You don't want your secret to be revealed by others, right?

"King Xia? I wonder if he chose the title himself or... the Crown Prince?"

"Either way, the title is a bit too presumptuous, even for a prince, he's only a great cultivator, how can he claim the title of King Xia?"

"King Xia... haha..."

"Can he bear the pressure that this title represents?"

At the banquet, although no one spoke, private exchanges through divine thought were incessant.

The guests were outwardly courteous to the newly titled King Xia, the Seventeenth Prince, and seemingly had no objections to the title. But in their private communications, they were far from polite.

After all, the exchange of divine thought leaves behind no evidence, so what's there to fear in speaking one's mind?

At the banquet, the princes and princesses showed little reaction.

That day in front of Di Hong Palace square, many of the princes and princesses had witnessed Lin Yue dealing with Wei Tianxian and had their suspicions.

"Big brother, you have caused me quite a problem."

Lin Yue turned to look at the Second Prince and couldn't help but shake his head, "The title of King Xia should have been yours, right?"

"Now it hardly suits me." The Second Prince smiled, "This title is reserved for the foremost among the human royal cultivators, entrusted with extraordinary responsibilities. In my eyes, among the human clan, only you are fit to bear this burden."

Lin Yue fell silent for a moment, sighed, and said, "Big brother, saying so only makes me feel the weight of the pressure."

"Do you have the confidence?" the Second Prince asked with a smile.

"As long as the path lies ahead, I will keep moving forward," Lin Yue responded calmly. ThelatestchaptersarealwaysavailablefirstonMV5LEMPYR.

"Good." The Second Prince also smiled, "The title is yours to keep."

"It's just a name."

Lin Yue nodded slightly, "I understand what you mean, big brother. Don't worry."

"That's good to hear," the Second Prince whispered.

...

After the banquet ended and the guests had departed, silence finally returned to Prince Xia's mansion.

"My lord, those guests might have kept silent today, but I could tell, each one of them had their own objections."

Qi Yinmo, who had just become a princess consort, couldn't help but snort, "It's just a title. Why couldn't my lord, a once-in-an-epoch genius, bear it?"

"People are just like that."

Lin Yue smiled dismissively, "As long as they think you don't deserve it in their hearts, no matter what your status, they're bound to have objections."

He sat down, took a sip of tea, and shook his head, "Moreover, these are individuals with high authority and longevity, valuing reputation and face above all, disdainful of those whose virtue does not match their position."

"It doesn't matter. Once my lord succeeds in Harmonization, they will have nothing to say," Qi Yinmo consoled.

"Harmonization?"

Lin Yue shook his head, "That would be too late. No need to wait that long; I can make them acknowledge me tonight."

"Tonight?" Qi Yinmo was slightly taken aback.

"Right now."

Lin Yue put down his teacup and with a flip of his hand, a seemingly ordinary stone token appeared in his palm.

This stone token faintly exuded an ancient aura, with the characters 'World' engraved on it.

"World Token?" Qi Yinmo's eyes lit up, "Are you going to challenge the ninth layer of Tianxia Building? Are you confident you can reach the top?"

Great cultivators could make it to the eighth layer, which was already considered their limit in normal circumstances. In all ages, they would be among the strongest great cultivators, invincible beneath the saints.

Not only would it require a cultivation method comparable to a supreme secret technique, but also mastering a nascent form of a heaven-defying Dao, and creating the ultimate true skill.

Many times, the eighth layer of Tianxia Building might be empty.

And the ninth layer was a domain that only saint-level beings could enter.

Any higher...

The true summit of Tianxia Building, the legendary Observatory at the top, was said to be reachable only by heaven-defying saints.

That's right, even for heaven-defying saints, it was only a possibility to reach the top.

In fact, some princes and princesses hadn't even made it to the top.

Moreover, there were rumors that once one reached the summit, they could meet the real master of Tianxia Building!

"Reach the top?"

Lin Yue smiled, "You'll see."

While speaking, his divine thought delved into the World Token, with his consciousness instantly diverging and sinking into that illusory world.

...

By the time Lin Yue's consciousness returned and he regained the sensation of his physical body, he was already in the desolate eighth layer of Tianxia Building.

"Sigh."

Lin Yue glanced over the eighth layer, now only populated with a bunch of stone statues, and couldn't help but sigh.

In this era, apart from him, Baili Fengzhi was also of the eighth layer of Tianxia Building.

But now, Baili Fengzhi had been crippled, his divine soul withered and weak to the extreme, unable to even enter Tianxia Building.

Thus, the eighth layer of Tianxia Building was left with only him.

"It's about to be completely empty."

Lin Yue shook his head slightly and looked toward the faceless stone sculpture at the center, saying, "Open the Heavenly Ascension Test for me."

The faceless stone sculpture appeared to awaken, slowly turning its head to look at him, and spoke in a deep voice, "End of days, the Heavenly Ascension Test of this eighth layer is almost exclusively passable by those who have achieved Harmonization into saints. Are you certain you wish to attempt it?"

Lin Yue revealed a hint of a smile, "You also said 'almost,' which means there are exceptions."

The faceless stone sculpture slowly spoke, "Throughout history, only the 'Heart Master' has passed this eighth layer's Heavenly Ascension Test during the great cultivator period and entered the ninth layer of Tianxia Building, that being the sole exception."

"Let's begin," Lin Yue said calmly, "Does the eighth layer's Heavenly Ascension Test also come in three levels of difficulty?"

"No."

The faceless stone sculpture spoke deeply, "The eighth layer's Heavenly Ascension Test has only one level of difficulty, as the strength of normal saintly beings is not that different."