Chapter 328: So It Was Su Chen |
"Getting my hands on Divine Blood shouldn't be considered difficult. If it is effective, it would actually save a lot of effort."
"However..." Su Chen turned and furrowed his brows again. Although Divine Blood was called Divine Blood, strictly speaking, it was not the pure fresh blood of an Evil God. Rather, it was a highly condensed substance mixed with the Power of Faith. Whether it would be effective or not was truly hard to say.
"Regardless of whether it is useful or not, I will have to try it no matter what."
Unlike the direct need for a Divine Dawn to ignite Morning Fire and forge a Holy Class, Su Chen's understanding of the True Radiance Talent was limited. As of now, he had no urgent need for it, so he was not in a hurry.
As Su Chen calculated in his heart, he packed up slightly and exited the Training Room. At the same time, he turned on his comm-bracelet and pulled up the virtual screen to take a look, unable to help but be somewhat astonished. "Why am I still hanging at number one?"
He looked at the Preliminary Rankings in front of him as he walked. It had been nearly a month on and off since he had taken the number one spot, yet still no one had replaced him.
Su Chen had a clear understanding of his own strength. Purely in terms of explosive strength, he should be able to contend against top-tier professionals who had forged a Holy Class at the 7th-Tier like Shen Yi'an.
It could even be said that if the Holy Class the opponent had forged did not lean toward frontal combat, he might even hold a strong advantage. However, his shortcoming lay in his consumption being too great.
If he could not instantly kill someone at Shen Yi'an's level, the opponent could completely drag out the fight, stalling until he was completely exhausted, thereby easily securing victory.
"This group of people is truly insidious. They don't even care about being suppressed on top of their heads by a 6th-Tier like me. They are just forcibly holding back, unwilling to expose themselves."
Su Chen muttered to himself. During this period, more factions had successively arrived at Dragon Abyss. This number one position was truly too eye-catching.
Having already obtained the Marrow of the Morning Star, he did not want to leave himself hanging in such a conspicuous position all the time either. He had originally thought that no matter what, someone would squeeze him down, but he had still underestimated the patience of this group of people.
"Although they are all fellows in their forties, in this world, they can still be considered young. Why do they all lack any drive whatsoever?"
Su Chen's gaze swept downward. Qin Tianlin's name had already been removed and replaced. The second place was still He Muyang.
Qin Tianlin was dead, after all. What would it mean for him to continuously hang up there and be challenged by people?
The sect did not have any intention of keeping the news covered up forever. This was also a disguised way of releasing the news of Qin Tianlin's death to the outside world.
He scrolled downward. Aside from the top ranks not changing much, the changes in the median and bottom ranks were quite obvious. Some people had already been squeezed down.
"Luo Chen... Shen Jiqing."
His gaze paused emphatically on the names of several fellows who were widely rumored by the outside world to have possibly forged Holy Classes.
Their rankings were not considered high, hovering around the thirties or forties. After clicking on them, he could see the records of several battles preserved.
It was no wonder this group of people had continuously hidden themselves. The battle records could be freely accessed and reviewed, and could even be studied frame by frame. It would be very easy for others to find countermeasures against them.
This would be too great of a disadvantage for them when contending for the position of Star Prime later on.
"However, the internal administration of the sect should have the battle records of this group of people, right?"
Su Chen's thoughts were somewhat dark. Failed challenges would not leave behind battle records—this was what was stated on the surface. But since there was a combat process, after all, the sect might not necessarily lack records of it.
However, even if they did, the sect definitely would not proactively leak them. Although this form of screening was simple, fast, and fair, generating high levels of discussion, it minimized the impact of unexpected factors.
Yet, over the years, there had always been discussions regarding professional privacy. Exposing all of one's abilities to the Bronze Sect was no different from being stripped naked for a professional.
As far as he knew, all the data gathered by the sect during the Peak Star Tournament was jointly supervised by the Five Great Sects and the Royal Court, and needed to be destroyed afterward.
Just as he was pondering this in his heart, he saw a small transport-style flight vehicle appear in his field of vision. It quickly docked at the port area.
His old acquaintance, Ding Fan, walked down, carrying a small metal box in his left and right hands respectively.
Seeing Su Chen waiting here, he had long expected it in his heart, but on the surface, he still feigned a look of great shock and being overwhelmed by the unexpected favor. He quickly walked up to greet him. "Aiya, why are you waiting here again?"
After exchanging simple pleasantries, he finally handed over the boxes in his hands, explaining the left and right ones. "This is the Desolate Dragon Heart, and this is the Universal Dust."
"Our sect has both of these items in stock. However, the remaining few items need to be collected temporarily, which will still require some time."
"Then I will have to trouble Deacon Wei." Su Chen reached out and took them.
The Ancient King had personally spoken, telling him to directly ask Qing Cang for whatever he needed. Su Chen naturally would not be polite, reporting all the materials he required.
Qing Cang had long since made the arrangements. His only requirement was that Su Chen could not resell them. Su Chen naturally had no objections to this, nor did he ever think of reselling them.
"This is all what we ought to do. Qing Shi has already given instructions that all the Contribution Points required for these items will be deducted from him," Ding Fan mentioned. This was the accounting process.
Although the Ancient King had ordered that he could dispatch resources freely, the internal workings of the Bronze Sect were immense and complex. In order to avoid some unnecessary troubles, the process still had to go through Qing Cang. It represented that Qing Cang was paying on his behalf, rather than him truly withdrawing items freely.
"Deacon Wei..." Seeing that Ding Fan was about to leave, Su Chen stopped him again.
"Do you still have other matters?" Ding Fan stopped in his tracks and hurriedly asked.
"I need a drop of Evil God's Blood. I wonder if Deacon Wei can deliver it as soon as possible?"
"Evil God's Blood?" Ding Fan's heart skipped a beat, and he said with difficulty, "This... Evil God's Blood is a rare resource of the sect. It is not something a Deacon like me can decide. It would be best if you directly sought out Qing Shi."
"Directly look for Lao Qing, huh..." Su Chen had already expected this, but hearing it still made him somewhat disappointed.
Lao Qing was good in every aspect, except that his curiosity was a bit heavy. Calling upon Evil God's Blood this time involved the Evil Gods. For the Bronze Sect, he would definitely have to ask a bunch of questions again.
However, he could not blame Qing Cang either. If he were in Qing Cang's shoes, he would also have to get to the bottom of it.
Thinking up to this point, Su Chen could not help but feel a headache coming on. Otherwise, should he just try to trick the Faceless Ghost?
This thought swirled in his mind before he erased it. "Forget it. Although Lao Qing is difficult to deal with, it's just one drop. Rather than trying to trick the Faceless Ghost, I might as well trick Lao Qing."
Su Chen watched Ding Fan leave before opening his comm-bracelet again and sending a message to Lao Qing.
At the Bronze Core, light flickered within Qin Yun's pupils. She looked at Shen Yi'an and the others who were successively leaving the floating island. Her gaze turned, and she looked again at Ding Fan, who was leaving Su Chen's floating island.
"Su Chen did not go. I'm afraid it truly is him."
Although she still did not know the specific situation, through the continuous series of personnel deployments, she was already almost certain that the Dual Divine Dawn was most likely Su Chen.
"The Profound Heaven Instrument can actually metamorphose a Dual Divine Dawn?" Qin Yun furrowed her brows deeply.
It was not as if she lacked an understanding of the Profound Heaven Instrument. As a Divine Object that upgraded talents, it could not be considered overly precious to the sects and the Royal Court, because its upper limit was only at the Star-Amber Grade, and it still depended on probability.
They could originally gather a sufficient number of Star Amber Talents anyway, without needing to expend the cost of using the Profound Heaven Instrument.
But if this thing could elevate a Star Amber to the Divine Dawn Grade, it would be entirely different.
When forging a Holy Class post-natally, Spirit Fire was a major hassle. It was far too rare. Even if one found it, they still had to queue up for it. This was not only true for the Bronze Sect, but the other sects and the Royal Court were exactly the same.
Yet a Divine Dawn could skip this step entirely, saving a massive amount of time and energy.
"Is this ultimately the credit of the Profound Heaven Instrument, or is there a problem with Su Chen himself?" Qin Yun's expression was dark and erratic. Not knowing the reasons within, gloom and frustration churned in her lungs.
She turned around to look at the corpse in the center of the room. Qin Tianlin had already been dead for a very long time. Qin Yun had not held a funeral for him, nor had he been buried. He was merely placed here.
"It shouldn't be like this... It shouldn't be like this..." Her gaze was freezing cold, her voice deep and low.
Even if Qin Tianlin's death had nothing to do with Su Chen, thinking about the increasingly dazzling Su Chen today, and the corpse of Qin Tianlin before her eyes...
This intense contrast caused Qin Yun's expression to twist into something ugly.
Qin Tianlin's death absolutely did not merely mean that she had lost a grandson with extraordinary potential. It was not that simple.
During this period, she had already perceived that whether it was the Qin Family or her faction, the morale of the people had already scattered.
Qin Tianlin was not just her grandson; he was her inheritance and the continuator of her will. If not for the fact that she was still a Morning Star Tier, it was likely that many people would have already defected and turned against her.
Like when Chu Lingyuan grew old, Wei Zhenghong would naturally take over the grand banner of the Chu Family and their faction, allowing everyone to unite around him, before finding the next person capable of inheriting his will.
Thus, the cycle repeated itself.
But if a sudden gap occurred in a certain era, like Qin Tianlin's sudden violent death now, the final result would be like Zhou Yunyang's lineage—continuously declining. This was the trouble the Qin Family was currently facing.
"It absolutely shouldn't be like this!" Qin Yun suddenly let out a sharp shout. She extracted that wisp of Solar Fire from her own mind once more, ripples spreading out from all around her.
Following the same method, she quickly contacted Wu Ri.
"I agree to the matter you mentioned last time." Qin Yun came straight to the point the moment she started.
Wu Ri was somewhat surprised. The flame Phantom Image flickered. After a moment of silence, he finally asked, "Have you... suffered some sort of provocation?"
The two of them had shared a period of mutual cooperation, so he had some understanding of Qin Yun. She was an extremely cautious person.
Last time, Qin Yun had not agreed to him immediately, and Wu Ri had not been surprised. He just hadn't expected Qin Yun to have an answer so quickly, which stirred up a bit of suspicion in his heart.
"Su Chen has metamorphosed into a Dual Divine Dawn talent." Qin Yun tried hard to keep herself calm.
"Dual Divine Dawn?" Wu Ri's voice instantly became high-pitched, and the flames surged upward. "He was actually able to elevate his own talent to Dual Divine Dawn. This person..."
In Wu Ri's words, there was unsuppressible excitement and joy. "With this, I am even more confident!"
Qin Yun frowned, her tone indifferent. "Now we can discuss your plans, right?"
However, after Wu Ri calmed down, he still answered with vague prevarication, "I cannot tell you my plan for the time being."
Just as Qin Yun distrusted him, he similarly did not trust Qin Yun that much either.
Hearing these words, Qin Yun was not surprised at all. She merely said indifferently, "You had them head to the location of the Lost Starfire. How do you plan to trap them?"
"It is not as simple as you think." Wu Ri shook his head, denying Qin Yun's speculation.
Qin Yun seemed surprised. "What if they don't follow your plan?"
Wu Ri's words contained absolute certainty. "It's not like you haven't entered that Lost Starfire before. If they don't wait for the tide to recede, if they want to get close, they can only rely on me."
Qin Yun remained noncommittal, merely saying, "I will contact you once every ten days."
"That time is too short, and those Morning Star Tiers are not simple either. Let's make it once every half month."
"Fine." Qin Yun agreed, inhaling the flame back into her body.
On Dragon Abyss, within the stationed areas of the sects and the Royal Court, in a certain room, King Peng and Li Qingyi were both present.
"What Qing Cang said... was it today?" King Peng looked toward the graceful and elegant Li Qingyi.
Li Qingyi's expression was cold and aloof. "That's right."
"Venerable, I see you have been deceived by the Bronze Sect again. It would be better to directly charge toward the Bronze Core and force the Bronze Sect to give an explanation. Why did they place Lord Lu Huai under house arrest for no reason?"
Han Xingliu stood to the side, looking deeply indignant. "If the Bronze Sect had not forcefully intervened, Lord Lu Huai should be perfectly fine at the Royal Court right now!"
"Since the two of you care so much about Senior Brother Lu, why don't you go ask personally?" Li Qingyi swept a cold glance over them.
King Peng said helplessly, "He is someone from the Profound Heaven Sect, after all. The Royal Court does not have the position to make difficulties over this either..."
Li Qingyi snorted coldly in her heart, perfectly aware of what the two were thinking. Her gaze looked distantly toward the Bronze Core, still carrying a bit of disbelief. "Was that Dual Divine Dawn truly birthed by the Profound Heaven Instrument?"
At first, she hadn't entertained such a thought, but as Lu Huai lost contact, she was forced to make this connection.
"Impossible."
During this period, every time she had this thought, she would subconsciously deny it. "I am clearer than anyone else on what the situation with the Profound Heaven Instrument is."
As she was pondering this, the gazes of Li Qingyi and King Peng both shifted slightly at the same time, looking toward the room's door.
The next moment, the door opened silently, and two figures impressively appeared. It was Qing Cang and Lu Huai.
"Senior Brother Lu." Seeing the completely unharmed Lu Huai, Li Qingyi could not help but breathe a sigh of relief in her heart.
King Peng's eyes suddenly lit up, then he suppressed it.
As for Han Xingliu, he stared at Lu Huai with burning eyes, seemingly intensely wanting to verify something.
Lu Huai perceived the gazes of the group, his eyes sweeping over King Peng and Han Xingliu.
He was not surprised that the two of them were here. A Divine Dawn had been born, yet he had lost contact. If the Royal Court could not guess anything from that, they could not possibly have reached their current stage.
"Lord Lu Huai."
Han Xingliu, who belonged to the junior generation, spoke up first, appearing extremely delighted and relieved. "I haven't been able to contact you during this period. I thought some accident had occurred. It is good that you are fine now."
Qing Cang glanced at Han Xingliu and said indifferently, "Within the Bronze Sect, what kind of accident could possibly happen?"
As if realizing he had spoken wrongly, Han Xingliu hurriedly explained, "I did not mean it like that, but Lord Lu Huai's sudden loss of contact was truly a cause for concern."
"I wonder what exactly happened that actually made the Bronze Sect blockade the Bronze Core for so long, to the point that even Lord Lu Huai was not allowed to contact the outside world?"
As these words were asked, both King Peng and Li Qingyi looked over.
Qing Cang chuckled. "This matter truly isn't very easy to explain."
He was just about to say something when his comm-bracelet vibrated with a buzz. He lowered his head to glance at it, his brows furrowing slightly. "This kid..."
Pondering in his heart, Qing Cang raised his head and said, "Venerable Qingyi, I must trouble you to inform the Xuantian Ancient King of something. I have safely delivered this person out completely unharmed. Whatever happens from now on has nothing to do with the Bronze Sect."
Qing Cang emphasized deliberately. Hearing this, Li Qingyi gave a slight nod. "I will naturally report this to the Ancient King."
