Chapter 473: Preparation |
Arriving at the door, the management system automatically recognized his identity. The door opened, and he stepped inside, taking a brief look around.
Everything looked quite ordinary, but he didn't care much. The main reason for buying this property was to have a place to stay in the Nether Realm.
After all, he had to be in the Nether Realm to ignore the distance and descend his consciousness into the Leimo Avatar.
As for the auxiliary training equipment, he planned to try letting his body autonomously run his Body Tempering and Meditation Methods while he controlled the avatar, so as to minimize wasted time.
He sat cross-legged: "As for now..."
Somewhere in the Nether Realm, the Nether Mist surged. An ink-black bolt of lightning suddenly tore through the dense fog. There was no thunderous roar, only an almost tangible, dark electric arc splitting a rift in the void.
On the ground, a piece of rubble scattered randomly suddenly expanded against the wind. It quickly transformed into a robust figure with yellowish-black skin, exuding a wisp of violent Thunder Astral Aura, and faint purple-black electric arcs meandering down its spine.
This was impressively the Leimo Avatar. It was now under Su Chen's control. With flashing eyes, he suddenly opened his mouth, and in the instant his chest expanded, the entire Nether Realm seemed to be gripped by an invisible giant hand. The churning Nether Mist around him accelerated abruptly, turning into countless grey-white gaseous dragons that spiraled over, intertwining between his mouth and nose before submerging inside.
Soon, they rolled out again like a torrent with his exhale.
"It's like the feeling I get when I return to the reality world after staying in the Nether Realm for too long..."
Su Chen suddenly realized, "That's right. This Leimo is a Nether Realm Creature to begin with. This Nether Realm is its reality world, so naturally, it feels refreshing and stable."
"Perhaps, there's also an advantage when exploring the Guixu Abyss..."
Su Chen continued his train of thought, "Has no one else thought of exploring the Guixu Abyss in this way? Avatar professions aren't exactly rare."
"Hmm... almost forgot. The avatar also needs to be controlled by the main body, so the distance can't be too far. Plus, it involves Nether Realm Creatures, so probably only Great Heaven would attempt it."
Su Chen adapted for a while. With a tremor beneath his feet, his figure vanished in a flash. A black bolt of lightning tore through the Nether Mist, traveling at top speed. Following the general direction in his memory, he soon found the Abyssal Rift camp of the Falcon Group.
The coordinates of this place had long been opened to the public, meaning the vicinity had already been thoroughly explored by the Falcon Group. Therefore, there weren't many people coming and going.
As soon as he descended, he attracted many vigilant gazes because the guards didn't remember such a person leaving from here.
Su Chen had previously learned that the Minor Guixu Realm nearby was in its concluding stages. There were no Morning Stars holding the fort; the strongest person was only at the 9th-Tier.
"This is the camp of the Falcon Group, who are you, sir..." A burly middle-aged man in front of the camp reached out to stop him. He was wearing Black Metallic Armor with some mottled claw marks on it, warily sizing up this dark-faced, burly man.
Thick, vigorous Vital Aura erupted from his body; he was a 7th-Tier Class-User.
"Borrowing the path..." Su Chen glanced at him, his voice sonorous. "Does the Falcon Group no longer allow people to borrow the path?"
"Borrowing the path..." The other party frowned. Since the Abyssal Rift node was already open, it just meant paying a toll.
However, the distance between the various Abyssal Rift nodes was more than just far; crossing it wasn't a matter of just saying so.
Moreover, while entering specific areas of the Nether Realm required a guide, leaving wasn't difficult. As long as one wasn't in a place like the Guixu Abyss that severed connection with the reality world, it was just a matter of a single thought.
In short, everything about the guy in front of him screamed strange.
"Apologies, the Falcon Group has signed an agreement. We must strictly screen to prevent any suspected Eldritch Entities from appearing." The middle-aged man's voice was heavy.
"Eldritch Entities?" Su Chen suddenly grinned, and the World-Slaying Manifestation quietly activated.
Boom!
A thick, glossy black bolt of lightning suddenly tore down from the firmament, causing the surrounding mist to boil and churn.
The lightning spanned the sky, thousands of meters long. Fine electric arcs constantly crackled at its edges, like a black, frenzied dragon rolling and roaring in the mist, causing the surrounding ground to tremble faintly.
Around Su Chen's body, Vitality so dense it was almost tangible rippled out, forcefully blasting the middle-aged man flying backwards. He fell to the ground, staring at the person before him in horror.
Figures instantly shot up throughout the entire camp, looking over doubtfully and uncertainly.
"Have you ever seen an Eldritch Entity with such thick Vitality?" Su Chen's expression was indifferent.
"Please calm down, sir!" A hoarse voice suddenly rang out. An elder walked out from the camp, his eyes vigilant, but he said, "My subordinate is ignorant and disturbed you, sir. I apologize on behalf of the Falcon Group."
This was the 9th-Tier holding the fort in the camp. Su Chen didn't care in the slightest. "I just have one question: is borrowing the path still allowed here?"
"Naturally it's allowed. Please, sir." The elder stepped aside, revealing the path leading to the Abyssal Rift behind him.
"That's good." Su Chen restrained his aura and walked straight through, disappearing into the Abyssal Rift.
Only now did the middle-aged man from before dare to speak, his throat feeling dry. "El... Elder Li... was that a Morning Star?"
"He's still far from a Morning Star." Elder Li shook his head, gazing at the profound passageway of the Abyssal Rift. "But he's not beneath me. To be so young..."
"..."
"He couldn't be a Seed from some faction, could he?" The middle-aged man hesitated. "Even for a Morning Star, it would take three to five years to fly across to the nearest Abyssal Rift. Where did he come from?"
"That's none of your business." Elder Li glanced over and said in a deep voice, "In the future, just let people like him pass. Five Pillar City is right behind us, what kind of waves could he make?"
The middle-aged man looked sheepish.
"It was even simpler than I expected..." Su Chen emerged from the Abyssal Rift. He had already used the Shadow of the Past to conceal himself, and almost no one around paid him any attention.
"I still need to buy a portion of Taixuan blood, but before that, I have to go register an identity."
This Five Pillar City was highly intelligent. When he came previously, he relied on the High Firmament's token, which already granted him extremely high access levels here. But this Leimo Avatar had nothing at all.
However, this place was originally a mixed bag of dragons and fish. Based on his casual conversation with Jiang Ce earlier, registering an identity was very simple; it could be done in the Black Market.
Searching through his previous memories, he walked in the surface city. Without an identity, he naturally couldn't rent a flight vehicle. It took him quite some time to find the previous Black Market.
Looking up, the floating island was located in the firmament. Below it, there were thin metal plates constantly going up and down, which were presumably elevators.
But there was still the same problem: he didn't have an identity and couldn't use them.
"Hey bro." Su Chen reached out and grabbed a passing Class-User. The man had a scar on the side of his face and a gloomy expression. Sensing he was being stopped, he looked at the dark-faced, burly man before him and immediately was about to lose his temper.
However, after realizing he couldn't lift that thick, robust arm, his anger vanished instantly. He forced a smile and said, "Sir, I am Geng Shan from Hellfire City. May I know how to address you, sir?"
Killing was naturally prohibited in Five Pillar City, but in case this guy wasn't right in the head and killed him first, even if the guy was executed later, he himself wouldn't come back to life.
"Nothing much, just open the elevator for me." His eyes signaled towards the thin metal plate leading up to the floating island in the distance.
Where did this fierce man come from, daring to come to this Five Pillar City without even an identity? Geng Shan grumbled inwardly, but also breathed a sigh of relief. "Just opening an elevator, it's no trouble. Please follow me, sir."
He was straightforward as well, walking over to the direct elevator and using his own identity to open it for him.
"It seems you also know what kind of place is up there." Su Chen didn't move. His arm silently exerted force, lifting up Geng Shan, whose expression looked terrible. "I might still need you for something later. Come with me for a bit."
"You..." Geng Shan gritted his teeth. Feeling the unshakable Great Strength on his shoulder, he had no choice but to be forcefully dragged onto the thin metal plate. The thin metal plate glowed with a luminescent blue pattern, carrying the two straight up to the upper level.
Once the elevator opened, a cacophony of noise rushed toward them. This floating island was crowded with people everywhere, all with gloomy expressions, shuttling back and forth between several main buildings.
"Where is the place to register an identity?" Su Chen asked Geng Shan.
Seeing this guy acting as if everything was perfectly natural, Geng Shan felt annoyed inwardly. He pointed, "That place."
It was a small room with almost no one at the door.
Su Chen carried Geng Shan and pushed the door open to enter. The interior was even more plain, with only a few machines. Behind a window sat a guy with a dazed expression, and behind him was a glass bottle containing a mass of black mist.
Su Chen could sense that Geng Shan had already held his breath, a look of disgust on his face.
"Here to process an identity?" The other party's eyes were blurred, his voice drifting.
"Mhm, what's the procedure?" Su Chen stepped forward to inquire. He faintly caught a strange fragrance coming from the black mist in the glass bottle, which made the flesh and blood cells inside his body much more active.
"If you want a drag, buy your own." The guy covered the mouth of the glass bottle and said grumpily, "Fifty Faith Essence for a member of an ordinary faction, one hundred for a Morning Star faction, three hundred for Radiant Moon..."
"This is way too f*cking expensive..." Su Chen clicked his tongue. Five Pillar City used factions as anchors; everyone who came and went had an affiliation.
"Ordinary faction then." Seeing that the other party didn't seem likely to offer a discount, Su Chen chose the cheapest one.
"Ordinary factions are randomized..." The other party reached out his hand, looking bored.
Su Chen reached into his clothes and took out solid pieces of Faith Essence. He couldn't open his spatial storage in the Nether Realm, and this Leimo Avatar didn't have one either.
This Faith Essence had all been stuffed into this Leimo body by his main body.
The guy didn't pay it any mind. After taking it, he fiddled with the machine in front of him for a while, then handed over a terminal the size of a palm.
"Silver Silk Grotto, ordinary member—Duan Ye. All passwords are set to six zeros by default. You won't pass Five Pillar City's official verification, so it's best not to commit any crimes."
"Also, this Identity Terminal is Duan Ye. Once this thing is lost, it can't be replaced, and your identity is gone too. You'll have to buy a new one."
Su Chen took it, gave it a rough glance, and tucked it away.
"Sir, your identity is sorted out now. Can you let me go?"
Once out the door, Geng Shan couldn't help but say.
"Let's add each other as friends. I might gift you a lucky chance later," Su Chen said after a brief thought.
"A lucky chance?" Geng Shan looked at the dark-faced, burly man before him, his mouth twitching uncontrollably. Having no other choice, he could only helplessly add him as a friend, then left without looking back.
"Where did this madman come from? He's not even afraid I'll report him." Riding the elevator down, Geng Shan looked at the words "Duan Ye" on his Comms Link. After hesitating repeatedly, he still didn't delete it.
"Forget it, better to avoid trouble. Even if I report him, Five Pillar City will at most deport him. What if this guy really is a madman and actually gifts me a lucky chance."
Su Chen strolled around the Black Market for a bit, then took out another hundred portions of Faith Soul Crystals and exchanged them for data assets.
Faith Soul Crystals were the highest standard currency. Below them was Spirit Essence, and below that were Abyssal Coins.
However, the things he needed basically all required Faith Essence or Spirit Essence to purchase.
"One drop of Eldritch Divine Blood costs five Faith Essence, and one wisp of High-level Eldritch Power actually costs fifty Spirit Essence, which is half a Faith Essence. This price is too ridiculous..."
Su Chen found a corner, connected to the Black Market's network, and scrolled through the various contraband items, his eyelids twitching.
This price ratio vastly exceeded his expectations. In the Dust Star Sea, the value of Divine Blood and Faith Essence was actually about the same, or Faith Essence might even be slightly more precious.
High-level Eldritch Power couldn't even compare to these two items.
"Is it because there are ways to squeeze out Faith Essence, but Divine Blood and Divine Power can only be obtained through Evil Gods? And because of the Final Ruin's existence, Evil Gods aren't actually that easy to hunt, thus making them precious..."
He roughly deduced the reason behind this price ratio.
"But this isn't good news for me..." Su Chen shook his head helplessly. Having dispatched the Flash-Shadow Body and the Nine Realms of Thunder Evolution earlier, he had less than eighty drops of Divine Blood left in his hands.
If anything else was brought out, he would dry up immediately.
"Whatever, being able to buy it is good news. I'll just figure something out later. Anyway, with this avatar, I can go out and hunt in the wild for resources."
"Or bring over the Evil God Power from the Dust Star Sea to sell..."
Su Chen shook his head, temporarily suppressing this matter. Thinking for a moment, he searched the word "Taixuan" again, and quite a few options popped up.
"They actually sell blood at the True Radiance level..." Su Chen was surprised, looking at the top icon. The quoted price for 1L was twenty Faith Essence.
Previously on the public channels, the highest available was only Divine Dawn-tier blood. This Black Market actually sold True Radiance-tier.
For something like blood, as long as there was enough nutritional supply, in theory, it could be produced infinitely before death.
If someone had captured a Taixuan clan member at the True Radiance tier in the past, they could extract enough fresh blood before their death.
"Sigh..." He sighed. "No wonder no one wants to see the Taixuan rise again. Since there's True Radiance-tier, I'll just use this, to avoid having to deal with Great Heaven again..."
This True Radiance Blood wasn't in stock at this Black Market, but other Black Market locations in the city had it. It had already been requisitioned and would be delivered shortly.
"Spatial Compression Ring." As Su Chen browsed, he spotted another good item. "Utilizes Abyssal Rift technology; can be opened in the Nether Realm for storage."
He definitely had to buy this thing, lest he find good items later and have nowhere to put them.
"Ten Faith Essence for one hundred cubic meters, what a f*cking rip-off..." Su Chen placed an order for three. After waiting for about half an hour, someone delivered the Compression Wristbands and the Taixuan blood.
Stuffing the bottle of blood flickering with sparse Golden Light into the wristband, and then swallowing the wristband into his body, Su Chen left this Black Market. He hailed a flight vehicle and headed straight for the "Exploration Rift" area.
"...These coordinates are quite out of the way..." Comparing them to the coordinates of that Great Void Realm, Su Chen searched for quite a while before finding an Abyssal Rift passageway whose coordinates were somewhat close.