Chapter 554: Transcending the Sacred Realm

On the sixth step, Ye Feng sat in meditation for over 130 days. It took him only 50 days to rise from the early stage of the Sacred Lord level to its peak, and the remaining 80 days were used to absorb enough energy to elevate his cultivation to the early stage of the Supreme Saint level.

He then realized that although he had a considerable supply of pills, very few could be used to raise his cultivation to the Supreme Saint level. As for pills that could further elevate him beyond that level, there were none at all. Though he possessed some pills collected by Supreme Saint-level experts, most of them were for healing rather than enhancing cultivation. At the Supreme Saint level, each advancement required an enormous amount of energy. Even in the entire Sacred Realm, such pills were scarce. This was because those who truly reached the Supreme Saint level didn’t focus much on rapidly boosting their cultivation but rather on truly strengthening their power, whether through their soul or laws. As for cultivation itself, they generally followed a gradual approach to build a solid foundation.

Although he hadn’t found a solution, Ye Feng still chose to take another step forward and ascend to the seventh step.

Upon reaching this level, Ye Feng finally noticed a difference from the other six levels. He could sense that the giant bell above his mental sea was under attack—clearly a soul attack. Though its intensity was at the early stage of the Supreme Saint level, it couldn’t harm his soul, which was already at its peak.

From the giant bell, Ye Feng learned that this soul attack had been present since he stepped onto the first step. However, the previous attacks were utterly ineffective and had left no impact on him, so he hadn’t noticed them. It wasn’t until he reached the seventh level that he realized, in addition to the overwhelming repulsive force, others also had to endure soul attacks. This was troublesome because whenever the soul was attacked, a person would automatically exit their meditative state for cultivation improvement. In other words, others’ cultivation processes were constantly interrupted. With interruptions, it wasn’t just a matter of wasting time. If calculated based on 100 hours per day in the Divine Realm, if Ye Feng meditated for a full day, then even if others meditated intermittently for 50 hours, the results wouldn’t compare to half a day of Ye Feng’s cultivation. At most, five hours out of those 50 could be considered effective.

This also made Ye Feng secretly feel relieved. One reason was that his soul strength was strong enough, and the other was that he possessed a pseudo-void treasure for soul defense. Although, due to the limitations of his soul strength, that pseudo-void treasure was currently only at the level of a top-tier sacred artifact. The repulsive force still tried to push him down at every turn. Ye Feng took a deep breath and slowly sat in meditation. “It seems this improvement will take some time. I just don’t know how long this secret realm will remain open. But judging from the current situation, I should be considered the winner of this challenge. Eight Martial God Tokens, six levels ahead, and I’ve already encountered seven people—naturally, I’m the one who’s come the farthest. As long as no one comes up here, it’s fine. But even if someone does, by then I should be accustomed to this repulsive force, and kicking them down could be an option. It’s a bit despicable, but for this void treasure, it’s the only way.” In fact, Ye Feng wasn’t the only one with such thoughts. Those two powerful beings at the sixth level also initially thought the same way. But after reaching the sixth level, they had no energy left to do such things, allowing Ye Feng to escape. Otherwise, given Ye Feng’s full focus on cultivation, it was entirely possible for them to kick him down. “It’s a shame there aren’t any more pills…” As Ye Feng sighed inwardly, his gaze suddenly fell on the edge of the seventh level. There, eight pill bottles were placed. “Huh, what’s that?” After releasing his soul power, he gathered all eight bottles to his side, unscrewed one of them, and the delicate scent of the pills filled his nose. Just from a brief sniff, Ye Feng could sense the yellow vortex in his dantian trembling slightly. “They’re pills for improving cultivation!” Ye Feng immediately used his soul power to pick up one pill and throw it into his mouth, then quickly covered the bottle. He closed his eyes and began cultivating. In eighteen days, Ye Feng finally digested the first pill, and his cultivation level rose from the early stage of the Supreme Saint level to the middle stage. With the consumption of the second and third pills, it took him fifty-two days to reach the peak of the Supreme Saint level. By then, the first bottle of pills was also completely used up.

Ye Feng finally felt that repulsive force diminish significantly. However, his cultivation had reached the peak of the Supreme Saint level, on par with his soul cultivation. To make further progress would not be something that could be accomplished in a short time. With a wry smile and a shake of his head, he put all seven remaining pills into his storage ring. Out of the corner of his eye, Ye Feng suddenly noticed something on the other side of the seventh step.

Previously, he had found the pills at the end of the steps on the right side, but this time, at the end of the steps on the left side, he saw eight wine jars. Those jars were only about the size of a human head. Ye Feng was secretly delighted; he knew what was inside those jars would surely help him, though he wasn’t sure exactly what it was.

Using his soul power again, he moved those jars over and lifted the lid of one of them. A strong aroma of wine filled Ye Feng’s nose.

“It’s really wine?” Ye Feng was slightly stunned. “Could it be that I’m supposed to drink it? What good will it do?”

Not knowing its purpose yet, and usually not fond of alcohol, Ye Feng was actually intrigued by the smell, as it was somewhat intoxicating.

“Never mind, let’s give it a try!” Ye Feng said, picked up the jar, and took a small sip. That single sip brought a myriad of flavors to his taste buds, as if all the joys and sorrows of the world were contained within. After swallowing it, a scorching sensation rushed into his abdomen and then straight to his sea of consciousness. Ye Feng instantly felt his soul seem to grow slightly.

“What an amazing thing!” Once he realized this, Ye Feng couldn’t help but exclaim. Soon, the entire jar of wine was poured into his stomach. He suddenly noticed that the color of his soul was changing—its original pure white gradually taking on a hint of gold.

Recalling the golden color of the soul of that old man who mastered the laws of the undead, Ye Feng quickly opened another jar and drank more.

As jar after jar was consumed, Ye Feng’s soul grew brighter and brighter. By the time the eighth jar was drunk, his soul emitted a brilliant golden light. Ye Feng instantly felt a sense of clarity in his mind. A beam of light pierced through countless spaces and shone on his forehead. Then, the soul in his sea of consciousness gradually stopped glowing and shattered into pieces. Inside those fragments lay a pure golden soul about one meter tall. Those fragments seemed like the old soul’s shed skin, floating around in his sea of consciousness.

The beam of light on Ye Feng’s forehead also appeared in his spiritual sea, enveloping his newly born soul. Then, those golden fragments began to gather and merge into the newly formed pure golden soul, causing Ye Feng’s soul to grow rapidly.
It was unclear how much time passed before all the fragments were absorbed, and the golden soul grew to a size comparable to Ye Feng’s height. Only then did the beam of light slowly dissipate.
Ye Feng knew that his soul’s cultivation had reached another level, though he wasn’t sure what level it was. But he knew his soul’s cultivation had surpassed the Saint realm.
The rest was even simpler. Ye Feng took out the seven remaining pills he had, sat cross-legged, picked one up, and threw it into his mouth…