Best Young Master

Emperor’s Secret Realm.

The entire Elemental Ocean is divided into eight distinct regions, each glowing with eight colors, filled with strong elemental aura.

This place is a secluded Holy Land longed for by many cultivators—only by comprehending the essence and laws of elements can one break through the Lord realm and enhance their power within it.

Almost every elemental region has disciples from the Imperial Academy quietly cultivating and sensing the power of elemental laws.

Even some veteran teachers stationed long-term in the Emperor’s Secret Realm prefer to retreat here in the Elemental Ocean. Only strong people who thoroughly understand the elemental laws and essence do not come here.

Ye Fan quickly entered the Elemental Ocean with all doors opened for him, strands of elemental laws winding around him like divine chains.

This time, just like the previous two times, he started his inspiration from the Water Element.

The softest water is also the most harmonious, yet it is the hardest to understand. Ye Fan sat cross-legged at the center of the ocean of water elements, even opening the virtual space to slow down the flow of time.

At this moment, Ye Fan was in a very delicate state, as if time had stood still, continuously comprehending the essence and laws of the Water Element.

The softest is the most solid, the weakest is the strongest!

Eight words suddenly appeared in Ye Fan’s mind, as if he caught the core of the Water Element’s laws and essence.

Huh?

At that instant, the entire ocean of water elements became turbulent, astonishing the Imperial Academy disciples cultivating at the water element ocean’s edge, leaving them wide-eyed, unsure of what was happening.

Just then, Ye Fan gained an insight, deepening his comprehension of the essence and laws of the Water Element.

Persistence wears down the stone!

Water may not seem strong, but can even penetrate stone; this is the essence of the Water Element, capable of flowing like a gentle creek or crashing like fierce waves, reaching the Nine Heavens.

"Buzz!"

Suddenly, a dazzling light erupted from Ye Fan, with a chain of order from the Water Element silently merging into his body.

The runes of the Water Element shone brighter than before, indicating that Ye Fan’s insight into the Water Element had reached a deeper level.

After walking out from the ocean of water elements, Ye Fan entered the ocean of wood elements, continuing to cultivate using this method.

Following this, Ye Fan successively sensed the wood, fire, earth, gold, wind, and light elements, all gaining substantial insights.

However, even though he felt he had nearly reached the peak of his cultivation at the Early Lord Realm stage, and his combat power had somewhat increased, he was still just a bit short.

Cultivate each realm to the peak!

This is Ye Fan’s rigorous demand on himself.

Only by doing so can he avoid leaving any flaws, thereby achieving invincibility in each realm and even being capable of effortlessly challenging higher levels.

As time passed, Ye Fan reaped substantial insights from the Elemental Ocean, yet he still didn’t reach the peak of Early Lord Realm cultivation.

For this reason, Ye Fan was not in haste to break through, insisting on reaching the peak of the Lord realm first before breaking through, otherwise leaving any flaws would affect his future path.

However, as the time for the duel approached, Ye Fan began to feel anxious—wanting to break through immediately and enhance his power to meet the Heavenly Prince’s challenge, yet unwilling to sacrifice his principles.

The more anxious Ye Fan got, the more unable he was to calm down and cultivate, naturally making it difficult to reach the peak of his Lord Realm cultivation.

Not only was he anxious, but other teachers and disciples also in the Emperor’s Secret Realm shared the anxiety, as the month was almost over, and Ye Fan still hadn’t broken through.

It’s important to know that the Heavenly Prince has the strength of the late-stage Lord realm—Ye Fan is two levels behind!

On this day, an elderly teacher from the Imperial Academy entered the Elemental Ocean and found Ye Fan.

"You should leave since there are only three days left until the duel." the elderly teacher said.

"Even though the date is set, you haven’t broken through to the mid-stage of the Lord realm, you can choose not to fight or postpone it." the elderly teacher worriedly advised Ye Fan,

because he knew that at his current level, Ye Fan’s chances of winning are indeed low!

And now, Ye Fan is the hero and monument in the hearts of the entire young human generation; a loss would be a huge blow to the entire young human generation!

"That’s unnecessary, since I chose to accept the challenge, there’s no way I would avoid the fight now." Ye Fan interrupted the elderly teacher, saying decisively.

He was very clear that he couldn’t shy away from the fight, if he chose to retreat today, not only would he be looked down upon by all human cultivators, but it would also lead to the entire human race being ridiculed by the Demon Clan.

Most importantly, if he avoided the fight because his opponent was too strong, it would be a devastating blow to his belief in invincibility.

If he didn’t go, his fearless heart, the heart of a warrior, and his Martial Arts Will would all develop cracks, inevitably leading to heart demons in the future, which would not only hinder his future cultivation but even affect his heart for Proving Dao.

What is the most important thing for a cultivator?

Is it not a heart of proving Dao!

If avoiding the fight causes a crack in his heart of proving Dao, it is absolutely not what he wants to see.

Moreover, this battle is not only for himself, but also for Wenren Jing, Ancient Saint Gu Hao, Yaling, and Ling Ziyuan.

Therefore, he must attend this battle, and not only attend, but also win.

He does not want to be scolded as a coward by the Demon Clan cultivators, nor does he want to be criticized by people all over the world.

Even if the strength is vastly different, in this battle, he must have the courage to go alone with a knife, and in terms of momentum, he must not lose!

In addition, he feels that now, he is actually just lacking an opportunity, a chance for sudden enlightenment—if he can achieve sudden enlightenment, he can cultivate the Early Lord Realm to its peak, and then he can confidently break through!

In his view, the great battle with the Heavenly Prince may very well ignite his potential and help him find that opportunity.

After all, a life-and-death battle, hovering between life and death, may be the only way to a breakthrough.

Throughout the ages, many strong people have achieved sudden enlightenment and breakthroughs in life-and-death battles!

"Alright."

Seeing Ye Fan’s resolute expression, the old teacher of the Imperial Academy sighed deeply, but also felt some relief in his heart.

As someone who has been through this, he naturally knows how much potential risks there would be in the future if Ye Fan chose to avoid the battle.

"I will send you out!"

With this thought, the old teacher no longer tried to persuade him but instead took Ye Fan to a transmission array platform in the Emperor’s Secret Realm to send him away.

"Thank you!"

Ye Fan expressed his gratitude and secretly decided that unless it came to a life-and-death moment, he would never abandon his principles and blindly break through.

...

Chi Yue Ridge is in the southern part of the Eastern Domain, hidden within steep mountains. The surrounding area is covered in dense, sun-blocking virgin forests, but Chi Yue Ridge itself is barren, its stones a reddish-brown as if soaked in blood, full of a murderous air.

Three days remained before the great battle, but in an ancient city three thousand miles away from Chi Yue Ridge, many cultivators had already gathered.

This small city, which usually had little traffic, suddenly became lively. Not only were various hotels and inns crowded, but even some private houses were rented by the cultivators.

No matter the outcome of this battle, the residents of this small city made a fortune, with all kinds of businesses booming. Even the beggars who usually curled up in corners were eating well and looked like wealthy landlords.

"Taoist Liu, I didn’t expect you to come too!"

"Yes, Taoist Jiang, didn’t you come too? This battle is about the dignity of our Human Race; how could I not come?"

"In the decisive battle between Hero Ye and the Heavenly Prince, who do you think has a better chance of winning?" asked the cultivator surnamed Jiang.

"It’s hard to say. Personally, my emotions lean towards Hero Ye winning; after all, he represents the entire younger generation of the Human Race this time! But the strength of the Heavenly Prince of the Demon Clan is unfathomable, and it’s hard to guess the outcome now," replied the cultivator surnamed Liu with a serious expression.

Such discussions could be found everywhere in the ancient city, whether in taverns, teahouses, inns, or restaurants, and even on the streets, people were debating this battle, predicting who might win.

"The one surnamed Ye can’t possibly compete with our Heavenly Prince; our Heavenly Prince can suppress him with one hand!"

"That’s right, just an ant. Even if it turns into a dog, it can’t be compared to a dragon. He’s simply not worthy of being the Heavenly Prince’s opponent!"

The Demon Clan also arrived, with many young Demon Clan strong people walking on the streets, not much different from human cultivators, mocking and disparaging as they overheard the discussions of the Human Race cultivators.

Comparing Ye Fan to a dog is undoubtedly an insult to Ye Fan and an insult to the entire Human Race!

The actions of the younger generation of the Demon Clan enraged many Human Race cultivators, making them glare angrily at them.

However—

When the Human cultivators saw the Heavenly Prince not far behind them, they could only suppress their anger. At this moment, it was not suitable to start a fight. These people were clearly trying to provoke the Human Race cultivators to give them a reason to strike.

With the great battle imminent, the Demon Prince was certainly looking for a warm-up. Anyone who stepped forward at this moment would be falling into their trap.

"Heavenly Prince must win!"

An elder of the Demon Clan also spoke, revealing a secret.

It turns out that the Heavenly Prince’s father, the Sky Demon Emperor, in his youth, had killed his strongest opponent at Chi Yue Ridge, and finally soared to become an emperor.

The Heavenly Prince chose this place to fight Ye Fan, undoubtedly trying to borrow his father’s fame to recreate past glory and continue the undefeated legend of the Sky Demon Clan.

"So that’s how it is. No wonder the Heavenly Prince chose Chi Yue Ridge as the place for the decisive battle. How sinister his intentions are!"

Human Race cultivators suddenly understood, worrying for Ye Fan. Bloodline inheritance is very mysterious, and no one can fully understand it, but there are indeed some mysterious connections.

"Great Emperor bless, Hero Ye must break through to the Mid-Stage of Lord Realm, otherwise there is no hope at all!"

Many Human Race cultivators silently prayed for Ye Fan.

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