fact, after the Blazing Sun Seed reached thirty thousand, the difficulty of condensing them surged dozens of times, and after reaching thirty-one thousand, it surged dozens of times again.

"At the current speed of condensing Blazing Sun Seeds, condensing thirty-three thousand three hundred and thirty-three of them is estimated to take six to seven hundred years."

Lin Yuan estimated in his heart.

This was established on the premise that every subsequent Blazing Sun Seed would be significantly more difficult to condense than the previous one.

"It seems there is still a gap between me and those core royal Family members of the Ancient Kingdoms."

Lin Yuan increasingly felt the difficulty of Cultivate; at least in terms of condensing the Blazing Sun Seed, he still envied those core royal members who condensed Blazing Sun Seeds automatically even while sleeping.

What Lin Yuan did not know was that even for the core royal Family of the Blazing Sun Ancient Kingdom with the densest Bloodline, condensing the Blazing Sun Seed was not a very easy matter, especially after exceeding twenty thousand Blazing Sun Seeds, where progress similarly became arduous.

Bloodline advantage? Blazing Sun radiance? They could only propel the condensation of the Blazing Sun Seed; even for the core royal Family of the Ancient Kingdom, after condensing thirty thousand Blazing Sun Seeds, the time required to condense each subsequent one had to be calculated in tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of years.

Condensing even while sleeping? A single sleep lasting tens of thousands, millions, or tens of millions of years was also normal.

"Take it slow."

"I am not in a rush anyway."

Lin Yuan reined in his thoughts; he did not have a residency limit in this Origin World, so there was no need to be this urgent in his cultivation, and taking it step by step was sufficient.

"Aside from the Blazing Sun Seed, there is my seventh Physical Body Divine Ability."

Lin Yuan carefully sensed the depths of his physical Bloodline, where wisps of Origin power were intertwining and refining.

"The Physical Body Divine Ability I am currently condensing is probably related to the Fiery Sun First Ancestor; perhaps it is some kind of innate talent of this Thirteen Step Time Life?"

Lin Yuan speculated in his heart that within the Blazing Sun Ancient Kingdom, all living beings capable of condensing the Blazing Sun Seed had the blood of the Fiery Sun First Ancestor flowing through their bodies, except that it was exceptionally thin.

But no matter how thin, as long as it existed, it could be condensed through the Martial Dao Evolution path.

Purple Dream Domain.

Deep within the Domain city stood a magnificent grand hall.

Purple Dream Marquis, dressed in a purple skirt, stood quietly there.

As time passed, one figure after another descended, appearing in this grand hall.

These figures obviously belonged to Incarnation types, but to dare stand side by side with Purple Dream Marquis, they must all be Great Venerable level Experts.

"Purple Dream, not only did your scheme fail, but you also lost the Myriad Array Crystal bestowed by Your Highness?" A deep voice rang out, and the other appearing figures immediately looked towards Purple Dream Marquis.

"I will explain this matter personally to Your Highness."

Purple Dream Marquis fell silent for a moment before continuing, "However, hidden within Azure Ember City was another Great Venerable, who is also a Disciple secretly nurtured by Qing Fen Marquis. I had no knowledge of this intelligence."

If she had known earlier that a Great Venerable was hiding inside Azure Ember City, the plan she formulated definitely would not have been like that; among the people sneaking into the city, she would have at least arranged a Great Venerable level Expert.

"Failure is failure, what is there to explain."

Another figure spoke, looking coldly at Purple Dream Marquis.

"Alright, stop arguing."

At this moment, another figure spoke, "Your Highness has arrived."

As soon as these words were spoken.

The figures inside the grand hall immediately stopped talking and stood quietly in place.

Not long after.

A vast consciousness descended, condensing a tall figure within the grand hall.

"Greetings, Your Highness."

One figure after another bowed slightly toward Your Highness.

"Hmm."

The tall figure glanced around; his name was 'King Lingwei', and he was a King-level Expert.

Across the various Ancient Countries of the Origin World, wanting to be conferred as a king had only two pathways.

First was to step into the Heavenly Venerable level Realm and then accept the imperial decree bestowal from the Ancient Kingdom.

This was also the most normal way for the many King-level Experts of the various Ancient Countries to be conferred as kings.

Second was to become a conferred king in the identity of the Ancient Kingdom's royal Family.

The royal lineage had the blood of the Ancient Kingdom's first ancestor flowing through their bodies; to become a conferred king with the identity of royalty, the Bloodline concentration had to be at least close to the core royal Family level, and secondly, the Realm had to be at least a Great Venerable.

A Great Venerable level Expert with a Bloodline close to that of the core royal Family would not differ too much in true combat power even if inferior to a Heavenly Venerable, which is why they were qualified to be conferred as kings.

This 'King Lingwei' became a conferred king of the Ancient Kingdom through the second method, with the dense blood of the first ancestor flowing through his body.

"Speak, how should we take down Azure Ember Domain now."

King Lingwei swept his gaze across the crowd, his eyes lingering on Purple Dream Marquis for a moment before he said lazily,

Regarding the incident at Azure Ember City, he had also figured out the Origin and knew it was not Purple Dream Marquis's fault; who could have foreseen that a Great Venerable was still hidden inside Azure Ember City?

In fact, before making a move, Purple Dream Marquis had already previewed this possibility, confirming the whereabouts of Qing Fen Marquis's Great Venerable friends as well as the Great Venerable level Experts of dozens of nearby Domains.

This was to prevent Qing Fen Marquis's Great Venerable friends from visiting right during the scheme.

It was simply that she ultimately did not expect Qing Fen Marquis to have secretly nurtured a Great Venerable Disciple.

A Great Venerable level existence was actually hidden for so long? That Qing Fen Marquis could truly endure!

"Your Highness, now that Qing Fen Marquis is on guard, wanting to take down Azure Ember City with minimal cost is very difficult." A figure spoke in a low voice.

This was indeed the truth.

If the plan had gone smoothly, Purple Dream Marquis would have finished replicating all the Formations of Azure Ember City, and then King Lingwei would have stepped forward to invite the Ancient Kingdom's Formation Great Master to crack them.

After completely mastering the internal and external Formations of Azure Ember City in the shortest time possible, their group of Great Venerable level existences could have completely sneaked into Azure Ember City unaware and then launched a sudden attack.

By then, even if Qing Fen Marquis survived, he would have fled in panic, and Azure Ember City, let alone Azure Ember Domain, definitely could not have been protected.

But now?

It had almost severed the possibility of taking down Azure Ember City with minimal cost.

After this battle, Qing Fen Marquis would inevitably report this matter to the higher-ups of the Blazing Sun Ancient Kingdom, and perhaps right now, Experts from the capital of the Ancient Kingdom were hidden inside Azure Ember City.

Even if the Azure Ember City Formations were wide open right now, they would not dare to enter.

"Since it cannot be taken down with minimal cost, then let us capture it normally."

King Lingwei said in a calm tone.

He had newly become a conferred king and became one at the Great Venerable Realm; his prestige and strength were not enough, so he urgently needed a war to establish his status.

Across the various Ancient Countries, for beings below the Great Venerable and Heavenly Venerable levels, the royal Family was high above and could not be disobeyed.

But in the eyes of Great Venerables and Heavenly Venerables? The so-called royal Family was merely a bit luckier, with a slightly denser and higher Bloodline.

Everyone had the blood of the first ancestor flowing through their bodies; even if your Bloodline concentration was high, without strength and without prestige, why should I listen to you?

Especially Heavenly Venerable level Experts; their strength had reached the extreme. Even for those core royal Family members at the Great Venerable Realm, their strength could only barely rival theirs.

Heavenly Venerable level Experts actually did not care much for the Ancient Kingdom's royal Family; their willingness to accept the imperial decree bestowal from the Ancient Kingdom was entirely out of consideration for the Face of the Ancient Kingdom's first ancestor.

"Capture it normally?"

The expressions of Purple Dream Marquis and other Great Venerable level Experts changed slightly; this meant a war would break out between the two Ancient Countries.

Of course, it would only be a regional war, involving at most several or even dozens of Domains.