Moreover, this secret realm was more powerful than any demonic realm or divine domain he had ever set foot in.
The formidable energy contained within each and every tomb here was practically equal to his own strength from his past life.
"Truly, there are heavens beyond the heavens, and men beyond men."
"To think that in my past life I actually had the audacity to call myself the Supreme Emperor."
Every single kalpa gave birth to countless powerful beings, with divine emperors as numerous as clouds.
Yet, none of them could withstand the Will of the Heavenly Dao; ultimately, their fate would run out, and they would perish alongside the prehistoric kalpa, returning to nothingness.
"Could these be the tombs of those rulers of the kalpas?"
"Insignificant human, how dare you not kneel when you meet the Lord!"
"You're courting death!"
The Lord of the Charnel Ground swung a blade as large as a mountain peak, hacking it down toward Ye Tianxuan.
The bone-chilling frost unleashed from the blade instantly froze the space through which it swept.
Yet Ye Tianxuan showed not the slightest bit of fear, standing tall and saying, "State your terms. What is your price?"
The Lord of the Charnel Ground stopped abruptly, evidently startled by Ye Tianxuan's calmness.
Meeting the corpses of these gods and demons, he showed neither panic nor fear.
Facing the blade before him, he didn't even blink an eye.
This young man truly possessed the makings of a Great Emperor.
However...
"Hahahaha! What price? You come here wanting to make a deal with the Lord?"
Ye Tianxuan replied, "Indeed. What is your price?"
"To become the master of this secret realm."
The Lord of the Charnel Ground fell silent for a long moment, halting his world-shattering laughter, and then said sternly, "Go back, kid. This is not a place for a little bug like you."
"Nor are you worthy to become the master of the forbidden land."
Ye Tianxuan smiled. "If you are the guardian of this secret realm, then when someone destined arrives to ask, you cannot refuse, can you?"
This was the law of the Heavenly Dao. Whether high above the nine heavens or down in the netherworld, across countless blessed abodes, demonic realms, and secret realms, as long as there was a guardian who was the avatar of the Heavenly Dao,
all of them had to abide by this rule.
Waiting for someone destined to open the realm, the guardians could not refuse them in any way.
All they had to do was wait for the destined challenger to pass the trial. If the challenger failed the trial, perished, or was killed by the demons and ghosts of the secret realm, then it had nothing to do with them.
"Do you truly wish to accept the trial of the God and Demon Sacrificial Arena?"
"You must know that being killed by my Ice Soul Cold Sword is far more painless than having your soul tortured to death on the altar."
"I see that you, kid, also possess extraordinary talent, and one day you could reach your own peak. There is no need to throw your life away here."
"This, after all, is the God and Demon Sacrificial Arena, the place where countless Heavenly Emperors and Demonic Sovereigns have perished. What makes a kid like you think you can pass?"
Ye Tianxuan's guess was indeed correct: this was the graveyard of the world's rulers.
However, these gods and demons, who had already merged with the Heavenly Dao, had bodies that had reached a state of being neither born nor destroyed, which was why they were stationed and guarded here.
Ye Tianxuan pointed far ahead at the rising altar and said, "Is that it?"
He did not converse further with the Lord of the Charnel Ground, too lazy to waste words.
He simply walked step by step up the entirely white altar.
"Kid, do you really want to experience a fate worse than death?"
Ye Tianxuan sneered, "It doesn't matter."
If he could not surpass his past life's realm in this lifetime, then he still wouldn't be able to defeat his own disciple and that fatal lover of his.
Besides, this secret realm had made him realize that above the strong, there are even stronger.
He could not tolerate anyone stepping on his head—absolutely not!
When he reached the center of the huge circular altar, he suddenly dropped to one knee, looked up at the sky, and uttered a single phrase: "I offer a sacrifice."
At that moment, the Lord of the Charnel Ground suddenly opened his mouth slightly, displaying a look of astonishment.
Right then, all the clouds and mist in the valley completely dissipated, turning into a boundless, cloudless expanse of azure blue.
And right at the spot where the sun had just been, it suddenly transformed into a giant eye radiating golden light, moving its pupil and field of vision to look at Ye Tianxuan.
The very moment that pupil focused,
four golden ropes suddenly extended from the four corners of the firmament, hanging him upside down above the altar.
At the same time, from the first row of the wild demonic tombs, a bull-headed monster engulfed in flames crawled out. Dragging a giant whip covered entirely in magma on its surface, it walked slowly toward Ye Tianxuan.
"Ox Fire Demon, Envoy of Southern Mountain?"
Ye Tianxuan recognized it at a glance. He never expected that the four great demonic sovereigns of the Southern Mountain would have perished and been sealed right here. Back in the day, it had possessed the ability to tear the heavens and split the earth, single-handedly holding off an entire army of heavenly soldiers.
And that giant magma whip in its hand burned not with ordinary fire, but with Karmic Fire.
This kind of Karmic Fire was simply impossible to extinguish unless one possessed a higher-tier water-type secret art.
It would only burn everything away until nothing was left.
The bull-headed fire demon, holding the whip whose surface appeared covered in magma, stepped onto the altar.
"Kid, since you want to become our master, you're going to have to suffer!"
"Do it, stop talking nonsense," Ye Tianxuan said haughtily.
"Good kid."
The fire demon swung the whip, and with a loud *crack*, it lashed across Ye Tianxuan's arm.
Yet the whip left neither a mark nor a wound.
Because one of his arms had long since been burned to nothingness by raging flames, and the stump of the arm was still burning with fire.
Even so, Ye Tianxuan remained expressionless.
Because he knew this was the price.
Moreover, before becoming the Supreme Emperor in his past life, both his body and mind had already endured countless injuries and pains.
That kind of ordeal was an existence far more terrifying than hell.
"You actually aren't screaming in agony? Do you look down on me?!"
The Ox Demon was infuriated to the extreme. No one could ever endure its Fiery Demon Whip, and it struck Ye Tianxuan's body with even greater force.
"Crack!"
"Crack!"
"Crack!"
Several consecutive lashes had completely burned away Ye Tianxuan's limbs, and half the skin of his torso had been destroyed by the raging flames, exposing visible ribs.
Yet he still uttered not a single sound, not even changing his expression.
Now it was the Ox Demon's turn to be terrified.
It had never tortured anyone with such an unyielding willpower.
Especially not a mere mortal.
The coldness in his gaze seemed to pierce straight through the Ox Demon's heart and lungs.
This only made it more terrified, and therefore—
Even more enraged.
"I want you dead!"
The Ox Demon swung the whip in a full arc, lashing it against his head with a loud *crack*, and instantly Ye Tianxuan's head flew off.
Yet just as the Ox Fire Demon was panting heavily,
countless fine threads slowly grew out from the four golden ropes, reassembling Ye Tianxuan's flesh, blood, sinews, and bones.
A lifelike body appeared before the Ox Demon's eyes once again.
This was the "God and Demon Sacrificial Arena".
Time was infinite, space was infinite, and reincarnation was infinite; only by passing the trial of the gods and demons could one forge a covenant and make them master!
"Again," Ye Tianxuan said calmly, looking straight at the Ox Demon.
The Ox Demon felt a shuddering terror engulf its entire body—the exact sensation it experienced only when meeting the supreme lords of the Demon realm.
It didn't understand why such imposing might emanated from a mortal.
But it was genuinely terrified.
It raised its thick arm once more, swinging the whip in the air as it prepared to strike Ye Tianxuan, only to see his stern face.
Suddenly, it stopped dead in its tracks.
It lowered its arm, abruptly dropped to its knees before Ye Tianxuan, presented the fire whip with both hands, and loudly petitioned, "Master, I, the Southern Peak Ugly Ox Fire Demon, am willing to forge a covenant with you and obey your commands!"
As soon as those words were spoken, the flesh and blood of its body suddenly merged with Ye Tianxuan's physical form, gradually dissolving into his skin, internal organs, sinews, and bones.
In his sea of Qi, a cluster of deep blue Karmic Fire was added.
His physical body had now been infused with the fire-type spirit roots of the Demon race.
This Karmic Fire instantly tempered his seventy-two thousand Qi channels, tearing apart his muscles and skin as well.
The agony was akin to a rebirth and marrow-cleansing.
"Ahhhhhhhh!"
Ye Tianxuan opened his eyes and finally let out a roar.
Yet his roar was not caused by the pain, but by excitement!
He had broken through to the late Blood Wheel Realm!
Furthermore, he was now able to directly wield the body of a fire demon!
This was the secret of the God and Demon Body Refining Formula, and the God and Demon Sacrificial Arena!
Once the pact was signed, one could directly assimilate the physique and abilities of celestial gods and demons.
Ye Tianxuan looked at the deep blue flame burning in the palm of his hand and laughed inwardly: "In this lifetime, I will step upon the bodies of the heavens, gods, and demons, and ascend the imperial throne!"