Chapter 666 665: Heavenly Venerable Divine Soul

'What a vicious method. He's willing to die just to force that guy out. How deep must the hatred be? I wonder if that fellow, Yang Xiao, will show himself.'

Yue Lingxi's feelings were a complicated mess right now.

She had finally confirmed it: this person wasn't after her, but after that man named Yang Xiao.

He had probably attacked her due to a misunderstanding.

As she considered this, she couldn't help but feel a pang of regret for using her Taiyin Heaven-Sealing Talisman.

But...

When she thought about how this man—with his muddled aura and seemingly shady origins—still dared to threaten someone else even while sealed by her...

...Yue Lingxi started to wonder if she had misjudged that Yang Xiao fellow.

Otherwise, why would someone be willing to die...

...just to force him out?

'I'll just wait and see. Also, there's something about this guy's aura... I feel like I've encountered it somewhere before. But where?'

Yue Lingxi remained outwardly composed.

After waiting a while, however, she realized that Yang Xiao had not appeared.

'I've already sealed that guy, yet he still doesn't dare to come out? Is he some kind of coward who clings to life and fears death?'

At this, Yue Lingxi's impression of Yang Xiao soured even further.

But remembering her previous encounter with him, she suppressed her thoughts and decided to wait.

However, what she didn't know was...

...that at this very moment, Yang Xiao wasn't being a coward or fearing death. He was simply completely unaware of what was happening outside.

Or rather, the Emperor's Weapon Spirit hadn't allowed him to become aware of it.

Because at this time, Yang Xiao...

...was at a critical juncture.

A breakthrough!

That's right.

Within the Inner Realm.

To save time, Yang Xiao had directly used a Divine General Talisman, activating the Power of Time to lay down a small-scale time acceleration domain.

With his Divine General Level strength, he had managed to create a constant time acceleration of over three hundred times within a very small area of space.

Three hundred times.

For the three days that had passed in the outside world...

...that was equivalent to nine hundred days.

Logically speaking...

...in such a long period, Yang Xiao should have already been able to merge the three types of Supreme Yang Fire within his body and gradually transform, reaching the Peak of Cyan Flame Third Revolution.

However.

Just as Yang Xiao merged with the first Supreme Yang Spirit Fire, advanced to Cyan Flame First Revolution, reached its Peak, and began generating Essence Qi of the Origin of Heaven and Earth to temper his body and spirit...

...the Emperor Dao Celestial Venerable Map, which had shown no signs of a breakthrough...

...at this very moment...

...suddenly began to operate on its own.

Even more frighteningly, it wasn't just the Emperor Dao Celestial Venerable Map; the Demon Lord Essence Pill also began to surge at the same time.

Yang Xiao understood instantly.

His opportunity had arrived.

His Divine Soul...

...was about to condense into a true Emperor Dao Celestial Venerable Divine Soul.

Once he succeeded...

...only then could Yang Xiao be considered to have truly reached the introductory level in his cultivation of the Emperor Dao Celestial Venerable Map.

At the same time, his Divine Soul cultivation would also finally cross the threshold.

As someone who had once stood at the Peak of the Gods and could have stepped into the ranks of Top-tier Emperors almost immediately upon breaking through, he knew perfectly well how important the form of one's condensed Divine Soul was.

'Generally speaking, when a Divine Soul condenses, it mostly takes on an innate form. For example, in my first life, I was an Innate Fire God, so my manifested Divine Soul was a ball of flame.'

'Chang Xi was the first Phoenix in all of heaven and earth, and her Divine Soul was likewise a Phoenix. Old Hairy is a Golden-winged Roc. This is the case for most of the All Heavens and Myriad Races.'

'Only the Human Race is different.'

Yang Xiao was very clear on this point.

Compared to the All Heavens and Myriad Races, the Human Race was a peculiar one.

Their potential and bloodlines seemed far inferior to those other races.

But their destiny and comprehension were significantly stronger.

Moreover...

...the Human Race possessed an ability to be compatible with all things.

Take his second life, for example. He was reborn as a Human Emperor's Son, his constitution a Fire Element Dao Body at the Peak of Ultimate Grade. If he had been able to merge with a Heaven and Earth Origin Fire, achieving a Fire Element Saint Body would have been a simple matter.

But he was schemed against. His physical body was sealed, preventing his reincarnated Divine Soul from fusing with it.

He could only strengthen himself through an external path.

And it was because of this external path—the Medicine Dao of constantly refining the world's Spiritual Objects into Pills—that Yang Xiao's Divine Soul in his second life condensed into a Divine Pill.

This point alone was enough to show that the Human Race was very different from the All Heavens and Myriad Races.

Not to mention, Yang Xiao knew that cultivating different Cultivation Techniques could allow one to condense different Divine Souls—a feature almost exclusive to the Human Race.

For instance, the Divine Souls of the Celestial Phoenix Race would always condense into Phoenix Divine Souls.

The Divine Souls of the True Dragon Clan would always condense into True Dragon Divine Souls.

But the Human Race...

...could condense all sorts of different Divine Souls.

Even an ordinary person, as long as they grasped the essence of a certain Cultivation Technique, could condense a Divine Soul with a different image.

Take Yang Xiao now. If he weren't cultivating the Emperor Dao Celestial Venerable Map, but was instead still cultivating the Nine Yang Celestial Skill or the Emperor Golden Dragon Secret Technique, he could have easily condensed a Greater Yang Divine Soul or a Golden Dragon Divine Soul.

Another example would be Lu Fangliang. Once his Golden Crow Divine Aspect was formed, if his Divine Soul were to condense, it would also transform into the shape of a Golden Crow.

But for Yang Xiao, neither the Greater Yang Divine Soul nor the Golden Dragon Divine Soul could compare to the image of the Heavenly Venerable from the Emperor Dao Celestial Venerable Map. It looked like a member of the Human Race, yet with subtle differences, making it far more suitable to be his own Divine Soul.

Because that was the supreme divine form that manifested between heaven and earth when the destiny of the Human Race was established.

However, cultivating the Emperor Dao Celestial Venerable Map was extremely difficult.

Even just condensing the Divine Soul of the Emperor Dao Celestial Venerable was an arduous task.

Now, an opportunity had presented itself at the Peak of Cyan Flame First Revolution.

Naturally, Yang Xiao would not let it pass.

He withdrew all of his consciousness into his mind.

He began to nurture it.

To condense it.

A full thousand-plus days passed.

He consumed several percent of the Demon Lord Essence Pill.

Only then did Yang Xiao barely manage to condense the image of the Heavenly Venerable from the Emperor Dao Celestial Venerable Map.

Furthermore, because of the return of his Fire God Clone, Yang Xiao's Heavenly Venerable Divine Soul had two extra features compared to an ordinary one.

In its left hand, it held a ball of pitch-black Divine Fire, while in its right, it held a glittering golden Divine Pill.

These represented...

...none other than the Divine Soul forms he had condensed in his first and second lives.

And having accomplished this...

...Yang Xiao pushed forward without pause.

He merged with two more Supreme Yang Spirit Fires.

His cultivation soared to the Green Flame Third Revolution Peak.

At the same time.

His physique also advanced in one go, reaching the level of Peak of Upper-Grade Treasure Body.

The Heavenly Gifted Treasure Pattern within his body grew even more powerful.

However, no new Treasure Patterns appeared.

Nor did any mutations occur.

But Yang Xiao could sense that his Void Divine Sword had become much stronger.

The powers contained within it...

...had increased from the initial four types to the current twenty.

A casual slash...

...could probably annihilate even a Demigod.

An ordinary True God would be hard-pressed to match it.

Simultaneously...

...his cultivation also rose to the Peak of the Small Divine Power Realm.

In his current state, he could likely contend with an ordinary Tier Three True God relying on his cultivation alone.

But when he finally emerged from his seclusion...

...five days had already passed in the outside world.

A full two days had passed since Seven Evils made his move, using Nangong Tianling to threaten Yang Xiao and force him out.

In those two days...

...Nangong Tianling had been tortured to the brink of death.

Her Divine Body was shattered.

Her Divine Soul was utterly exhausted.

Her eyes were lifeless.

It seemed as if she would die at any moment.