After a moment of thought, Ye Tianling spoke again, "As for stunningly talented, peerless geniuses, there are actually quite a few—like me, for instance. I should be considered the number one genius of the outside world... Hmm, at least of Wangchuan Prefecture and Azure Flame Mansion. That number two genius, the Celestial Mandate Divine Son Ye Cangqian, was refined into a bloody pulp by me.

As for my strength, given the current changes to the Celestial Dao Rules, crushing a few Saint Sons and Saintesses at the Void Realm Seven Transformation shouldn’t be too difficult."

Ye Tianling was, in fact, being modest.

Knowing they thought he was just blowing smoke, Ye Tianling decided to tone it down a bit.

However, what he considered toning it down nearly made Xia Xinran and Jiang Xiangning cough up blood.

’Seriously... Is this guy a lunatic or something?!’

Jiang Xiangning grumbled inwardly.

’He brags so convincingly, I fucking almost believed him—if his Battle Power hadn’t already been exposed. And crushing a few at the Void Realm Seven Transformation? With the Establishment Dao of heaven and earth, anyone who can even step into the Void Realm nowadays is a peerless prodigy, you know? A Celestial Mandate Divine Son? If someone really had the Celestial Mandate, wouldn’t they be invincible? A Divine Child? There are hardly any truly pure children of Divine Blood! A truly pure child of Divine Blood would be a peerless genius at the True Spirit Level, at the very least! Their Battle Power would be at least Breaking Four, for crying out loud!’

Xia Xinran desperately wanted to make a snarky comeback, but she held her tongue.

For now, she decided to just treat Ye Tianling’s bragging as a source of amusement, a bit of fun.

Thinking of it that way, she couldn’t help but find it a little funny.

Xia Xinqin, on the other hand, felt something stir within her. She glanced back at Ye Tianling thoughtfully, only to see that his gaze was crystal clear, as if he wasn’t joking at all.

Her heart trembled slightly, and she asked, "Then... has your current Realm already been shackled by the Celestial Dao?"

Ye Tianling shrugged. "Nope. I’m already at the Sword Spirit Second Heaven Realm. Can’t you tell?"

As he spoke, Ye Tianling released a wisp of his Sword Spirit’s aura. "You can sense it now, right? You see it? Pretty powerful and shocking, isn’t it?"

Xia Xinqin was taken aback, then gave a wry smile. "Ye Tianling, are all people from the outside world as fond of joking as you are?"

"Jo...king?"

Ye Tianling retracted his Celestial Dragon Sword Spirit and his powerful Soul Qi, utterly speechless.

He was starting to understand. His Concealment Ability, his Concealing Technique, was simply too overpowered. So much so that even when he manifested his Celestial Dragon Sword Spirit—which to him seemed incredibly obvious, its aura extremely prominent—the others couldn’t sense it at all.

’I’m a fucking natural-born killer!’

Ye Tianling was at a complete loss for words. It was only now that he realized that when he had snuffed out Tu Xiaotian’s Force Qi blast with a single breath earlier, Xia Xinran and the others probably hadn’t noticed a thing.

’What kind of world is this?!’

A strange, inexplicable feeling crept into Ye Tianling’s heart. ’Is this the special treatment for being the Celestial Dao’s Chosen One? A natural, ultimate Concealment Talent?’

"Sigh. Even if you are at the Sword Spirit Second Heaven Realm, we can’t tell because the Laws are different. But let’s not even talk about how difficult it is to cross the barrier of a Great Realm. Just ignoring that, there’s still a nine-Realm gap between Sword Spirit Second Heaven and Void Realm Seven Transformation.

To fight on equal footing, your Battle Power would have to reach Breaking Nine.

Breaking Nine... In the glorious era of the Unsurpassed Venerables, only a handful of them could achieve that in their youth. As one’s Realm gets higher, fewer and fewer people can do it. In the later stages, even the Venerables couldn’t manage it."

Xia Xinqin showed none of the typical arrogance of a Princess; on the contrary, her tone was as gentle as ever.

Ye Tianling found her gentle nature very comforting.

"Clan Sister, don’t listen to him spouting nonsense. He was claiming earlier that he could kill a few Sword Ancestors and Sword Saints for fun. At least he’s toned it down now and is just talking about Void Realm geniuses. Clan Sister, you have exceptional Talent, and even you haven’t stepped into the Void Realm yet!"

Xia Xinran sneered mockingly.

She was truly on the verge of a breakdown from listening to him.

’It’s one thing to brag a little to get our attention and make us like you, but you’ve gotten addicted to it!

Do you take us all for idiots?’

Xia Xinran thought.

Jiang Xiangning was also quite exasperated, but she just let out a soft sigh and didn’t say anything more.

Everyone had their own way of life. If this young man loved to brag, then just let him. Why get so worked up over it?

Unlike Xia Xinran and Jiang Xiangning, Little Fox Zhu’Er actually believed every word.

Perhaps it was due to her first impression of him, or because she had personally witnessed him crush Tu Kun’s finger with a single touch, without spilling a drop of blood or his expression changing. Or maybe it was because he had ’glared’ at her, instilling an instinctive fear deep in her Soul. Whatever the reason, she was particularly inclined to believe Ye Tianling’s words.

"Big Brother is so amazing,"

she would exclaim in awe from time to time.

She seemed to repeat the same few phrases over and over again.

"That... probably has little to do with him personally," Xia Xinqin mused. "After all, our ancestors said that in the outside World, the Laws are suppressed, so Battle Power isn’t as restricted. It’s normal for one’s Battle Power to be raised infinitely if they have a Secret Treasure or a powerful Energy foundation. On top of that, with the Laws obscured, they only have access to a small portion of the Celestial Dao, making comprehension far too simple. As a result, their Cultivation Realms probably advance at an incredible speed. They might even be able to become a Sword Ancestor in just a few hundred years.

Our ancestors once said that when one of the Venerables conducted a test, he created a Clone that went from the lowest Swordsman Realm all the way to the Sword Spirit Realm in just three years! Although it was the Clone of a Venerable, it still proves that under incomplete rules, anything can happen. So, for someone in the Sword Spirit Realm to slay a Sword Ancestor or Sword Saint... under certain conditions—like possessing a true Divine Artifact—it could be done."

"Oh, so that’s how it is... In that case... Ye Tianling, you have a Divine Artifact? What is it? Let us see!"

A hint of curiosity appeared in Xia Xinran’s eyes, but there was no trace of greed.

"A Divine Artifact? I do have one. It’s a Long Spear, and it’s great for... nailing women," Ye Tianling said with a wicked grin.

"A Divine Artifact that’s a Long Spear? Quick, take it out so we can have a look! I want to see what the good stuff from the outside world is really like."

"Ahem! Xinran, he’s joking!"

Jiang Xiangning said, her face flushing red—this time, she had understood.

She immediately shot a fierce glare at Ye Tianling. ’This pervert! He’ll say any filthy thing that comes to his mind.’

Xia Xinqin also blushed slightly. Xia Xinran’s eager reaction, in particular, made her own pretty face burn with embarrassment.

"Er—"

Xia Xinran froze. A moment later, she understood as well, and her face immediately turned bright red.

She reached out, trying to grab Ye Tianling and teach him a harsh lesson.

But her hand grasped nothing but air.

It was as though Ye Tianling had shifted his body just slightly as he walked, perfectly avoiding her grasp.

"You pervert! How can you be so vulgar and shameless!"

Not paying any mind to her missed grab, Xia Xinran immediately roared in anger.