Chapter 751: Mysterious Spirit Marrow Pool

A Martial King? The one going to break the Restriction on the most central altar is a Martial King?

Everyone thought their eyes were playing tricks on them. They all rubbed their eyes—and yes, it was definitely a Martial King.

This…

The crowd felt as if a stampede of ten thousand wild beasts was rampaging through their minds, leaving them in total disarray.

“I wonder which power that ‘genius’ is from. To think a mere Martial King would try to break the Restriction on the altar.”

“I’ve been here a long time, and I’ve never heard of a Martial King managing to break *any* Restriction, to say nothing of the one on the strongest altar of all.”

“That kid probably just went up there to get a closer look. Heh heh, just watch. He’ll come scurrying back down with his tail between his legs soon enough.”

On the altars below, the Martial Emperors from the major powers all spoke with jeering smiles. They clearly had no faith whatsoever in Ye Xuan’s ability to break the Restriction on that altar and didn’t give it a second thought.

It wasn’t uncommon to see Martial Artists like him try their luck with Altar Number One. The only reason this instance was causing a stir was that the kid’s cultivation was simply far too low.

“Hmph. That Xuan Ye fancies himself quite skilled in Arrays. To actually attempt Altar Number One… he must be mad.”

“Let’s just sit back and watch the show.”

In contrast to the factions that had never met Ye Xuan, members of the Yuchi family from Celestial Capital Prefecture, the Long family from Liuxian City, Diao Minghuang, and others were all sneering inwardly, their eyes filled with scorn.

But Ye Xuan, standing on the altar, paid no mind to the discussions from the outside world. His mind was already completely focused on the Restriction before him.

The moment his Profound Sense and Soul Sense penetrated it, a grave expression appeared on his face.

‘What a profound Restriction,’ Ye Xuan thought, secretly alarmed. ‘The various circuits are so deep and obscure, they’re actually making my head spin.’

Setting aside his cultivation level, in terms of sheer knowledge alone, Ye Xuan’s mastery of Restrictions was definitely at the Tier Nine level.

Yet even with his astonishing expertise, as he faced the Restriction on this altar, he still felt overwhelmed, unable to grasp its full complexity.

What did that mean?

It meant that the Restriction on this altar was in no way inferior to some Ninth-level ones. Moreover, its internal structure and principles were exceedingly complex and peculiar, completely different from the current system of Restrictions on the Celestial Profound Continent.

If an ordinary Array Master were to see this, they would likely give up after a single glance, admitting it was beyond them. Even the past Ye Xuan would have found it a massive headache.

But in this life, after having been exposed to a new system of Restrictions in the Floating Light Secret Realm, Ye Xuan’s vision and mastery in this field had completely surpassed that of his previous life.

‘These Restrictions are completely different from the Restriction Arrays of the Celestial Profound Continent. They belong to a whole new system. I can’t use conventional methods; I have to comprehend each part thoroughly and unravel it bit by bit.’

Ye Xuan guarded against arrogance and impatience. Despite his initial shock, his mind remained perfectly calm.

BUZZ!

He activated his Divine Spirit Gaze. Bathed in a hazy green light, the structure of the Restriction appeared clearly in his mind, allowing him to observe and decipher it piece by piece.

The Restriction on this altar was intricate and complex, composed of innumerable tedious layers. A rough estimate put the total number of individual restrictions at over ten thousand.

Yet Ye Xuan felt not a hint of impatience. He started from the most basic components, comprehending and breaking them down one by one.

A quarter of an hour passed.

He had fully deciphered and understood the first Restriction.

An hour passed.

Ye Xuan had only managed to figure out three of the basic Restrictions.

Two hours passed.

Ye Xuan had only clarified five of the basic Restrictions.

At this rate, he might not be able to completely break the Restriction on the altar even if he were given another month or two.

However, Ye Xuan remained completely unhurried, fully immersed in this vast ocean of Restrictions, analyzing them slowly, bit by bit.

While Ye Xuan remained patient, the Martial Emperors on the outer altars were growing restless.

As soon as Ye Xuan arrived on the altar, he did nothing but sit down cross-legged in front of the Restriction. It looked as though he planned to take up permanent residence, which left the crowd confused.

“Where on earth did this kid come from? Does he actually intend to decipher the Restrictions?”

“Ignorance is bliss, I suppose. So far, every single Martial Emperor who has entered an altar has used brute force to break the Restrictions. I’ve never heard of anyone dismantling the Restriction itself.”

“Heh heh, we may not have many Array Masters here, but there are a few. That Mu Jin is a rather famous Eighth-Level Array Master, yet even he couldn’t decipher these things. This guy is a Tier Seven Martial King, and he wants to do it? Isn’t that just a pipe dream?”

On the outer altars, many of the First and Second Layer Martial Emperors had nothing better to do and began to jeer and taunt.

Some even began to lecture the talented Martial Kings under their command, warning them never to be like the fool on that altar—insisting on the impossible. That wasn’t persistence or determination, they said, it was just being stupid. The guy must have rocks in his head.

The members of the Xiao family could only smile wryly. Being the subject of so many Martial Emperors’ lectures, if Ye Xuan were a disciple of their family, Xiao Ming would have probably gone up and dragged him down by the ear long ago.

But since Ye Xuan was the Xiao family’s Guest Minister, Xiao Ming and the others could only watch as Ye Xuan “messed around” on the core altar.

Immersed in the ocean of Restrictions, Ye Xuan’s mind was stable and patient. He analyzed slowly, as steady and methodical as a machine.

A full ten hours passed.

Only then did Ye Xuan’s continuous analysis pause for a moment.

In ten hours, he had completely comprehended thirty basic Restrictions. Compared to the more than ten thousand Restrictions in the entire Array, this was but a drop in the ocean.

But there wasn’t the slightest trace of frustration on Ye Xuan’s face. Instead, a faint smile appeared.

‘So far, I’ve completely figured out the thirty most fundamental Restrictions out of the ten thousand plus. Now, I can pick up the pace.’

It turned out that Ye Xuan hadn’t been analyzing the Restriction from start to finish. Instead, he had first isolated the thirty most fundamental Restrictions from the tens of thousands and subjected them to a thorough analysis to comprehend their core principles.

Then, using these thirty Restrictions as a foundation, Ye Xuan began to analyze the entire Restriction Array.

In Ye Xuan’s view, everything—be it Arrays, Restrictions, talismans, Pills, or even martial arts—progressed from the simple to the complex, from the easy to the difficult.

As long as one mastered the fundamentals, all subsequent learning would be exponentially easier.

Sure enough, Ye Xuan, who had previously taken ten hours to decipher a mere thirty Restrictions, managed to break through one hundred in the very first hour after restarting.

In the second hour, three hundred more were broken.

In the third hour, he broke through nearly eight hundred more.

The more Restrictions Ye Xuan understood, the less time he needed for the subsequent ones. His pace grew faster and faster.

Finally, after a full day, Ye Xuan unraveled the very last Restriction on the altar.

BUZZ!

A hazy white light emanated from the Restriction. The next moment, before Ye Xuan could react, he was swallowed whole by it.

PLOP!

The moment he passed through the Restriction, Ye Xuan felt himself fall into a pool. An astonishingly potent aura of Spirit Marrow surged into his Profound Veins and began to transform his meridians without his prompting.

‘This is… the Spirit Marrow Pool! It really is the Spirit Marrow Pool!’

Excitement instantly flared in Ye Xuan’s heart. He had obtained some Spirit Marrow Liquid in his past life, so he knew its effects all too well.

He subconsciously began to cultivate with the Nine Profound World-Defying Art.

TSSS… TSSS…

The instant Ye Xuan activated the Nine Profound World-Defying Art, the surrounding pool water felt like countless steel needles piercing his body. A violent pain shot through him. The needles grew more numerous and denser, penetrating deeper and deeper, as if a hand was holding a fistful of them and stirring them madly within his flesh.

The excruciating pain nearly caused Ye Xuan to pass out on the spot.

At the critical moment, Ye Xuan hurriedly activated his Nine Transformations Sacred Body, and the agonizing pain finally eased slightly. However, his face was already deathly pale, completely drained of color, and beads of sweat the size of peas rolled down his forehead.

‘Such a potent Spirit Marrow Pool… such terrifying Spirit Marrow Liquid.’

Ye Xuan knew that using Spirit Marrow Liquid for body tempering involved some pain. The purer and more concentrated the liquid, the more intense the pain.

But of the few times Ye Xuan had encountered Spirit Marrow Liquid in his past life, none had been this painful. In fact, none had been even half as painful as this.

Ye Xuan was certain that if his Nine Transformations Sacred Body hadn’t reached the Sixth Transformation, and his physical strength hadn’t approached that of a Nine Heavens Martial Emperor, the pain just now would have torn his body to shreds.

No wonder an ordinary Tier Eight Third Layer Martial Emperor couldn’t open the Restriction outside. If an ordinary Third Layer Martial Emperor were to enter this Spirit Marrow Pool, they would never survive.

So, their inability to break the Restriction was actually a blessing in disguise.

‘Right, what about Princess Qing?’

After his shock subsided, Ye Xuan remembered his reason for coming here. He immediately released his Profound Sense into the pool.

To his shock, a thick white mist drifted over the surface of the pool. He had no idea how it was formed, but his Profound Sense could only penetrate a few meters into it.

‘What terrifying blocking power.’

Ye Xuan hurriedly released his Soul Sense as well, but the result was much the same. Although his Soul Sense could reach a bit farther than his Profound Sense, he could only perceive his surroundings up to about ten meters away. He could sense nothing beyond that.

“Princess Qing!”

Since his Profound Sense and Soul Sense were useless, Ye Xuan resorted to shouting her name aloud in the Spirit Marrow Pool. The sound echoed emptily through the unknown white mist. He called out for a long time, but there was no response.

Ye Xuan’s heart sank. ‘Could Princess Qing have died in here?’

It wasn’t impossible.

Based on Ye Xuan’s understanding of the Spirit Marrow Pool, no matter how heaven-defying Princess Qing’s cultivation or how astonishing her talent, if her physical body wasn’t stronger than that of a Tier Eight Third Layer Martial Emperor, she would never be able to withstand being torn apart by this pool.