Just a Little Hardship

Chen Yi's six-star clone had an abundant source of primordial energy, so the condensed Chaos Thunder Pool was also vast. When tired, he could simply sleep in it.

True Immortals would cook after a quick dip, Heavenly Immortals needed a few more dunks, Mystic Immortals required a brief simmer, Golden Immortals had to be blanched, while Great Unity Immortals were best stir-fried. As for Great Luo Immortals, they were troublesome—only by mincing them into meat paste could they be reassembled...

The other materials weren’t too bad; with some extra effort, they could be cleaned properly.

But the Little Golden Dragon, a weapon spirit incarnation, was a real headache!

Having been personally handled by Wuji, the lingering traces were hard to erase—stinky, dirty, and no matter how much it was washed, a faint aura of an Immortal Emperor still clung to it!

In a way, this wasn’t filth, so the Myriad Phenomena Profound Ring couldn’t purify it.

But to Chen Yi, it was absolutely filthy. If not cleaned thoroughly, it would ruin his appetite!

"Brother, Yi-ge, stop scrubbing! I feel like I’m dying here! Believe me, I have a way to fix this—I really do! Just trust me!!!"

Finally breaking free from the silence restriction, the Little Golden Dragon screamed hysterically.

"I know you’re in a hurry, but don’t rush me. I have my own pace!"

Chen Yi didn’t believe the Little Golden Dragon had any real solution. It was probably just lying to buy time and ease its suffering.

He didn’t have the patience to keep wasting time with it. Grabbing the dragon’s head, he stretched out its body, increased the concentration of the Chaos Thunder Pool, and subjected every inch of its flesh to ionization therapy—electrifying it until it turned crystal clear!

The Little Golden Dragon suffered immensely, but there was no other way. Without enduring pain, how could it be refined into something greater?

If anything, it only had itself to blame for its earlier mischief and idiotic antics!

The Little Golden Dragon’s miserable state also terrified the four lumps of minced meat soaking in the Chaos Thunder Pool, making them stop their frantic twitching.

"Death isn’t scary. What’s terrifying is living in agony. The worst part? He’s doing this for your own good..." The Great Luo primordial spirit of the Taichu Heart Soul Clan’s Feng Jinhuang couldn’t bear to watch.

"These pains mean nothing to me. What truly fills me with despair is falling into his hands—my future feels utterly bleak..." The Great Luo primordial spirit of the Primordial Source Clan sighed softly.

"If he’s this ruthless to his own, imagine what he’d do to enemies? Since we’ve lost to him, we might as well behave." The Great Luo of the Void Star God Clan adapted much faster, quickly accepting its role.

"Just a bit of hardship..." The Great Luo of the Abyssal Nether Clan gave up entirely, letting itself be reshaped by Chen Yi’s will.

Divine Realm.

Abyssal Nether.

The Primordial Axis Mirror tore through space, swiftly returning with good news and even passing along Chen Yi’s greetings to Black Earth.

Hu Fangyuan: "......"

After a long silence, he reluctantly asked, "You’re saying the Chaos Supreme Treasure’s chosen master is one of Chen Yi’s subordinates?"

"Correct!"

"So from the very beginning, Chen Yi’s erratic, nonsensical behavior was all to cover for some kid named Fang Fan clearing the trial?"

"Exactly." The Primordial Axis Mirror’s spirit nodded, then added with a strange expression, "There’s one more thing. The runes on the entrance stele of the first trial’s Treasure Paradise were left by Fang Fan, declaring all spiritual treasures inside as his private property. You took the Spring-Autumn Chalice—that’s a karmic debt. Chen Yi can come collecting anytime."

Hu Fangyuan sneered. "I knew there was a catch! But so what? Black Earth took the treasure, and Black Earth is dead—gone in the Chaos Crucible. The Spring-Autumn Chalice was lost there too. The debt’s settled. What can he do?"

The mirror’s spirit sighed. "Well... what about this?" It pulled out the very same chalice Hu Fangyuan had left behind in the trial.

Hu Fangyuan: "......"

After another prolonged silence, his lips twitched. "Does he have to be like this? Can’t he just let it go? Why force this karma onto me? What did I ever do to him?!"

"You know what he’s like. He even asked me to say hello for him." The mirror’s spirit shook its head. "And this time, we might have to play by his rules."

Hu Fangyuan’s heart skipped a beat. "What do you mean?"

The spirit spread its hands. "The newly born Myriad Phenomena Profound Ring has a unique ability—to purify all corruption and restore things to their original state."

"Though I haven’t seen it in action, I’m over 98% certain it can reverse the corruption of the Abyssal Progenitor, turning it back into a normal being."

"Can we just stand by and let our former Divine Realm’s great figures remain in this half-dead, monstrous state?"

"And if we ever hope to restore the Divine Realm, shouldn’t we try to heal those afflicted by corruption and misfortune?"

Hu Fangyuan fell into dead silence once more.

It was the Heavenly Key of Creation·Jade Balance, who had been listening quietly, that finally spoke.

"Primordial Axis Mirror, are you certain this new Chaos Supreme Treasure can truly restore our Divine Realm’s people?"

The mirror’s spirit nodded. "Barring unforeseen circumstances, it should work."

After a pause, the Heavenly Key sighed. "In that case, we can no longer avoid him. Hu Fangyuan... are you ready?"

Hu Fangyuan smiled bitterly. "Do I have a choice? He’s made it clear he wants to see me—hell, he only wants to see me..."

The mirror’s spirit’s eyes gleamed with curiosity. "Wait, why does it sound like you two have some unspeakable history? What happened between you in that trial?"

Hu Fangyuan flicked his sleeve. "Just a bit of hardship."

With that, he sent a mental message to Xie Buruo.

At the moment, Xie Buruo was still negotiating with Ye Wuchen.

"Brother Xie, this project will be named the ‘Ziwei Vitality Source Flow, Divine Empyrean Rebirth Foundation’ Cooperation Plan—or ‘Source Flow Plan’ for short."

"Look, we’ll designate a special zone in my Ziwei Immortal Realm as the Divine Realm’s ‘External Reconstruction Base’ and ‘Resource Regeneration Farm.’"

"Due to the Divine Realm’s fractured Heavenly Dao and the Immortal Realm’s surveillance, it can’t sustain overly active laws. This has left its survivors inherently weak, their constitutions deteriorating with each generation. At this rate, their lifespan might drop to just fifty years!"

"Plus, you’re sitting on piles of high-grade resources—letting them gather dust is such a waste! Even if the Divine Realm’s Heavenly Dao is restored someday, rebuilding from scratch means you’ll have no one to use those resources on. If you downgrade them, the loss rate would be as high as 50%!"

"That’s half of everything gone!"

"But in the Ziwei Immortal Realm, we have fertile land, stable laws, and most importantly—safety."

"Invest your resources here, and I guarantee they won’t depreciate!"

"Next is the circulation of resources. We can create a supply chain for you that spans from low to high-tier resources—isn’t that better than starting from scratch in the Divine Realm?"

"Third is talent cultivation and reserves. We can establish a ‘Joint Universal Cultivation Academy’ within the Ziwei Immortal Realm base. The Divine Realm can provide core knowledge and technical guidance, while we train specialized personnel. Aside from supporting base development, these individuals can also serve as a reserve workforce for the future reconstruction of the Divine Realm!"

"Lastly, there’s the establishment of an extraterrestrial sanctuary and experimental field. The Ziwei Immortal Realm can designate a simulated Divine Realm mystic domain within the joint base. This will ensure that Divine Realm beings can live in a stable environment, preventing their constitutions from deteriorating further. Not only will this preserve the spark of the Divine Realm, but it will also address the issue of having no usable manpower when the time comes for reconstruction!"

"Brother Xie, are you in or not?"

Ye Wuchen spoke until his mouth went dry, every word dripping with eagerness to drain Xie Buruo’s coffers.