Nuwa, the goddess of immortality, said that cultivating immortality does not require spiritual energ

Having spent so long by Ye Hongli's side, the spirit of the Dharma Source Stele could more or less sense the obsessive and intense emotions deep within her heart.

That was an obsession.

It was this unwavering conviction that sustained her through the first three tribulations of inner demons, allowing her to stray further and further down the path of demonic cultivation, yet never completely lose her way.

If this obsession stemmed from admiration and affection, the spirit of the Fayuan Stele might not have so directly advised her to give up.

However, the essence of Ye Hongli's obsession is a pure, distorted possessiveness.

She didn't see Qin Le as a lover or a Daoist partner, but rather as a unique toy that she had to get her hands on, a collectible to satisfy her desire to show off.

In the eyes of the spirit of the Fayuan Stele, such a motivation was destined to fail.

The moment Qin Le appeared, the spirit of the Law Source Stele clearly sensed several ancient auras from him that were incredibly familiar and made its heart tremble.

Besides the aura of the Goddess Nuwa, there was also Fuxi, who created her, as well as Chiyou, Shennong, Suiren, Yandi, Dijun... those great figures who had long transcended the Three Realms all seemed to have formed direct or indirect connections with Qin Le in some way.

Qin Le has almost gathered all the big shots who have left the Three Realms.

Having gained the attention and even investment of so many supreme beings, does Ye Hongli want to possess them and treat them as playthings?

In the eyes of the spirit of the Fayuan Stele, this was nothing short of a fool's dream.

Hearing the straightforward advice from the spirit of the Fayuan Stele, Ye Hongli neither refuted nor argued.

She simply smiled faintly, almost obsessively, as she quietly gazed in the direction Qin Le had left.

If she were someone who gave up so easily, she wouldn't have gotten to where she is today.

Even if this path is wrong, even if it's a dead end, Ye Hongli will go all the way down this wrong path and never turn back.

Two days later.

Qin Le returned to the border town where the demon race gathered, but did not go to his original next destination.

Plans can't keep up with changes.

His unexpected encounter with Ye Hongli and the capture of this special chaotic beast forced him to change his plans and return to the Heavenly Court as soon as possible to deal with the matter.

After returning to Heaven via the teleportation array within the city, Qin Le immediately found a celestial official and asked him to guide him to the Jade Emperor's avatar left in Heaven.

Seeing Qin Le return so quickly, the Jade Emperor's avatar was slightly surprised: "You're back so soon? Did something happen?"

Qin Le bowed respectfully and got straight to the point: "I did encounter a bit of an accident, but I caught something and rushed back to show it to you."

"Oh? What 'thing'?" The Jade Emperor became interested.

Qin Le smiled and said, "This place is too small, I'm afraid it won't fit. Let's go outside."

The Jade Emperor understood, and the two got up and went to a relatively spacious courtyard.

Qin Le raised his hand and waved it, and the serpentine chaotic beast, which had been bound by layers of intense and ferocious energy and unable to move, appeared on the open ground.

The enormous serpentine eyes no longer revealed the usual rage and emptiness of the Chaos Beast, but rather a clear, human-like fear.

Catching the unusual look in those eyes, the Jade Emperor's expression hardened, and his tone revealed obvious surprise: "This is... a chaotic beast with intelligence?"

Such a complex emotion was never seen in any Chaos Beast before.

Although I had already learned of the possibility of the existence of the intelligent Chaos Beast from the spirit of the Law Source Stele, witnessing it with my own eyes was a completely different experience.

"Yes." Qin Le nodded in confirmation: "We encountered Ye Hongli being chased by them on the way. The two of us joined forces, but we could only keep one alive; the rest... all escaped."

The Jade Emperor did not pay any attention to those who had escaped.

Facing more than a dozen intelligent, cooperative, and powerful Chaos Beasts at the Golden Immortal level, it was already quite an achievement for Qin Le and Ye Hongli to capture even one alive.

Want to catch them all at once?

That was an almost impossible task.

"You intend to hand it over to the Heavenly Realm to study its differences from ordinary Chaos Beasts?" the Jade Emperor asked knowingly.

Qin Le chose to capture him alive, and then rushed back; his purpose was self-evident.

"Exactly." Qin Le nodded. "It would be good if we could find out the reason why they developed intelligence, or discover other weaknesses. Otherwise, if a bunch of 'intelligent' Chaos Beasts that know how to coordinate tactics suddenly appeared on the battlefield, even if there were respawn points, it would add a lot of trouble."

"That makes sense." The Jade Emperor wholeheartedly agreed.

While respawn points eliminate the worry of dying, understanding and weakening the enemy is naturally a better option.

After exchanging a few more words with Qin Le, the Jade Emperor put away the serpentine Chaos Beast and turned to arrange related research matters.

This matter is of great importance and must be dealt with as soon as possible.

Qin Le then turned and walked towards the Heavenly Court's teleportation palace.

Before leaving, the Jade Emperor mentioned that he should visit the little fellow of the God Clan when he had time, and informed him that he was currently guarding Lingye Town.

Although the reason was not explicitly stated, Qin Le thought about it and decided to make the trip anyway.

Arriving in Lingye City via the teleportation array, Qin Le made a few inquiries and learned the location of the newborn god—he was not in the city, but in the core area of ​​the battlefield outside the city, which was shrouded by a large array.

Qin Le went directly out of the city and into the battlefield. After several spatial shifts, he arrived at the core area of ​​the formation.

In mid-air, a pitch-black hole about the size of a bowl was suspended, from which wisps of chaotic origin condensed and dripped, transforming into new chaotic beasts.

Standing guard in front of the black hole was a little boy who looked only seven or eight years old, with rosy lips, white teeth, and delicate features.

He was dressed in a white robe embroidered with flame patterns, with black hair and black eyes. He sat cross-legged in the void, staring intently at the black hole.

He is Shen Yan, the only and newly born god in the Three Realms, who has been accepted as a personal disciple by the Celestial Venerable of Morality.

His duty is to guard this place and slay the Golden Immortal-level Chaos Beasts born from this black hole.

As for those below the Golden Immortal level, they will be automatically teleported to the outer perimeter by the formation and dealt with by other soldiers.

Feeling a strange yet incredibly comforting and peaceful aura approaching, Shen Yan turned his head in confusion.

He scrutinized Qin Le carefully, then asked uncertainly, "Qin...Le?"

"It's me." Qin Le nodded with a smile.

Upon receiving an affirmative answer, Shen Yan's face broke into a childlike, slightly shy smile. He scratched his head and asked, "What brings you here?"

Qin Le moved swiftly, appearing beside Shen Yan and sitting down in mid-air as well: "His Majesty sent me to check on you. What's wrong? Have you encountered any trouble lately?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Yan shook his head, his tone carrying a maturity beyond his years: "It's not exactly troublesome... it's just that we, the gods, have encountered a problem that everyone faces."

Upon hearing this, Qin Le instantly understood.

According to the information he learned from Nuwa and ancient texts, the gods are a peculiar race with an extremely high lower limit but a limited upper limit.

They are born with some imprints of the laws of heaven, so every god can easily reach the Earth Immortal realm and achieve immortality.

This is their advantage.

However, their disadvantages are equally obvious—the growth ceiling of the Protoss seems to be locked.

Even during the most glorious period in the history of the gods, they never produced a quasi-saint level being; their highest achievement was the Great Luo Golden Immortal.

This is also one of the important reasons why the Protoss ultimately failed to survive the brutal competition: the lack of truly top-tier combat power.

Worse still, for the demon race of that time, the gods were a great tonic for enhancing their comprehension; while for the human race in its early stages of rise, the gods were excellent materials for refining weapons...

With many coveting it, the gods faced extremely harsh living conditions, ultimately leading to their extinction.

What Shen Yan is facing at this moment is not a survival crisis, but a bottleneck inherent in the bloodline of the gods.

Without a special stroke of luck, his cultivation level would likely remain at the Golden Immortal realm forever, making it difficult for him to break through to the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm.

This is undoubtedly a heavy shackle for a newborn child who carries the hopes of the entire race’s revival.