The Peacock Great Emperor had gifted Jiang Chen the Five-Color Divine Light Sword for a very deliberate reason.
After all, the Peacock Great Emperor himself was the kind of genius who could cultivate all five meridians simultaneously! The reason he took a liking to Jiang Chen, the reason he held him in such high regard, was primarily because he had sensed that Jiang Chen was a genius capable of cultivating all five meridians at once!
"Perhaps, before breaking through to the Imperial Realm, I should step outside for a while?" Jiang Chen suddenly realized that he didn't necessarily have to push straight through to the Imperial Realm in one go while inside the Glass Royal Tower.
With the amount of time he had remaining in the Glass Royal Tower, breaking through to the Imperial Realm was not impossible.
He had originally been granted two years, and having comprehended three Glass Steles in succession, he had accumulated an additional ten months of time.
Going forward, Jiang Chen was confident he could continue comprehending more Glass Steles. At the very least, the seventh Glass Stele — he felt certain he could manage that one.
If he comprehended the seventh Glass Stele, that would add another year of time.
Stacking it all up, he could stay inside for at least three more years.
One day inside was equivalent to twenty days outside. So three years inside would amount to sixty years in the outside world.
"I went from the third level of True Qi Realm all the way to the eighth level of Sacred Realm in just ten years or even less. Sixty years to break through from the ninth level of Sacred Realm to the Imperial Realm is more than enough."
Jiang Chen had this much confidence at least.
Perhaps the Imperial Realm was an incredibly difficult barrier for others to cross, but for Jiang Chen, it was not such a terrifying obstacle.
After all, with the knowledge from his previous life, he knew countless methods for breaking through to the Imperial Realm. And in this life, he still had so many trump cards at his disposal.
After weighing the matter carefully, Jiang Chen still felt that forcing a breakthrough to the Imperial Realm right now was not necessarily a good thing.
"My Five Elements — I still have some shortcomings in the Earth attribute. Advancing to the Imperial Realm now might look impressive, but the losses would outweigh the gains. If I can fill this gap first, then breaking through to the Imperial Realm will allow me to enter it without the slightest imperfection."
After thinking it over, Jiang Chen decided that this time, reaching the peak of the ninth level of the Sacred Realm would be sufficient. There was no need to rush headlong into the Imperial Realm.
Of course, the Glass Royal Tower could only be entered once. If he left now, he would never be able to come back in.
Jiang Chen did not want to give up exploring the Glass Royal Tower. He knew that the Peacock Great Emperor likely had enormous expectations for this visit as well.
If he left now, the Peacock Great Emperor would probably be disappointed.
"I can't give up the Glass Royal Tower, but I also must go outside for a trip. Then the only solution is to comprehend all nine Glass Steles and earn the chance to enter the Six Inheritance Palaces!"
Jiang Chen remembered that comprehending all nine Glass Steles would grant access to the Six Inheritance Palaces. And within each of the Six Inheritance Palaces, he would be allowed one failure.
In other words, if he comprehended the nine Glass Steles and earned the right to enter the Six Inheritance Palaces, even after leaving the Glass Royal Tower, he would still have the opportunity to return!
Of course, he had to be under sixty years old.
The Glass Royal Tower's restrictions were extremely strict — anyone over sixty was absolutely barred from entering. If someone over sixty attempted to enter, regardless of the reason, they would likely be attacked by the tower's powerful prohibitions.
However, if you entered before the age of sixty and simply remained inside until you surpassed that age, that was a different matter entirely.
"Right. Nine Glass Steles — no matter what, I will conquer them. I want to see what these Six Inheritance Palaces are all about."
With his goal set, Jiang Chen cleared his mind of all distractions and once again threw himself into full-speed cultivation.
Three months later, a powerful surge of heat shot upward from within Jiang Chen's body straight to his qi sea. Then, as if struck by lightning, a warm current instantly spread throughout his entire body.
"Sacred Realm, ninth level…" Jiang Chen opened his eyes and exhaled a long breath of turbid air. This push to the ninth level of the Sacred Realm had taken him a full six months.
In theory, he could have accomplished it in three, but he had deliberately spent six months.
Don't underestimate those six months. Cultivating here, one day was worth twenty outside. Six months here was equivalent to ten years in the outside world.
Of course, if Jiang Chen hadn't been focused on patching up the shortcuts and flaws from his earlier rapid breakthroughs, he wouldn't have needed to spend those six months at all.
But Jiang Chen had no regrets. He felt those six months had been well worth it.
With his previous rapid advancement, he had been worried about an unstable foundation. But after six months of painstaking work, patching every possible gap, he had now thoroughly solidified his fundamentals at the ninth level of the Sacred Realm.
Six months had passed, and inside the Glass Royal Tower, everything had changed.
Jiang Chen emerged from his private cultivation space only to find that very few people remained in the Inheritance Realm.
The others had either been eliminated or had already moved on to other secret realms to explore. Those still lingering in the Inheritance Realm, aside from Jiang Chen, numbered only three or four.
At this moment, three people were gathered beneath the seventh Glass Stele, standing before it and gesturing as they discussed something among themselves.
When they spotted Jiang Chen approaching, they nodded in his direction.