Outside the Treasure Droplet, in the great hall of the outer Azure Blue Mansion.
All the Tomb Explorers who had entered the Azure Blue Mansion were now staring at the brightest drop among the thirty Treasure Droplets that Ye Chen had entered.
Ye Chen's choice to enter the most precious of these Treasure Droplets and face the most difficult challenge inside was beyond everyone's expectations.
After all, those who had obtained treasures before had passed the tests in the dimmest Treasure Droplets; even in the moderately bright Droplets, none had withstood the challenges.
Yet Ye Chen had multiplied the difficulty of the challenge so much by directly choosing the brightest Treasure Droplet, which, of course, shocked everyone with his boldness.
They knew of Ye Chen's formidable strength, and while they could somewhat believe that Ye Chen might acquire a treasure in a moderately bright Droplet, the idea of him getting one from the brightest Droplet was inconceivable due to its difficulty.
"Impossible to succeed!"
"The challenges of the moderate brightness are beyond what we can handle, not to mention the toughest challenge!"
In the crowd, Liu Yan, facing the brightest Treasure Droplet that Ye Chen had entered, had a look of certainty, "A stick of incense, I'm afraid in less than the time it takes for one to burn, Ye Chen will be kicked out of this Treasure Droplet!"
Liu Yan had previously failed his examination and lost face, so now, he was waiting for Ye Chen to fail just like him.
However, as the time of one incense stick quickly passed, Ye Chen did not get kicked out of the brightest Treasure Droplet as Liu Yan had predicted.
Not only was there no movement after the time of one incense stick, but the same silence persisted even after two or three sticks.
This indicated that Ye Chen had persisted in the most difficult challenge Droplet for more than three incense sticks' time!
This completely stunned Liu Yan.
And others changed their expressions, "He has lasted more than three sticks of incense time in the toughest challenge Droplet!"
"Looking at it this way, with his strength, if he hadn't chosen the brightest, but had gone to challenge the moderately bright Treasure Droplets like Liu Yan and the others, he probably would've already successfully obtained the treasure by now!"
"Yeah, I really don't know if Ye Chen can succeed, if he can pass the toughest Treasure Droplet's challenge and acquire the treasure inside!"
"The treasures inside are probably the most precious among all the treasures, right?"
Those who previously doubted Ye Chen's ability to succeed began to anticipate his success after he exceeded three sticks of incense time inside the brightest Treasure Droplet.
Time continued to pass.
When the waiting time for everyone outside reached four incense sticks, to their amazement, they saw the brightest Treasure Droplet shaking violently, as if it were being hit by a tremendous force.
"Is Ye Chen coming out?"
Everyone fixed their eyes on that brightest Treasure Droplet, waiting for Ye Chen to emerge from within.
However, the Droplet shook more and more violently, yet there was no sign of Ye Chen coming out.
Unknown to the onlookers outside, the time when the Treasure Droplet shook was when Ye Chen had grabbed the Black Fire Sword and was being wildly dragged around within the Treasure Space!
Ye Chen had caught the Black Fire Sword, but had not yet subdued the Treasure Instrument!
Onlookers outside watched anxiously as the Treasure Droplet shook wildly, while inside, Ye Chen was engaged in a real struggle with the Black Fire Sword.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Inside the Treasure Droplet, in the sky and on the ground, Ye Chen and the Black Fire Sword were colliding in a frenzy.
However, Ye Chen was not yet able to activate all the Prohibition Runes. When he poured his strength and Sword Intents into the Black Fire Sword, only thirteen Prohibition Runes lit up.
But the activation of these thirteen Prohibition Runes signified that Ye Chen could truly control the Black Fire Sword!
The Black Fire Sword, at last under Ye Chen's grasp thanks to the immense power of his Nine Transformation Fighting Body and after attempting numerous Sword Intents, was finally usable by Ye Chen!
It's worth noting that even the original master of the ancient tomb, the Heavenly Saint, could not wield the Black Fire Sword!
Yet Ye Chen was already able to wield this mystical Treasure Sword!
This was thanks to Ye Chen's strong will, the repeated collisions while being dragged by the Black Fire Sword into the relic space without a hint of surrender, and, more importantly, his countless techniques, particularly those of the Nine Transformation Fighting Body and numerous Sword Intents!
Years of arduous cultivation were finally paying off, and Ye Chen was able to subdue the most precious Treasure Instrument within the brightest droplet of relic water by relying on these techniques!
When all thirteen Prohibition Runes lit up on the blade, the Black Fire Sword finally stopped its erratic flight, quietly remaining in Ye Chen's hand.
Ye Chen's gaze fell upon the thirteen illuminated Prohibition Runes.
"Treasure Instrument, Prohibition Runes, turn out to be a kind of special might Law Pattern!"
Once he could control the Black Fire Sword, Ye Chen understood the function of these Prohibition Runes.
Out of the thirteen active Prohibition Runes, nine were Strength Runes. Once fully activated, the strength of the entire Black Fire Sword would be astronomically immense, its sheer weight alone absolutely crushing countless Ling Hai realm experts!
The other four Runes were "Qi-Burning Runes," which precisely activated the fiery red storm's peculiar might during the Black Fire Sword's test on Ye Chen, even affecting Ye Chen's Gang Yuan True Qi.
Upon activating these four "Qi-Burning Runes," the snowy-white blade of the Black Fire Sword turned fiery red, instantly filling the air with an eerie Qi-Burning essence.
If Ye Chen were to fight with the sword at that moment, just the aura of the blade would burn his opponent's True Qi!
"Besides these thirteen Prohibition Runes, there are sixty-eight Runes that I cannot activate at my current realm, but I can imagine that among them must be Runes capable of binding True Qi!"
The Black Fire Sword had previously unleashed a black storm, entirely binding Ye Chen's Gang Yuan True Qi; Ye Chen was keenly aware of the sword's even more powerful peculiar might.
Although he couldn't use this powerful ability now, as his strength increased, he would one day be able to unleash the entire might of this supreme-grade Treasure Instrument!
After sensing the might of the Black Fire Sword in his hand, Ye Chen reached out, and the flying scabbard flew straight back into his palm.
Whoosh!
Ye Chen inserted the Black Fire Sword back into its sheath.
Outside the relic water droplets.
When Ye Chen had completely subdued the Black Fire Sword and sheathed it, the brightest relic water droplet abruptly burst forth with endless black light.
Everyone outside was stunned by this endless black light.
"Did he succeed?!"
"Did Ye Chen succeed?!"
Earlier, those who had claimed relics emerged from the relic water droplets amidst bursts of endless light.
Now, the way this relic water droplet reacted made everyone outside instantly think that Ye Chen had claimed a relic and was about to emerge from the droplet!
Amidst the screaming of the people outside, they saw Ye Chen, who had entered the relic water droplet, flying out with a sword in hand.
Ye Chen had indeed succeeded in obtaining a relic in the brightest relic water droplet!