Heaven-Surpassing Divine Emperor

Jiang Chen was furious, wishing he could charge back to the Heaven-Soaring Saint Sect right now and slaughter the Six Mountains Dynasty’s Black Demon Army.

But he didn’t let his anger cloud his judgment.

The Black Demon Army had a million soldiers, led by an expert at the Ninth Stage of the Human King Realm, Black Yama. Even though his own strength had skyrocketed and he no longer feared Black Yama...

...he wasn’t confident he could save Lui Yifa and the others while also dealing with Black Yama.

’I’ll refine the Celestial Demon Ancient Castle first,’ Jiang Chen thought meticulously. ’Little Black said there are many treasures left behind by the Celestial Demon Emperor Venerable inside. Maybe something in there can help!’ He forcibly suppressed his rage and returned to the Celestial Demon Ancient Castle.

His mind was consumed with worry for the safety of everyone at the Heaven-Soaring Saint Sect.

Jiang Chen headed straight for the main hall of the Celestial Demon Ancient Castle. The Holy Blood Spirit Pool had already shattered.

This was a supreme treasure the Celestial Demon Emperor Venerable had expended great effort to create for his successor, and now it had lost its function.

A black, spherical bead hovered within the fragments of the Holy Blood Spirit Pool.

The sphere emitted a faint black glow.

It looked just like a black pearl.

’This must be the core of the Celestial Demon Ancient Castle! Once I refine it, the castle will belong to me. But my current strength is far from enough to activate it fully!’ Jiang Chen took a deep breath and began refining the castle’s core. After passing the previous three trials, the process of refining the core had become remarkably simple.

After the Blood Recognition ceremony.

The core fused into Jiang Chen’s bloodline.

With a single thought, the entire Celestial Demon Ancient Castle rumbled and was drawn into Jiang Chen’s body.

"In!"

Jiang Chen’s figure flashed and vanished from his spot, entering the Celestial Demon Ancient Castle.

The Celestial Demon Ancient Castle was now hidden within the void.

Not even an expert at the Emperor Realm could hope to find it!

’So refining the Celestial Demon Ancient Castle is divided into three tiers: Basic, Middle, and Complete,’ Jiang Chen realized with surprise. ’I’ve only just completed the Basic Level refinement, so many of its functions are unavailable. But... I can open the 1st Floor Treasure Vault?’ With a flicker of thought, he arrived at the location of the Celestial Demon Ancient Castle’s first Treasure Vault.

This 1st Floor Treasure Vault was said to contain some of the discarded items the Celestial Demon Emperor Venerable had crafted in his time.

Jiang Chen couldn’t help but smile wryly. ’Discarded items? This is just too...’

He shook his head in resignation.

He pushed open the great doors of the Treasure Vault and stepped inside.

Jiang Chen was stunned. Before him lay a vast, boundless storeroom, large enough to hold several million people!

Inside the Treasure Vault.

Jiang Chen found the floor piled high with countless Profound Weapons. There was battle armor, various armaments, shields, and more—everything one could imagine.

The lowest quality among them were Profound-tier Profound Weapons, but there were also some of the Earth Tier, Celestial Tier, and so on.

"As expected of the Artifact Venerable," Jiang Chen mused, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. ’To think that Earth-tier and Celestial-tier Profound Weapons are just tossed all over the floor like trash.’

These Earth-tier and Celestial-tier Profound Weapons were far superior to those of the same tier available on the markets of the Eastern Continent.

Just these Earth-tier and Celestial-tier Profound Weapons alone would be enough to elevate an entire dynasty’s overall power by a full notch!

’I can save these Profound Weapons for the disciples of the Heaven-Soaring Saint Sect. But... is there really no treasure here that can help me personally?’

Jiang Chen frowned, searching his surroundings.

The difficulty he faced now was unprecedented; it wasn’t something a few Earth-tier or Celestial-tier Profound Weapons could solve.

After a thorough search, Jiang Chen finally made a discovery in an inconspicuous corner.

In that dark corner lay ten casually discarded Saint-tier Profound Weapons!

These ten Saint-tier Profound Weapons were actually a complete set of what appeared to be Soldier Tokens. Jiang Chen frowned. ’Soldier Token-type Profound Weapons? I’ve never heard of such a thing... I wonder what they do?’

He picked up the set of Profound Weapons and performed a blood refinement ritual on them.

The ten Soldier Token Profound Weapons merged into Jiang Chen’s body, and an incredulous light shone in his eyes. "This... how is this possible? Such divine, uncanny craftsmanship! The Celestial Demon Emperor Venerable truly lived up to his title as the Artifact Venerable. His skill is simply otherworldly!"

Each of the ten Soldier Tokens, individually, was a Saint Tier Low-level Profound Weapon!

But if all ten were to be combined...

...they would form a Saint Tier High-level Profound Weapon!

These Profound Weapon Soldier Tokens were also known as the Venerable Emperor’s Order!

Each Soldier Token contained a small dimension, and each dimension housed over a hundred thousand Celestial Demon Combat Puppets.

In his era, the Celestial Demon Emperor Venerable was one of the most supreme beings on the Qiankun Continent.

He disliked building his own faction and preferred to act alone. However, he often felt the limitations of being a lone wolf, so he paid a hefty price to create a million Celestial Demon Combat Puppets.

The Venerable Emperor’s Order had accompanied the Celestial Demon Emperor Venerable in his campaigns across the Qiankun Continent.

It was only later, as his strength grew to new heights, that the Venerable Emperor’s Order became less and less helpful to him, and was thus tossed into this 1st Floor Treasure Vault.

Jiang Chen clutched the Venerable Emperor’s Order, his face alight with ecstasy. "The Venerable Emperor’s Order... Hahaha! This might have been a useless trinket to the Celestial Demon Emperor Venerable, but to me, it’s the most precious treasure I could have hoped for!"

Among the million Celestial Demon Combat Puppets within the Venerable Emperor’s Order, even the weakest—the Celestial Demon Soldiers—possessed the strength of the True Martial Realm.

There were as many as eight hundred thousand of them.

The second tier was called Celestial Demon War General, each possessing the power of the Heavenly Destiny Realm.

And their numbers reached a staggering five hundred thousand!

The third tier was the Celestial Demon Marshal!

Every single Celestial Demon Marshal possessed the strength of the Union Palace Realm. Their numbers were the smallest, at only ten thousand!

A total of one million, three hundred and ten thousand Celestial Demon Combat Puppets!

This was equivalent to an army of 1.31 million experts, the weakest of whom was at the True Martial Realm, and they were Celestial Demon Combat Puppets that would obey him absolutely!

Jiang Chen could feel his heart begin to race.

The smile on his face grew wider and more brilliant, yet the glint in his eyes turned colder and more chilling. He clenched the Venerable Emperor’s Order, a frosty light flickering in his gaze. "The Black Demon Army is hailed as the most powerful legion of the Six Mountains Dynasty and the most feared army in the entire Eastern Continent. But out of their million soldiers, seven hundred thousand are at the True Martial Realm, three hundred thousand are at the Heavenly Destiny Realm, and a mere thousand have reached the Union Palace Realm or higher."

The Black Demon Army was an invincible legion that the Six Mountains Sword Venerable of the Six Mountains Dynasty had spent several centuries cultivating.

With the million-plus Celestial Demon army he now commanded, Jiang Chen already possessed the power to utterly crush the Black Demon Army!

He absorbed the Venerable Emperor’s Order into his body, took one last look around the Treasure Vault, and after finding nothing else of interest, he turned and left.

He emerged from the Celestial Demon Ancient Castle.

Jiang Chen hovered in the sky above Celestial Demon Canyon. As far as the eye could see, there was only desolation. Mountains had collapsed and the earth had split open, leaving a world devoid of life.

Jiang Chen let out a long breath. He already knew that all of this destruction was caused by the Holy Blood Spirit Pool. A cold light flashed in his eyes as he spoke in a low, determined voice, "Everything that was destroyed here has caused Yulan Mansion no small amount of loss. But in the near future, I swear I will restore this place to an even more magnificent and powerful world! As for now... it’s time to settle some old and new scores with the Black Demon Army and the Six Mountains Dynasty!"

Before the sound of his voice had even faded.

A pair of azure wings materialized on Jiang Chen’s back, and he transformed into a streak of flowing light, vanishing over the horizon...