Chapter 446: Treasures Everywhere — The Value of the Dust Star Sea? |
The entire Abyssal Void could trade freely with each other?
"This means the Abyssal Void has already overcome the interference of Nether Mist." Su Chen marveled.
The Abyssal Void's coverage was unknown, but it was certainly many times larger than the Dust Star Sea.
These Morning Star Embers sold by some independent cultivator in who-knows-where, delivered to High Heaven in only three months — the sheer variety of methods that implied was staggering to even contemplate.
Su Chen adjusted his filters, sorting by price, and scrolled further. "Hmm... compared to what's sold internally within High Heaven, the overall prices are significantly lower, but there's an additional 10% cost and a waiting period."
Within High Heaven, embers below two strands of Morning Fire were almost never listed. But across the Abyssal Void, that category actually constituted the majority.
"Tsk... Just the forging-keyword search alone turned up dozens of Morning Star Embers, while High Heaven internally had barely a dozen."
Su Chen couldn't help muttering, "How many Morning Stars are there in the entire Abyssal Void? Must be in the thousands, at least. And besides..."
The sheer number of Morning Stars was one thing, but the abundance of Morning Star Embers was another — suggesting the Abyssal Void was perhaps far more brutal than he'd imagined.
"Morning Stars are practically everywhere..." Su Chen suddenly laughed, recognizing that this impression came from being positioned within one of the Abyssal Void's most elite factions. From the summit, Morning Stars naturally appeared in every direction.
But if one actually descended to the lower tiers of the Abyssal Void, Morning Stars probably weren't so easily encountered.
Having discovered how tightly interconnected the entire Abyssal Void was, Su Chen's curiosity was fully ignited. He typed several more terms into the search bar.
[Great Heaven Pill — Great Heaven specialty. Price: 50 Faith Essence. Condensed from high-purity life matter. Can be used for stamina replenishment and wound recovery. Not available to non-Five Pillars members.]
"This thing costs fifty Essence? And there's a purchase restriction..." Su Chen was somewhat surprised. After examining its material composition, he relaxed. "At least the raw materials aren't anything bizarre."
After a moment's thought, he typed "specialty" into the search bar. A flood of illustrated listings appeared.
[Star Beast Cub — High Heaven specialty. Price: 300 Faith Essence. Hatched using Eternal Dragon Heaven's specialized cultivation techniques. 100% compatibility with beast-tamer class professionals. Theoretical maximum growth: Morning Star Tier. Not available to non-Five Pillars members. Purchase limits apply.]
"Star beast cubs are that expensive?" Su Chen was quite surprised. While the theoretical ceiling was Morning Star, the word "theoretical" carried obvious caveats. The resources needed to cultivate one would also be considerable.
And breeding should hardly be a major technical challenge.
"Could it be because of that so-called compatibility?" Su Chen wondered.
Beast-tamer professions were exceedingly rare in the Dust Star Sea, and their power level was low. He'd only heard Luo Shuhang mention them in passing — something about fighting in coordination with external creatures.
Su Chen hadn't initially given these items much thought, but discovering they sold externally at such steep prices piqued his interest considerably.
Not just the star beast cubs — Sangwu Heaven's special plant seeds were also sold externally at hefty prices, and they too could synergize with certain special professions.
"Strictly speaking, the Seven-Branch Wondrous Tree is actually a type of plant seed too. What a flourishing ecosystem..."
Su Chen's eyes shone with amazement. In the Dust Star Sea, profession categories essentially boiled down to two — physical and mental. Other professions existed, but they could never form a major category because their power level was simply too low.
But in the Abyssal Void, that weakness seemed to have been addressed.
Even Xuanwu Heaven's custom high-grade armor followed the same principle — not merely external plating, but synergizing with mechanical-type professions to achieve remarkable effects.
Su Chen browsed for a while, his amazement only deepening. "If I calculate it this way — if these advancement rewards could be sold externally, they'd be worth nearly a thousand Faith Essence combined. So that's the real benefit."
"High Heaven's wealth is even more staggering than I expected. Though this Faith Essence economy seems a bit inflated."
The more Su Chen researched, the more everything seemed costlier than anticipated. Take the Bronze Sect — they'd accumulated resources for years and, despite using a fair amount here and there, their Faith Essence reserves stood at only about a thousand.
"There must be other extraction methods." Su Chen was nearly certain of this.
In the Dust Star Sea, the only way to obtain Faith Essence was by hunting minor Evil Gods — which was why it was so precious. But the Abyssal Void surely wasn't limited to that approach.
He thought for a moment, then searched for Mystic Yellow Clay. No results appeared. His eyebrow rose. "Is this a non-tradeable item from Buddha Land?"
The Dispatch ability really was something else.
"Oh right, my Sky-Scars still need replenishing." Su Chen remembered and ran another keyword search.
[Damaged Morning Star Artifact (Independent Seller): Price 120 Faith Essence]
"That expensive?" Even with his expectation of inflation, Su Chen was taken aback.
"Compared to this, that stingy dragon was actually quite generous — willing to trade for just fifteen Faith Essence." Su Chen felt a pang of nostalgia. As his eyes swept down, he noticed the annotation at the bottom.
[...Note: Residual spirituality and materials are sold as a bundle.]
"Meaning they can also be sold separately? And the Abyssal Void also has professions capable of extracting residual spirituality..." Su Chen's eyes flickered, though he wasn't too surprised.
His own ability to extract spirituality was fundamentally a professional ability. Others could naturally find similar professions, and might even have abilities similar to Sky-Scars.
Glancing over the listings, Su Chen canceled the wide-area search and searched only within High Heaven.
[Damaged Morning Star Artifact (Private Seller): Price 100 Faith Essence. If only draining spirituality, 40% discount available.]
"Considerably cheaper." Su Chen mused, then realized — the scarcity level of these items was entirely different in High Heaven compared to the broader Abyssal Void.
The density of Morning Stars between the two wasn't in the same league.
Su Chen searched further and found that damaged Morning Star Artifacts generally fluctuated around a hundred Essence, varying mainly based on the severity of damage — since the materials themselves held value too.
"Hmm... if I'm only draining spirituality, three Sky-Scars' worth would cost less than two hundred Faith Essence." Su Chen did a quick calculation.
In the Dust Star Sea, these had been extraordinarily difficult to find. But here in High Heaven, roughly two hundred Faith Essence would suffice.
"This is incredibly convenient." Su Chen sighed. For someone like him who hated running around, such an accessible purchasing system was ideal.
He bookmarked three damaged Morning Star Artifacts, then moved on to his other target — materials for altering Holy Class attributes.
[Harsh Gold Stone: Price 400 Essence. Can retroactively infuse a Holy Class with metallic properties. Note: Works best on Holy Classes with no existing attribute. If an attribute already exists, use at least two units.]
"Good grief, that's not cheap." Su Chen's eyelid twitched. "Retroactively changing a Holy Class's attribute — of course it wouldn't be simple."
This was a necessity for him. Su Chen scrutinized the listing closely and discovered these items were extremely scarce — even rarer than Morning Star Embers.
Once a Holy Class was forged and fused with the body, retroactively changing its attribute was extraordinarily difficult. Generally, this was done only to specifically match a particular Ascension Refining method.
Under normal cultivation paths, the road was mapped out well before Morning Star advancement — even from very early on — to find compatible Ascension Refining methods.
Therefore, very few people ever needed such items, which meant few bothered to seek them out, which in turn kept the supply scarce and prices elevated.
But it wasn't purely a supply-and-demand issue. Su Chen searched for many more items and found that anything profession-related was precious. Take the Ten-Thousand-Year Lightning Arc he'd previously obtained — its selling price would also run over a hundred Faith Essence, with older ones being even more valuable.
Under normal usage, such items merely assisted in acquiring lightning-attribute professions — and only low-tier ones could facilitate direct acquisition. Yet the price remained steep.
"But when I extracted that thing, it only cost me ten drops of divine blood." Su Chen recalled, his interest stirring as he searched for divine blood.
[WARNING: Trade in Evil God-related items is prohibited.]
"Can't be traded?" Su Chen stared at the popup, stunned. "They're already this powerful and they're still guarding against Evil Gods?"
He'd assumed that since the Abyssal Void could overcome even Nether Mist interference, Evil Gods would be a non-issue. Yet divine blood couldn't even be traded.
"Maybe it's not the Evil Gods they're guarding against — maybe it's the Final Ruins?" Su Chen speculated. Even Taixuan Ye had been killed by the Final Ruin known as Nine Eyes. That was indeed cause for wariness.
"Since it can't be traded, its value is hard to assess. Evil God Power and essence can only be collected through the sect — or maybe I just haven't found the right channels..." Su Chen didn't believe High Heaven could truly enforce a total ban.
"Setting Evil God items aside for now — whether it's Morning Star Embers, damaged Morning Star Artifacts, or Holy Class attribute-changing materials — Faith Essence is all I need."
Su Chen reined in his thoughts. "And what I need to do now is find enough Faith Essence."
But that was easier said than done. Su Chen rubbed his chin. The only channel he knew for acquiring Faith Essence was extracting it from Evil Gods.
"Let me search..." Su Chen typed "Faith Essence" into the search bar. The very first result that appeared bore eight large characters — [How to Obtain Faith Essence, and the Origins of Faith Essence.]
"Wow, how thoughtful." Su Chen hurried to open it, only for a line of small text to pop up — [Spend 5 Spirit Essence to view this premium article?]
"It's paid?" Only then did Su Chen notice a small chain icon at the end of the page.
"This view count... eight or nine digits?" Su Chen carefully counted the number and clicked his tongue. How much Faith Essence had the author earned?
"You can make money writing research articles? High Heaven really does cover everything." Su Chen didn't pay, scrolling further down until he found a free article.
"...Faith Essence has extremely broad applications: sacrificial rituals, catalyzing Morning Star Spirits, replenishing spiritual losses of Morning Star Spirits..."
"...Its source is singular — life forms themselves..."
Su Chen read carefully. The free articles were somewhat lacking — too much tangential chatter. He finally broke down and spent five Spirit Essence on the premium piece.
"...Faith Essence is the crystallization of the Power of Faith, but based on my years of research, 'Power of Faith' is actually an altered designation. Its essence is a form of attention..."
"...When attention is directed at a person or object, one is drawn by some quality of theirs — curiosity, investigation, admiration, trust, reverence... all generate the Power of Faith, albeit at varying intensities. However, no systematic method of collection exists..."
Premium content really was different. Su Chen was immediately hooked, scrolling endlessly.
............
At the very center of High Heaven's largest continental plate, everything was shrouded in haze, the interior invisible from outside.
Only upon stepping inside could one see a grand, ancient white jade palace suspended in midair, its staircase stretching over a thousand steps.
"The Daoist Lord..."
The Bronze Ancient King pushed open the palace doors and stepped out. The crimson radiance in his field of vision gradually faded. Only by confronting a Solar-rank being in person could one truly feel how terrifying and formidable they were.
"Even if it were merely a wisp of consciousness descending, surely he wouldn't simply take Su Chen at his word regarding his identity and everything he claimed..." Yuan Shuo couldn't help recalling this matter.
"Primordial Sovereign?" Tang Huai's voice came from beside him — he'd been waiting here and hadn't left. His towering figure was conspicuous.
"Did the Daoist Lord have any instructions?" he asked.
"Only encouragement and reassurance." Yuan Shuo said with feeling. "The might of a Solar-rank being is truly beyond comprehension."
Tang Huai smiled, then made an inviting gesture. The two descended the staircase as he spoke. "The Dust Star Sea's situation likely hasn't stabilized yet. High Heaven wants to help Bronze Heaven secure the situation as quickly as possible, in order to deploy the 'Compass' and harvest the Power of Faith."
"Mm." Yuan Shuo nodded. "The Daoist Lord already discussed this with me. However, Great Heaven and Buddha Land probably won't want to let go either."
He now understood exactly where the Dust Star Sea's value lay.
"That's precisely why we must act quickly. Bronze Heaven holds a significant advantage — it shouldn't be wasted." Tang Huai said, a hint of urgency in his tone. "Given enough time, with Great Heaven and Buddha Land's methods, they'll inevitably erode a large swath of territory."
"I understand." Yuan Shuo nodded. He certainly wouldn't underestimate those two Pillars' capabilities.
The two discussed the matter at length.
"Then it's settled." Tang Huai's expression carried a subtle hint of dissatisfaction.
Yuan Shuo's was much the same. He nodded. "Agreed."
After a moment of silence — they were now more than halfway down the staircase — Tang Huai suddenly asked, "By the way, regarding that Taixuan Hong — how much does Primordial Sovereign know?"
"Taixuan Hong?" Yuan Shuo paused briefly.
Tang Huai explained, "The entire Abyssal Void is currently searching for this individual. I've heard that several Ancient Kings from the Dust Star Sea had contact with him. I wanted to ask if there are any leads."
'Where did he hear that? Great Heaven? Zhenwu already joined Great Heaven — they've probably spilled everything they know...'
Various calculations flickered through Yuan Shuo's mind. He furrowed his brow. "That's correct. When my colleagues and I fell into the Flare Realm, we did have some contact with him."
"The man was quite peculiar. His talent was initially Divine Dawn, then metamorphosed to True Radiance. Whether the earlier reading was a deliberate disguise or something else, I can't say. I strongly suspect his true talent is actually Empyrean God — simply concealed."
"Oh? What makes you think so?" Tang Huai's interest was piqued.
Yuan Shuo explained, "He defeated Buddha Land's Kong Ming in direct combat. Great Heaven's Ghost King Huang Pan was also present at the time. Based on his reaction..."
Before Yuan Shuo could finish, the Heaven Lord Tang before him wore an expression of shock. "He defeated whom — Kong Ming?"