Chapter 467: Confidential Intelligence: Sovereign Relic |
The Heavenly Lord of Eternal Dragon Heaven looked at Zhong Yue, who still hadn't managed to pull himself together, and felt extremely helpless. Helpless as he was, he could only continue:
"Furthermore, the Dao Sovereign of High Firmament might not necessarily be born in your generation. In terms of time, although the Dao Sovereign is already nearing the end of his lifespan, no one can say for sure exactly how long a Radiant Sun's lifespan truly is."
Seeing Zhong Yue growing increasingly dispirited, the Heavenly Lord of Eternal Dragon Heaven changed the subject, "But the most important thing right now is not the position of Dao Sovereign, but the Sovereign of the Purple Zenith."
"The Great Heavens, with the agreement of the Five Pillars, has already gone to negotiate with a certain Ultimate Ruin in the Nether Realm. The Great Heavens holds over a hundred members of the Taixuan family as Human Stock. Using them as a price to find the person with a deep bloodline, they will likely locate this individual very soon."
"Once the Radiant Suns who are exploring the Source Realm return, they will likely oversee the selection. That will be the most crucial moment!"
Sovereign of the Purple Zenith!
Zhong Yue suddenly realized something. Even if the resources were fully prepared, the process of Azure Deity Metamorphosis would still take at least two or three years to complete.
Even if that Su Chen started right now, it would be impossible for him to finish in a short time. He absolutely wouldn't be able to make it in time for this selection of the Sovereign of the Purple Zenith's Chosen One.
Not to mention that, given Bronze Heaven's foundation, it would be extremely difficult for them to gather the resources needed for an Azure Deity Metamorphosis in a short period. The time required would likely increase exponentially.
The Heavenly Lord of Eternal Dragon Heaven swept a glance over him, finally feeling somewhat satisfied, and said, "They might not have allowed it before, but now, they likely have to allow it even if they don't want to."
"If they want to rebuild the Abyssal Void, they cannot lack a single one of the Six Pillar Lords. Being the Chosen One is already the minimum requirement."
"Rebuilding the Abyssal Void..." Zhong Yue had also vaguely heard of this matter, and couldn't help but ask, "Is it that urgent?"
"If it isn't rebuilt as soon as possible, I'm afraid..." The Heavenly Lord of Eternal Dragon Heaven shook his head, not explaining too much to Zhong Yue, merely saying, "Complete your Azure Deity Metamorphosis as soon as possible. If you can be selected by the Sovereign of the Purple Zenith, even the High Three Heavens will have to bow to our Eternal Dragon Heaven."
"Yes, Master!" Thinking of the grand blueprint his Master had described, Zhong Yue's heart surged with excitement, wishing he could complete his metamorphosis immediately.
...
Somewhere in the Nether Realm, seemingly in its deepest depths, the mist here was nearly dense enough to form substance. Countless grayish-white threads drifted slowly through the void.
The Immeasurable Buddha sat cross-legged in this place upon a piece of black jade. His kasaya fluttered without wind, its edges shimmering with faint Buddha-light. Before him sat a small altar.
Holding a piece of withered, rotting wood in his hand, he chanted incantations, his voice sometimes rising in pitch, sometimes dropping low. Under the power of the incantations, the grayish-white threads of mist around him condensed into indistinct figures with disheveled hair and bare feet, covered in scales, drifting silently around him like phantoms.
An unknown amount of time passed before the Immeasurable Buddha's incantation finally stopped. The surrounding Nether Mist suddenly boiled, surging like waves.
Countless fragmented motes of light burst forth from within, exploding like sparks. They roared as they transformed into grayish-white cyclones, rolling outward in all directions. The figures were swept up in them and vanished.
"Someone from the Buddha Land? And a Buddha at that. Interesting..."
The Immeasurable Buddha's tightly shut eyelids twitched before he slowly opened his eyes. Unbeknownst to him, a stooped elder had appeared before him. The elder was shriveled and only a meter tall, leaning on a cane. He smiled and said:
"Your World-Honored One ruined my major plans in some Outer Realm last time. Are you here to apologize by offering yourself to me?"
"Elder Gou..." The Immeasurable Buddha felt a chill in his heart and didn't dare to delve deeper into this topic. He simply said, "I have come on the orders of the World-Honored One to negotiate a transaction with you."
"Oh? What kind of transaction?" Elder Gou seemed to grow interested.
"We want you to help us find someone," the Immeasurable Buddha said.
"Taixuan Hong?" Elder Gou said casually, causing the Immeasurable Buddha to jolt in shock. "You..."
Elder Gou sighed emotionally, "The Chosen One of the Sovereign of the Purple Zenith... That fellow Nine Eyes was screwed over by your World-Honored One, forcing him to perish together with Taixuan Ye."
"If this Taixuan Hong grows up, he will definitely seek out the Buddha Land to settle this old score."
Taixuan Ye's death was actually caused by the World-Honored One's schemes?
He had vaguely heard similar rumors, but he hadn't even been born when Taixuan Ye died, so naturally, he didn't know the truth.
He didn't ask about it, simply saying, "Taixuan Hong should have the Azure God talent, or at least True Radiance. But regardless, the bloodline concentration within his body is very high. With your Breath of Ages, you should be able to find a clue..."
"Your line of thought is correct," Elder Gou nodded, speaking in an unhurried manner, "But why should I help you?"
"Name your price." Finally getting to the point, the Immeasurable Buddha spoke straightforwardly.
"Fifty thousand portions of Faith Essence," Elder Gou said slowly.
The Immeasurable Buddha's expression darkened slightly. "Elder Gou, isn't this price a bit too high? We are only borrowing your Breath of Ages; it's nothing to you."
"Indeed, but this price also includes a confidentiality fee," Elder Gou said, glossing over it. "The Great Heavens approached Sanchi because they are also looking for this person, but they haven't agreed on a price yet."
"Since your World-Honored One is so sneaky, he probably doesn't want his actions exposed, right?"
The Immeasurable Buddha scoffed inwardly. The Great Heavens were truly incompetent; the news had actually spread everywhere.
The Immeasurable Buddha's heart palpitated. The black parchment was dull and lightless, with small black tadpole-like shapes swimming across it, exuding an aura of decay and gloom.
Unless it was absolutely a last resort, he absolutely didn't want to deal with these Ultimate Ruins, but he had no other choice right now.
His psionic power surged outward and landed on the black parchment. In an instant, golden light exploded from the entire parchment as it disintegrated inch by inch, transforming into countless dense ink characters fine as dust, which whistled toward him and sank into the Immeasurable Buddha's glabella.
"To search based on bloodline thickness, you'll need a sufficient number of samples from the Taixuan family..." Elder Gou nodded in satisfaction, but halfway through, he shook his head:
"Your Buddha Land definitely has them. The World-Honored One loves playing this game—killing someone's relatives and friends, then subjecting them to Subjugating Conversion, making their lives a living hell."
"You must have converted quite a few members of the Taixuan family into the Buddha Land back then, right?"
The Immeasurable Buddha remained noncommittal, merely saying, "I will send them over as soon as possible. Roughly how long will it take you to find him?"
"The Abyssal Domain is vast. If it's fast, three to five months; if it's slow, one or two years."
The Immeasurable Buddha furrowed his brows. "Could you be a bit faster?"
"Faster?" Elder Gou tilted his head, looking at the Immeasurable Buddha with a pair of dead-fish eyes. "Little bald head, I really don't like your attitude. Let me take five hundred years of your lifespan first."
As soon as he finished speaking, his chest expanded as he took a deep breath. It seemed as if the surrounding Nether Realm shuddered along with it.
The Immeasurable Buddha's expression changed drastically, his pupils shrinking violently. His entire body froze as if struck by a heavy hammer. Before he could even react, he felt as if something was being extracted from his body.
Wisps of golden substance surfaced from his skin and drifted into Elder Gou's nostrils. The elder, however, wore a look of dissatisfaction and spat out a glob of thick golden phlegm. "The lifespan of the Buddha Land doesn't taste very good; it's all full of the World-Honored One's flavor."
The Immeasurable Buddha, however, only felt waves of weakness washing over his body. He was filled with furious indignation and sorrow, yet also chilled to the bone. This was five hundred years of lifespan! A tenth of his life had just vanished like that.
"Little bald head, remember to be more polite next time." Elder Gou's voice gradually dissipated into the Nether Mist.
The corners of the Immeasurable Buddha's eyes twitched. It wasn't until he communicated with the Wheel of Salvation and returned to the Buddha Land that his expression contorted into a malevolent grimace, and he finally dared to curse harshly, "Damn it, damn it!"
"Buddha?" A voice came from beside him. It was a bare-chested Arhat, looking uneasy.
The Immeasurable Buddha instantly restrained his expression and cast a faint glance over. "Fazhi, why have you sought me out?"
"There is news from High Firmament. The first place position on the Star Potential Ranking has changed," Fazhi said hesitantly.
"Oh?" The Immeasurable Buddha said casually. "Has Tong Zhuo advanced to Morning Star, or has Du Yunfei already harmonized his Ascension Refining?"
"No, it is Su Chen from Bronze Heaven who forcefully claimed the top spot," Fazhi explained. "This person was extremely arrogant, actually challenging everyone one by one starting from tenth place."
"Who?" The Immeasurable Buddha looked over in astonishment. "Bronze Heaven, Su Chen?"
He wasn't unfamiliar with this name. When he was possessing the body of the Royal Court's Suppressing Hell King, he had heard it several times.
"Kongzhi Buddha said you might be interested in this news and specifically asked me to come report it," Fazhi explained.
The Immeasurable Buddha's expression grew cold. He was clearly mocking him on purpose; the Dust Star Sea was where he had suffered a defeat.
But this person... How could a place like the Dust Star Sea birth such a formidable young man?
"Wait, what are his talent and tier..."
He pinched the prayer beads hanging on his wrist, and a holographic screen appeared. A few seconds later, a sharp gleam burst from his eyes. "True Radiance, eighth-rank..."
But soon after, this light extinguished, and he frowned. "So it was the Profound Limit Celestial Light. He was only at the seventh-rank Divine Dawn level when he first arrived in High Firmament."
After a brief moment of thought, he turned the prayer beads in his hand. Before him appeared a resplendent phantom of a three-headed Buddha, its pupils vacant and filled only with a profound indifference. It nodded and said, "Buddha."
"...During these recent bloodline investigations, were there any traces of the Taixuan family members in High Firmament?" the Immeasurable Buddha asked.
The three-headed Buddha replied, "Reporting to the Buddha, there were no traces whatsoever. Ever since Daoist Lord Lingxiao issued the sealing decree seven thousand years ago, no one in High Firmament has dared to make a move against the Taixuan family."
The Immeasurable Buddha was thoroughly disappointed. He sighed, seeming both relieved and helpless, "How could it be that easy? I should just get the Faith Essence and pay Elder Gou first."
...
"The Water Spirit Current arrived quite fast."
Su Chen signed for the package from the Office of Law deliveryman and pocketed the metal box in his hand.
Bronze Heaven was very lively right now. Chu Lingyuan had invited all the Morning Stars who came to deliver congratulatory gifts to stay, and a banquet was currently underway.
He naturally had to make an appearance, and it was during the banquet that he received news of the delivery, so he came out to sign for it. The seller of the Water Spirit Current was from within High Firmament, so it naturally arrived quickly.
Since he was already out, Su Chen couldn't be bothered to return to the banquet and simply turned back to his residence.
"...Although the Water Spirit Current has arrived, the Inexhaustible Titan is still in dispatch. I'll have to wait a little longer..."
Su Chen opened his panel and glanced at the Dispatch Page, his expression freezing slightly. "The Flash-Shadow Body has returned?"
[The Flash-Shadow Body has brought back a piece of Confidential Intelligence that might be of help to you. Extract?]
"Confidential Intelligence again..." Su Chen muttered inwardly. Last time in the Dust Star Sea, the intelligence regarding the Immeasurable Buddha had truly helped him immensely, allowing him to avoid a potential crisis.
"I wonder what kind of intelligence it is this time." Su Chen pondered, quickening his pace back to the hall before extracting it.
"Fifty drops of Divine Blood? This is much more expensive than the intelligence regarding the Immeasurable Buddha last time..."
He still had over two hundred drops of Divine Blood left. With a wave of his hand, he directly consumed it.
A familiar feeling of weightlessness washed over him, and the surrounding scenery instantly blurred. Mist as thick as substance surged from all directions, wrapping around him in an instant.
"Is this Nether Mist?" Su Chen looked around, but saw the Nether Mist gradually become clear, transforming into an endlessly vast landmass. The edges were hazy and distorted, permeated with intertwining halos of deep blue and grayish-white.
Suspended above the grayish-white land, massive shadows drifted about indistinctly in the surroundings, along with things that looked like fragments of celestial bodies orbiting it.
"Is this... the Guixu Abyss?" Su Chen was slightly stunned.
"A fragmented celestial body standing alone is a Minor Realm; more than three celestial bodies orbiting it makes a Middle Realm; and when land sits in the center with celestial bodies orbiting its flanks, it is a Great Realm."
These were the key points from Taoist Wood's article. He quickly realized that this was a Great Void Realm within the Guixu Abyss.
The scale of a Guixu Abyss Realm only depended on how large the area swallowed by the Nether Mist was; it wouldn't change based on the strength of the lifeforms within it.
In other words, if the overall strength wasn't sufficient, it was very difficult to maintain an uninvaded area within the Nether Mist. Therefore, under normal circumstances, a Great Void Realm swallowed by the mist would basically always harbor Radiant Moon rank entities.
However, such existences would usually flee when they saw a situation was hopeless, unless they were extremely unlucky and encountered an Ultimate Ruin level entity personally executing a "Starfall".
"Zhou Lin! We have known each other for many years. You want to put me to death just for a Great Void Realm!?"
A fierce roar suddenly rang out. The surrounding Nether Mist rippled, and Su Chen shockingly saw a ferocious nine-headed beast, its body undulating like a mountain range, its heads connected by dark red veins, prostrating on the unique grayish-white land of the Nether Realm as it gradually shrank back to the size of a normal human.
Before him stood a figure covered in blood, its life aura withering. Its limbs were missing, and its face was twisted in terrifying agony.
"Gu Hong..." The person named Zhou Lin sighed, lowering his head. "This is not just a Great Void Realm."
"It's nothing more than a streak of Profound Limit Celestial Light. Is our many years of friendship only worth one streak of Profound Limit Celestial Light?" Gu Hong laughed miserably. "Zhou Lin, oh Zhou Lin, I saved you from dire peril numerous times, and this is how you repay me?"
There's Profound Limit Celestial Light in this Great Void Realm... Su Chen's heart stirred slightly.
"You really didn't see it." Zhou Lin seemed to sigh in relief. He extended his hand, which transformed into a ferocious head resembling a tiger or leopard, swallowing Gu Hong in one gulp.
He then looked toward the distant Great Void Realm, his gaze intense and burning. "But I saw it..."
Saw what?
Su Chen was somewhat bewildered. The Nether Mist surged, and Zhou Lin disappeared. His consciousness gradually returned to his body, and he felt somewhat dazed. He shook his head—
"A streak of Profound Limit Celestial Light. This thing is one of the main materials for evolving into True Radiance; it's quite precious... but..."
As his thoughts settled slightly, text appeared on the panel—
[In the Great Void Realm located at coordinates 423.357.9241 in the Nether Realm, Zhou Lin not only discovered Profound Limit Celestial Light but also saw a streak of "Resplendent Radiance." Although Zhou Lin did not know that it was a "Sovereign Relic" that had fallen from the Primordial Return-to-Void Realm, he still decisively killed his close friend Gu Hong to keep this secret.]