The Great Peng King, initially terrified, sneered. "This is your death knell! If I withdraw and don't compete with them for Immortal Realm territory, I can preserve myself. As for you, you will surely die!"
At this moment, despite his heartache, he had no choice but to yield.
Lin Tianxin and Yao Xi looked at the Great Peng King as if he were an idiot.
In the next instant, the Heavenly Empress and the other two arrived.
The Great Peng King immediately stepped forward and fawned, "Two great beings, I had originally set my sights on this territory, but now I willingly surrender it to you and seek your friendship!"
He paid no heed to the Golden Phoenix, for although she was also an Immortal Emperor, she was weaker than him.
Upon hearing this, Qing Luan coldly retorted, "What stray cat or dog dares to covet my territory!"
"What?"
The Great Peng King's expression changed drastically. He hadn't expected the Immortal Realm to be Qing Luan's territory. Was there any hope for him to survive?
Thus, he quickly surrendered, "It was my ignorance, I beg your magnanimity to spare my life!"
However, the Heavenly Empress said, "You realize your mistake too late, don't you?"
"Attack! Don't say we didn't give you a chance!"
As these words were spoken, the Great Peng King's heart turned to ashes. He was only at the third realm of Immortal Emperor, and either of these two could crush him.
Before he could even prepare to flee, Qing Luan struck first. A colossal hand descended from the void, striking the Great Peng King.
Bang!
With a loud crash, the Great Peng King's body was obliterated. Only a wisp of his divine soul remained, preparing to escape in that form.
However, the Heavenly Empress unleashed a golden light that directly shredded his divine soul!
"Ah!"
With a scream, the Great Peng King's battle was decisively over.
"Open your eyes wider in your next life!"
The Heavenly Empress said dismissively. In truth, with his divine soul shattered, the Great Peng King had no next life.
At this moment, the Golden Phoenix swept a golden flame, and the Great Peng King's void battleship sank and was destroyed, along with its副族长.
After the battle concluded, as Lin Tianxin and Yao Xi were bewildered, they heard Qing Luan, taking the initiative, say, "Two younger sisters, are you unharmed?"
"N-no... we're fine!"
Lin Tianxin and Yao Xi felt somewhat awkward. They had originally been competing for the position of First Wife, but with the arrival of these three, they felt embarrassed.
How could they still compete? It seemed they could only be juniors for now.
"Three elder sisters, why hasn't our husband returned?"
Lin Tianxin, being sensible, addressed the three as elder sisters.
"Coward!"
Yao Xi scoffed inwardly. This Lin Tianxin, who had vied so fiercely with her, now cowered before powerful beings.
Let's see how she performs.
"Three elder sisters, when will husband return?"
Alas! The tables turned so quickly, it was truly unexpected. Her performance was no better than Lin Tianxin's.
As expected of two rivals at the same level.
The Heavenly Empress said, "Husband has gone to the Path of the Universe for trial, and it may take decades for him to return. But when he does, he will surely reign supreme!"
Upon hearing this, the women were disappointed, though it was only a brief disappointment, for they knew Yun Fan's destiny.
Carrying so much pressure, they could only support Yun Fan in their hearts. When Yun Fan returned, they would also help him conquer the universe.
...
Several more years passed. Yun Fan opened his eyes. The void battleship's energy had been depleted.
At this moment, Yun Fan's breakthrough was significant. Having completely refined the power of Mount Sumeru, he had reached the fourth realm of Immortal Emperor.
He was very satisfied with this cultivation level.
After all, the fourth realm of Immortal Emperor was already quite formidable.
Just then, he arrived at a continent with living beings.
After inquiring, he learned that the Path of the Universe had opened a year ago, and the great prodigies of various universes had embarked on their journey a year prior.
Yun Fan was speechless. He hadn't expected to miss the trial of the Path of the Universe. However, there was no need to rush; he should be able to catch up now.
After all, the Path of the Universe was incredibly long, fraught with hardships. Even the strongest prodigies would take at least fifty years to complete it.
Once one successfully traversed the Path of the Universe, they would, at the very least, become an existence of the Immortal Emperor level. But how many people actually succeeded?
In one era, no more than a handful could complete it successfully. The rest either perished midway or withdrew.
Of course, benefits could be gained along the way, but only those who successfully completed it would obtain greater opportunities.
The fastest person in history to complete the Path of the Universe was himself, the third strongest being ten thousand years ago, who took fifty years.
He broke the record. After completing the Path of the Universe ten thousand years ago, his strength advanced rapidly, and within less than a hundred years, he attained the status of the third strongest being in the universe.
Before and after that time, no one could achieve it within fifty years. When the Path of the Universe first opened, even the Lord of the Universe took nearly a hundred years to complete it, becoming the third strongest. He directly reduced this speed to double digits.
One could imagine how formidable he was ten thousand years ago. Therefore, Yun Fan set a small goal for himself.
That is, to complete the Path of the Universe in less than fifty years. Otherwise, he would be regressing with age. If he couldn't surpass his past self, what was the meaning of his rebirth?
Thus, at this moment, Yun Fan arrived at the starting point.
This was the beginning of the Path of the Universe, immensely vast. Normally, no one would be here for millennia, but with the opening of the Path of the Universe, many people rushed to this place.
Even after a year, those who couldn't embark on the Path of the Universe had retreated, but there were still many people present.
Yun Fan estimated that at least several hundred thousand remained.
Although this number seemed enormous, one must remember that these were the prodigies of the entire universe!
In fact, within this past year, millions of prodigies who couldn't pass had already left. These hundreds of thousands of prodigies were unwilling to give up; they were trying to become stronger and then embark on the Path of the Universe.
At this moment, Yun Fan arrived before the checkpoint. Only by passing this checkpoint could one set foot on the Path of the Universe.
However, he learned that over five million prodigies had registered, but only just over five thousand had actually set foot on the Path of the Universe.
This one-in-a-thousand ratio was a testament to its brutality.
At this point, the person guarding the checkpoint asked Yun Fan, "What is your name? Where are you from? How old are you?"
Yun Fan replied, "Yun Fan, from a desolate star system. My age is in the tens."
Upon hearing this, the guard nodded. "Step through this gate. If the gate allows you entry, you may proceed. If it does not, it means you have been eliminated!"
"Understood."
Yun Fan nodded and then walked towards the gate.
Many prodigies scoffed. Countless people tried to enter every day, but none succeeded in the end.
In their view, Yun Fan would absolutely fail, so they didn't even bother to look at him properly, as he would soon be eliminated anyway.
In their opinion, the truly capable and qualified prodigies had already set off a year ago.
To them, Yun Fan was merely lucky.
However, as Yun Fan stepped through, he passed through unimpeded and entered the Path of the Universe.
"How is this possible?"
Everyone was stunned. They had been waiting here for over a year and had seen countless prodigies successfully enter.
But only a select few, like Yun Fan, had passed through so smoothly. Most of them had to struggle before succeeding.
This speed was truly awe-inspiring.
Among them, the most shocked were the gatekeepers, beings under the command of the Lord of the Universe.
They had witnessed this miracle firsthand. They had initially thought Yun Fan was just someone trying their luck, but unexpectedly, it left them dumbfounded.
They clearly remembered that only nine other prodigies had managed to be as composed and smooth as Yun Fan.
That's right, only nine others, making a total of ten with Yun Fan.
In their eyes, those nine prodigies, including the son of the Lord of the Universe, all had the potential to reach the peak of Immortal Emperor.
Now, it seemed there was one more. It appeared the Path of the Universe this time would be dominated by these ten individuals.
While others would undoubtedly gain immense benefits, they would only serve as foils.
Outside, as the astonishment continued, Yun Fan had already smoothly passed through the gate and set foot on the ancient Path of the Universe.
Walking on the Path of the Universe, Yun Fan encountered no other pedestrians, which was normal.
Soon, he arrived at the first city on the Path of the Universe, a city that was extremely peculiar.
There were no inhabitants, but it was filled with danger. The most shocking incident was when nearly a hundred prodigies had shed blood within its confines.
Considering the vastness of the Path of the Universe, having a hundred prodigies die in the first stage was a severe outcome.
At this moment, Yun Fan stepped into this ancient and strange city. He had not yet sensed any living beings.
However, a heavy scent of blood permeated the air. Although he possessed the strength of a fourth-realm Immortal King, Yun Fan did not let down his guard.
He was determined to see just how difficult this first trial truly was.
Just then, the moonlight suddenly turned crimson, dyeing the ground red, and the surroundings were filled with howling winds.
"Is danger approaching?"