An hour later.

Crack! Crack! The restrictions sealing the Bone-Chilling Ghost Flame began to shatter, one after another.

Yao Yan, wielding his Quasi-Emperor power, meticulously suppressed the Bone-Chilling Ghost Flame's formidable might, levitating it before him for close inspection. His heart hammered with fervent excitement. This... this was a Heaven and Earth Spirit Flame! He had dedicated countless years to searching for such a treasure, but fate had always denied him. Now, one lay directly before him. Witnessing the Bone-Chilling Ghost Flame so close, Yao Yan's breath hitched, his chest heaving.

A moment later, he reined in his surging emotions, his spiritual sense meticulously probing the unique flame. Ye Chen, after all, was merely a Mid-stage Grand Profound King. He couldn't possibly withstand the full brunt of this Spirit Flame directly! He had to thoroughly brief Ye Chen on the critical precautions, and then stand guard as his protector throughout the entire process.

Swiftly, with his Transcendent Realm mastery of spirit fire, he pinpointed several crucial points for absorbing the flame. Yao Yan relayed them all to Ye Chen, one by one.

"Listen carefully, Ye Chen. Even with my protection, absorbing this Spirit Flame will be agonizing. Endure it, and you'll claim this flame as your own. Fail, and you'll be incinerated, reduced to ash."

"The Bone-Chilling Ghost Flame appears frigid, yet it harbors a second, intensely scorching power within!"

"Thus, when you absorb it, you will experience two distinct transformations."

"The first will be the flame's outward frigid power, plunging you into boundless cold!"

"The second will be the flame's inner scorching power, subjecting you to endless immolation!"

"Should you withstand both, you will fully absorb this Spirit Flame, and it will fuse with your very being!"

Ye Chen listened intently, committing every word to memory.

Yao Yan, his expression solemn, asked, "Ye Chen, are you ready?"

"I am ready," Ye Chen affirmed.

With a thought, Yao Yan guided the Bone-Chilling Ghost Flame to drift slowly towards Ye Chen. With a swift flick of his sleeve, Yao Yan's hand seals shifted, and a seed of the Bone-Chilling Ghost Flame merged directly into Ye Chen's dantian. In that instant, a torrent of icy cold erupted from his dantian, raging through his limbs and bones, sweeping through his inner world like white-hot floodwaters.

In mere breaths, frost bloomed across Ye Chen's body. His hair, eyebrows, and face were completely frozen solid. The room itself transformed into an ice cavern, bone-piercingly cold!

Ye Chen gritted his teeth, his consciousness steadily freezing over, consumed by the terrifying cold. His physical body was frozen! His soul was frozen! Only his willpower, an unyielding persistent thought, clung desperately to existence.

Yao Yan's brow furrowed deeply. At this critical juncture, there was nothing he could do. Whether Ye Chen could enter the second phase was entirely up to his own destiny. Beside him, Lu Xuan remained utterly calm, not a hint of worry on his face. Ye Chen, after all, possessed the potential of a Great Emperor! A textbook protagonist template, if there ever was one! How could such a minor challenge as a Spirit Flame possibly stop him?

Yao Yan looked somewhat astonished. "Peak Master Lu, aren't you worried?"

Lu Xuan offered a faint smile. "If my disciple can't even absorb a mere Spirit Flame seed, then I've clearly misjudged him."

Yao Yan's face twitched. He turned his gaze back to Ye Chen.

Ye Chen's body trembled violently. The biting cold seemed to invade his very memories! Scenes flickered through Ye Chen's mind, one after another…

Over seven long years, he heard: "The Ye family's trash! What face does he have left to stay here?" "To restore this waste, the Old Ancestors squandered countless cultivation resources, all for nothing! How will Ye Chen ever repay that?" "Ye Chen should be cast out of the Ye family!"

But these weren't the words that truly pierced his heart. Deep within him, a forgotten emotion stirred. Nangong Baixue!

Long ago, during a perilous trial in a hidden realm, the Old Ancestors of the Ye family and the Nangong family had narrowly escaped death, forging a bond. In their gratitude, they arranged a marriage between Ye Chen and Nangong Baixue when he was but an infant. For several years, Nangong Baixue lived within the Ye family manor. They played together, cultivated together. Ye Chen had once believed Nangong Baixue was his destined Dao Companion.

"Brother Ye Chen, your cultivation speed is so amazing!" "Brother Ye Chen, I don't quite understand this technique. Could you teach me?"

Nangong Baixue would always gaze at him with adoration, and often, she'd demand a "punishment." This "punishment" involved her pouting, pecking his cheek, then playfully running away. Ye Chen would always lovingly caress Nangong Baixue's dark hair, his heart filled with a serene calm. Until seven years ago. His cultivation plummeted, and his father, despite trying every conceivable method, found no solution. Even the Old Ancestors, who poured vast treasures into his recovery, could do nothing. Nangong Baixue vanished. In that moment, a pang of sorrow twisted in Ye Chen's heart.

Slowly, the scornful whispers of the Ye family members became an incessant hum. Until one day, Nangong Baixue reappeared before him. Her eyes, however, held only pity. Pity and contempt.

Crack! Ye Chen's heart shattered. "Ye Chen, you've disappointed me profoundly."

With those words, Nangong Baixue left, as if a profound decision had been made.

The scene shifted, bringing him to a more recent memory. In his room, his father wept. Ye Chen suddenly realized his father had aged, his hair now streaked with white. His father wept for him. A fresh tremor of pain ripped through Ye Chen's soul, searing him to the core!

A man, in his lifetime, might encounter two depths of anguish. One, the betrayal of a beloved woman. The other, the tears of his father. This tormenting willpower, this burning persistent thought, ignited within Ye Chen's heart. Ye Chen's heart roared! "Is this truly all my life amounts to?!" "No!" "I refuse to accept it!"

The power of his willpower transformed into a raging sea of fury, surging forth to impact his inner world, like mighty rivers overflowing their banks! Simultaneously, the profound insights into spirit fire that Yao Yan had imparted to Ye Chen began to subtly take effect! Pushing himself to his absolute limit, Ye Chen activated them! In that instant, a scorching spirit fire coalesced within Ye Chen's inner world, directly counteracting the Bone-Chilling Ghost Flame's icy power.

Crack! Crack! The frost clinging to Ye Chen's body shattered completely. Witnessing this, Yao Yan slowly let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. A full day had passed! Ye Chen had finally overcome the Bone-Chilling Ghost Flame's first transformation!

Next came the Bone-Chilling Ghost Flame's second transformation! Instantly, the frigid and scorching powers reversed poles. Ye Chen's body burst into flames, sweat beading on his brow as he trembled uncontrollably, appearing on the verge of collapse. Unlike the icy power that sealed his senses, this scorching force assaulted every nerve, every pore of his being! It felt as if he was burning from the inside out! Even his eyes seemed to ignite with twin flames!

An hour passed. Two hours. ... A full day later, Ye Chen still held on. Yao Yan was incredibly tense. With every breath, Ye Chen risked succumbing. If he failed now, all his efforts would be for naught, and Ye Chen would be consumed by the flames! He murmured, "Willpower... it's a cultivator's ultimate weapon! For Ye Chen now, this is a battle of pure willpower!"

Lu Xuan nodded. He too could see that Ye Chen had poured everything into this, leaving only the raw strength of his willpower. Willpower, unyielding! The Bone-Chilling Ghost Flame, however potent, was ultimately an inanimate object! Meanwhile, deep within Ye Chen's inner world, his persistent thought fiercely contended with the Bone-Chilling Ghost Flame's immense power and untamed nature, slowly but surely devouring it!

Ye Chen felt the profound benefits coursing through his body as he absorbed the Bone-Chilling Ghost Flame. His bones, blood, meridians, even his very soul, were being refined from the inside out, as if cast into a terrifying, fiery furnace, constantly scorched, roasted, and tempered. A vast, surging power erupted continuously from his dantian. The spiritual energy within him had transformed into a fiery crimson, boiling and churning, impurities incinerated as it surged towards his Divine Veins.

An unknown amount of time passed. The spirit fire insights Yao Yan had given Ye Chen finally began to manifest! Ye Chen naturally and effortlessly began to control the spirit fire within him! Gradually, ethereal outlines of spirit fire appeared around Ye Chen's body! Like an invisible domain, it illuminated this small space. Had it not been for the formation Lu Xuan had laid down, it would have surely burst out of the room, manifesting a grand phenomenon.

Half a day later. Suddenly, an incomparably blazing divine radiance erupted from Ye Chen's body—the very power of the Bone-Chilling Ghost Flame! It was a duality of ice and fire, crimson and chilling white interwoven, directly soaring into the heavens. Witnessing this, Yao Yan was instantly stunned. He immediately moved, attempting to block the heaven-piercing phenomenon. But it was too late! The colossal phenomenon directly shattered the formation Lu Xuan had established.

Yao Yan's face paled with shock. He knew Ye Chen absorbing this Heaven and Earth Spirit Flame was an event of immense significance; it wasn't time for it to be exposed! "Peak Master Lu, what in the actual hell do we do?! A Heaven and Earth Phenomenon has already manifested!"

Lu Xuan simply smiled faintly. "No worries." After all, he held a One-star Great Emperor experience card in his possession. So what if the Ye Family Old Ancestors showed up?

Yao Yan's heart settled slightly. He looked up at the sky. His hand seals shifted, and he immediately channeled his Quasi-Emperor power to mask the source of the Heaven and Earth Phenomenon. Boom! Above the Ye family's ancestral lands, an immeasurably vast sea of spirit fire suddenly coalesced. Chilling white spirit fire and fiery crimson spirit fire, distinct yet intertwined, continuously evolved into terrifying, arcane patterns. For a moment, even the sun seemed to dim in comparison. These two forces merged relentlessly, like two mighty rivers converging, erupting with heaven-reaching power! The terrifying might to incinerate the heavens and boil the seas!

In an instant, the entire Qingcheng City was shaken to its core! A Heaven and Earth Phenomenon! Was someone in the Ye family cultivating a peerless technique, or had someone achieved a profound enlightenment?

Precisely at this moment, Ye Liangchen, feeling a sudden surge of inspiration, excitedly sent a spiritual message to the Grand Elder: "Father, I've had an epiphany! I've had an epiphany!"

The Grand Elder was startled, then immediately plunged into an ecstatic frenzy. "What?! My son, Liangchen, do you realize?! You've actually triggered a Heaven and Earth Phenomenon!"

Ye Liangchen paused, slightly bewildered. "A Heaven and Earth Phenomenon?" He... he didn't feel like he'd triggered a Heaven and Earth Phenomenon! Was it really him?

The Grand Elder chuckled, "Truly my son! I just observed a scorching spirit fire erupting from your room. Who would have thought, in the blink of an eye, it would coalesce into a phenomenon above the heavens!"

Hearing this, Ye Liangchen burst into laughter. "Hahahaha!" Of course! Who else in the Ye family possessed such genius? This was undoubtedly the Heaven and Earth Phenomenon he had conjured!