The semifinals were over, and two days of rest remained before the finals.
Clashes between peak experts demanded time for emotions to build, for fighting spirit to ignite.
Jiang Chen didn't waste those two days. In his battle against Lei Gangyang, he hadn't used the Ice Fire Demon Lotus, yet in that critical moment he had grasped an unprecedented strike.
That strike represented the absolute highest level of Jiang Chen's martial arts.
And it shattered a long-standing barrier, ushering him through an entirely new threshold.
A blow meant to kill, yet Jiang Chen had forced it into a miraculous reversal — from certain death, a spark of survival.
Between life and death, something stirred in Jiang Chen's consciousness.
That insight filled him with a powerful premonition: his martial path was about to undergo a brand-new breakthrough.
Yes — the meaning and intent behind that strike had let Jiang Chen brush against the gates of the Heavenly Spirit Realm.
Earth Spirit Realm. Heavenly Spirit Realm.
Though only a single step apart, they were as distant as heaven and earth.
But the intent of that strike had granted Jiang Chen an understanding of life and death, a sudden epiphany of heaven and earth.
Countless sparks of martial inspiration surged into his mind once more, like leaping fish flooding across a river, leaving him with a feeling of total clarity.
It was as though door after door swung open, revealing new vistas one after another.
"That's it — between heaven and earth there is naturally a bridge. A bridge that contains all things, that governs life and death. The Heavenly Spirit Realm… the Heavenly Spirit Realm…"
In that moment, every thought in Jiang Chen's mind converged, coalesced, and finally crystallized into three golden words — Heavenly Spirit Realm.
Yes. The moment he had been on the verge of all along had finally arrived.
Jiang Chen had long refined the crystal core of the Fire Crow King, and his Spirit Sea had accumulated a truly vast reservoir of energy. All that remained was the instant of metamorphosis — the chrysalis cracking open and the butterfly taking flight.
BOOM!
Jiang Chen's Spirit Sea suddenly burst apart like a silkworm cocoon splitting open, colorful wings unfurling. The Spirit Sea expanded three to five times in the blink of an eye, as if the earth were giving birth to the myriad planes, as if the vast ocean were transforming into fields and mulberry groves, as if stars were spinning entire universes into being…
In that instant, Jiang Chen once again felt the touch of the Heavenly Dao.
"The Heavenly Spirit Realm — at last, you've come." A smile crossed Jiang Chen's face, filled with quiet wisdom. In that moment he seemed like a Heavenly Emperor commanding the myriad planes, brimming with absolute confidence.
When his bright eyes opened and closed, astonishing light flashed within — the radiance of water and fire, the gleam of gold, the flicker of lightning.
Every elemental attribute of heaven and earth revolved through Jiang Chen's body like the cosmic cycle of creation, spinning out a small world within him.
Indeed, every martial artist's Spirit Sea was a small world.
And the martial artist himself was that world's master.
Jiang Chen sank completely into the aura of his breakthrough to the Heavenly Spirit Realm, slowly absorbing, slowly digesting, like a flood dragon plunging into the ocean — reveling in the waves.
For two days Jiang Chen remained immersed in this state. But he was nothing like Long Juxue. When Long Juxue had broken through to the Heavenly Spirit Realm, she had produced an earth-shaking commotion that stunned the entire Heavenly Spirit Zone, parading her power for all to see.
Jiang Chen was her exact opposite — supremely understated.
"Long Juxue… At the battle of Erdu Pass you slipped away by sheer luck. This time, let's see how you escape!" The cold gleam of his Heavenly Eye Divine Pupil swept across his vision after the breakthrough.
This time, he had one hundred percent confidence in crushing Long Juxue!
Breaking through to the Heavenly Spirit Realm had catapulted Jiang Chen's strength forward by leaps and bounds. His combat power had exploded.
At the sixth level of the Spirit Realm, he'd had a seventy percent chance of killing Long Juxue.
Now, both at the seventh level — the Heavenly Spirit Realm — he was completely certain. The only question on his mind was how to launch his killing move before she could react, before even the old monster Zhuiyang could interfere.
These two days of waiting were agony for everyone anticipating this ultimate showdown.
Though the outside world almost unanimously favored Long Juxue, until the fight actually began there was always a sliver of doubt — who could say Jiang Chen didn't have another trump card up his sleeve?
To this day, Jiang Chen still gave the impression of being unfathomably deep.
On the side of the Treasure Tree Sect, apart from members of the Tie family, nearly everyone stood with Jiang Chen. In their hearts they nurtured a hope — that Jiang Chen would overpower Long Juxue and claim the championship of the selection.
The Treasure Tree Sect needed a genius like this.
Because the overwhelming dominance of the Purple Sun Sect in the Sixteen Surrounding Kingdoms had gone unchallenged for far too long.
The Treasure Tree Sect, in particular, had fared poorly in martial arts — even their strongest, Lian Canghai, had failed to crack the top four.
Meanwhile, in the Purple Sun Sect's camp, the ancestor Zhuiyang personally addressed his disciple.
"That boy Jiang Chen — do not underestimate him. Xue-er, even I cannot fully see through his talent. He is destined to be your nemesis. If you can overcome this trial, your future will be limitless. If you cannot, all your gifts will be for nothing."
Zhuiyang the old monster's tone was more serious than it had ever been.
Long Juxue nodded solemnly. "Rest assured, Grand Ancestor. I will not be careless."
Zhuiyang nodded, but said nothing more. He knew that at this point, a thousand words would ring hollow.
On the arena, the stronger would prevail.
Whoever won this battle would ascend to the very pinnacle of the Sixteen Surrounding Kingdoms. The path of genius would become unstoppable.
…