Chapter 511: Advancing to Morning Star! |
"Influence the Spirit of the Vast Sun..." Su Chen's eyes flickered. The Chosen had already been born; he wasn't afraid of the Spirit of the Vast Sun being influenced.
What he was afraid of was that after the Stingy Dragon was influenced, it would no longer be willing to act with him.
He had gone to great lengths to make everyone believe that Taixuan Hong was already dead. If the Stingy Dragon turned hostile and refused to acknowledge the debt after being influenced, the trouble would be more than just ordinary.
"I wonder if this matter can be exposed." Su Chen pondered secretly. Wanting to expose such a thing wasn't as simple as just finding a random person to release the information. No matter what, one had to have some status to reach the Five Pillars directly.
But how he knew about it was a major problem. This time wasn't like the Taixuan Hong incident. At that time, the entire Abyssal Domain was searching for Taixuan Hong, so if someone truly discovered something, it wasn't unacceptable.
"Looking at that old monk's Fully Confident appearance, it shouldn't be that simple to be discovered." Su Chen thought about it, realizing he still needed to prepare for both eventualities: "If it can't be exposed, I must reasonably become the Chosen before this so-called Grand Vow Ceremony takes effect..."
"Morning Star, Azure God..."
Su Chen's eyes flickered, feeling somewhat a sense of urgency. "Seven thousand Faith Essence..."
After pondering for a moment, he projected the Holographic Screen. Chu Lingyuan had already replied; things were ready at the Heavenly Gate.
However, in the blink of an eye, he had returned to the Bronze Sect. Compared to his last visit, there had been massive changes again. The Starfire was almost reduced to a small cluster.
The surroundings of the Bronze Core had also been expanded, and the Life Stars around it seemed to have increased quite a bit.
Qing Cang and Lin Langtian were still undergoing their Morning Star Metamorphosis and hadn't finished yet. As for the Bronze Ancient King and the other two Heavenly Lords, they weren't here. There wasn't much work to do at the Bronze Sect's side; their work was the entire Dust Star Sea.
"Junior Brother's Floating Island has always been here, untouched by anyone." Greeting him was He Chengying, the Head of Seat currently presiding over the Bronze Core.
"Sorry to trouble Head of Seat He." Su Chen nodded. The other party waved his hand and took his leave.
Navigating the familiar route to the Nether Tower, Su Chen directly entered the Nether Realm without using any anchoring measures, not knowing where he was located either. "This should be fine." Su Chen looked around. Because of the Nine Prisons of Thunder Eruption, the Nether Realm environment basically couldn't affect him much.
Sitting cross-legged, Su Chen took out the Primordial Breath Potion he had treasured for a long time and drank it in one gulp.
The instant the liquid entered his throat, it vanished Without a Trace, rapidly dissipating throughout his entire body.
Body Tempering and Meditation Methods operated naturally. In an instant, dragons and tigers appeared together.
The dragon's eyes bulged, spewing glaring electric arcs. Countless fine lightning glows sparked between its scales, and the surrounding Lightning Glow turned into a surging, roaring sea of lightning and fire.
A thousand thunderbolts wove into a net in the void, and exploding thunder beads fell like shooting stars. The Nether Mist even let out crackling explosions, blown apart by the boiling sea of lightning and fire.
"Hiss—" Su Chen couldn't help but gasp, feeling his muscles twitch and every cell wailing as their potential was squeezed.
The intensity of the potion's effect exceeded his imagination, likely also because of the Forbidden Codex Tier Body Tempering and Meditation Methods.
At first, he could still endure it, but later, given his physical strength, he even began to feel stinging pain and convulsions.
To ensure the potion's effect was perfectly unleashed, he utilized his Mystic Tools for amplification, which finally made the stinging sensation in his body gradually disappear.
【Forbidden Codex Tier Primordial Ying Dragon Body-Tempering Method upgraded to Master Level, gaining Ability 1: Python-Dragon Body: Massively increases strength and defense.】
【Forbidden Codex Tier Chaotic Heavenly Tiger Meditation Method upgraded to Master Level, gaining Ability 1: Tiger Roar: Massively increases mental resilience and strength.】
This set of Body Tempering and Meditation Methods was quickly maxed out. Su Chen rapidly switched to another set of Forbidden Codex Tier Body Tempering and Meditation Methods he had prepared long ago.
They were respectively named the Taixiao Imperial Palace Body Tempering Method and the Xuantian Thunder Temple Contemplation Meditation Method. As he breathed in sync with them, Clouds and Mist emerged around him, manifesting a scene of palaces and temples stretching extremely far, lifelike.
With the amplification of the Mystic Tools, he naturally and easily fully absorbed the effects, directly elevating the Development Progress to 70%.
"Phew..." Su Chen breathed a sigh of relief. The surrounding Clouds and Mist dissipated. His stomach churned, extracting the medicinal power of the Great Heaven Pill to recover his depletion.
Although the Nether Realm environment didn't affect him, he was ultimately not a Nether Realm Creature and couldn't Drain the Nether Mist to recover.
However, the Great Heaven Pill he had eaten a long time ago hadn't been consumed much either, still leaving more than half.
"Next is Calamity Breaker. I don't know what kind of situation it will be." Su Chen's heart stirred slightly. Text emerged on the Status Panel—【Sensing your thoughts, Calamity Breaker is preparing to activate. Please find a spacious area.】
"This place should be spacious enough." Su Chen subconsciously looked around.
The next moment, only hearing an explosive boom from the void, Su Chen looked up. The Nether Mist overhead seemed to be torn apart by a giant hand. Ink-like cyan thunderclouds rapidly gathered overhead, covering a radius of ten thousand miles, within which Lightning Glow flickered, like python-dragons bobbing and green snakes slithering.
"This..." The corner of Su Chen's eyes twitched. This scale was too massive. Fortunately, he didn't use it inside High Heaven.
Almost giving him no preparation time, with an explosive boom, a cyan Lightning Glow more than ten meters thick tore down from the thundercloud, falling like heavenly punishment.
The Nether Mist distorted at the edges of the Lightning Glow, erupting into rings of ripples Visible to the Naked Eye, striking directly at Su Chen.
It was so fast that Su Chen didn't even react in time. Taking this strike head-on, a brilliant light flashed before his eyes. Numbness mixed with stinging pain spread from his limbs and bones, as if every inch of flesh and skin had been crushed over.
But at the same time, a strange power rose within his body. An illusory crimson Phantom Image emerged behind him. Its face couldn't be seen clearly, bare-chested with knotted muscles. It was impressively the manifestation of the Storm-Husk Martial Exalt.
The ground beneath his feet cracked inch by inch, dust rolling up.
"This intensity is much harsher than the Primordial Breath Potion." Su Chen took a deep breath, opened the Status Panel, and took a look. The Development Progress had indeed increased by 1%.
"But under this situation, it's impossible to operate Body Tempering and Meditation Methods. I'm afraid I can't get this final amplification." Su Chen didn't dwell on it. This bit of amplification didn't matter much anymore. The most urgent matter at hand was Advancing to Morning Star.
The residual might of the Lightning Glow still lingered around his body, cyan electric arcs slithering and jumping on the surface of his skin.
As if not intending to give him time to rest, the second Lightning Glow had already fallen. The ground roared. The land of the Nether Realm naturally had a special power, but at this moment it was also crushed into Pulverized to Dust.
Su Chen's body continuously sank. Within the dazzling thunder pillar, his hair fluttered, and his cheeks twitched faintly: "The intensity has increased quite a bit again. Just the second strike has forced me to use Mystic Tools... One Lightning Glow equals 1% progress. There are still twenty-eight left."
Su Chen took a deep breath. Electric arcs spread along his nasal cavity into his internal organs, bringing a tingling numbness.
Following this, the area continuously quaked. The interval between each thunder pillar was even less than a breath. The electric arcs that hadn't yet dissipated were closely followed by being triggered again.
In the end, this place had already turned into a cyan sea of lightning, where nothing could be seen clearly, only the crackling explosions could be heard.
As the final thunder pillar fell, the thundercloud gradually dispersed. Even the surrounding Nether Mist was cleared away, becoming rarely clear.
"It's finally over..." Su Chen exhaled. The fragments of cyan electric arcs connected into a single sheet. His cheeks couldn't stop twitching, and more than half of his body was still numb.
The place where he stood had already turned into a bottomless crater, and the ground beneath his feet had even crystallized, turning into gray-white crystals emitting green smoke.
The intensity of these thunder pillars was higher with each strike. By the end, he even had to fully open his Sky-Scars just to barely hold on.
"This kind of forced growth indeed comes at a high price. With all my Sky-Scars fully opened, my intensity is already no less than some Morning Stars. Fortunately, only the might of the last few strikes exceeded limits; otherwise, I really couldn't have withstood it."
His mouth twitched involuntarily. His body rapidly extracted the medicinal power of the Great Heaven Pill, recovering to Peak Condition. The pill had shrunk considerably again during the recent process.
Su Chen then opened the Status Panel and took a look. The Development Progress of the Storm-Husk Martial Exalt had impressively reached 100%.
Even for him, his heart couldn't help but stir at this moment. Since the first time he saw the name Crimson Flame Responding Thunder Great Exalted, about eight years had passed.
Right now, he could finally take on the profession. Feeling the engorged sensation in his body, Su Chen's eyes narrowed slightly.
Crimson Flame Responding Thunder Great Exalted, take on the profession!
Barely had the thought crossed his mind when Su Chen felt surging energy violently erupt from within his body. Crimson Starfire and golden Lightning Glow poured out like a tsunami.
The already crystallized ground crackled, overwhelmed by the burden.
The cells seemed to be rejoicing, celebrating the leap in Life Essence Tier, yet at the same time seemed overwhelmed, letting out painful wails. Psionic Power overflowed from them, as if having nowhere to hide, rampaging within the body.
This step was a leap in life. Its intensity was even more Violent than all of Su Chen's previous Professional Tier advancements combined.
Fine flame patterns, thin as hair, surfaced beneath his skin. His muscles twitched non-stop; every single cell seemed to want to break free from this old shell.
"Hiss..." Veins bulged on Su Chen's forehead. He immediately utilized his Mystic Tools for amplification, but in this very instant, the pain level abruptly climbed several tiers.
His face instantly twisted. He felt as if someone was constantly pumping air into his body, becoming increasingly bloated, as if his body was about to explode.
"Not good, I can't use Mystic Tools for amplification. My Psionic Power needs to completely fuse as one with my physical body. By over-strengthening my physical body, I am essentially isolating my Psionic Power outside, thereby jamming the advancement process."
Su Chen quickly realized the problem and could only cancel the Mystic Tool amplification, allowing his body to undergo Earth-Shattering changes.
Golden Light surged, and the shadow of the World-Slaying Manifestation emerged. Not only it, but the manifestation characteristics of numerous professions all emerged, revolving around him, their forms faintly changing and becoming increasingly detailed.
As the Main Profession advanced to Morning Star, the intensity of these Holy Classes would naturally improve along with it. This was also a major risk. Closely following this, the manifestation scenes of numerous professions gradually fused into one, turning into a small sapling.
"Is this Ascension Refining?"
Deep in agony, Su Chen was surprised. Faintly seeming to have discovered something, he rapidly activated his Ascension Refining method.
In an instant, the various boiling powers rampaging within his body seemed to be put in reins. A peculiar rhythm gradually blended with his body.
The small sapling on his back swayed gently, drawing upon the rolling Lightning Glow power pouring out. At first, it only revolved around Su Chen, but soon formed a vortex and expanded—one meter, two meters, ten meters, a thousand meters, ten thousand meters.
By the end, the coverage range was already hard to estimate. The surrounding Nether Realm Creatures still instinctively fled in all directions.
"Ascension Refining actually has the effect of weakening the difficulty of advancement..." Su Chen was truly surprised. After all, the Bronze Sect didn't have any high-end Ascension Refining methods, so there was fundamentally no record of this.
Guided by the Ascension Refining method, the physical pain gradually receded, followed by a burning sensation churning from deep within his body.
Gradually accumulating and surging, Su Chen's skin gradually turned crimson, and an Anxious, boiling emotion rose in his heart.
It felt as uncomfortable and awkward as gathering the strength of his entire body but constantly being unable to vent it out.
A muffled hum came from deep within his bones, until at a certain moment, the first clap of thunder exploded in his chest cavity!
Boom!
Abruptly, an extraordinarily profound sensation arose spontaneously, and the crimson color on the surface of his body instantly faded.
A golden Flamelet, only as thick as a thumb, erupted from his chest and instantly expanded to his entire body. That stifling, engorged feeling seemed to have found an outlet, and Su Chen's tightly knit brows relaxed.
【Crimson Flame Responding Thunder Great Exalted successfully taken!】
【Mystic Artifact Lord enhanced—Controllable Mystic Tools +1】
【Thunder-Remnant Grand Rite enhanced!】
【The newly born ability has similar compatibility with Martial Sovereign, fusing...】
【Fusion successful, obtained new ability 1: Flame Thunder Great Venerable: Transform into a martial body of flame and thunder, gaining ten times amplification to physical stamina, strength, speed, and defense, as well as elemental might. Resistance to all conventional elements, mutated elements, Psionic Power, and Physical Strength increased by 50%.】
【Obtained new ability 1: Morning Star Body: This is an entirely new level; only a limited number of people can step onto this path. The vitality of life cells is unprecedentedly powerful, increasing recovery rate by a thousandfold.】
【Obtained new ability 1: Might of Morning Fire: By using Tempering Morning Fire to amplify abilities, one can gain final amplification, 10% per stream of Morning Fire.】
All pain and discomfort vanished, replaced by a continuously expanding sense of power. The sensation this time was even more intense than all previous ones combined.
Su Chen's perception of the outside world had never been so clear and meticulous. Energy surged within him like boiling water, overflowing through every pore, his entire body radiating with crimson flames and golden thunder.
Just by advancing, merely in his normal state, he felt far stronger than his self with five Sky-Scars opened. With the God-Ascension enhancement, that was equivalent to seven Sky-Scars.
This was the chasm-like gap between the 8th-Tier and Morning Star.
"Finally..." Su Chen felt the changes in his body. Every pore and every cell all over his body was rejoicing. This was the evolution of the Life Essence Tier.
【Solar Marrow Calamity-Transcending Heavenly Venerable congratulates the host on Advancing to Morning Star and specially gifts a wisp of Marrow Fire: Can assist in Tempering Morning Flames.】
"Good Heavenly Sovereign!" Su Chen nodded in satisfaction. After waiting for quite a while, he still saw no reaction from that Holy Sovereign, and couldn't help but curl his lips, "So a Morning Star can't even enter your eyes, huh? Fine..."
After adapting slightly, he only then inspected the abilities of the Crimson Flame Responding Thunder Great Exalted.
The ability of 【Flame Thunder Great Venerable】 needed no further explanation; its power was plainly evident. And because his base physical attributes had skyrocketed, it was no longer like before, where it was hard to manifest under the amplification of Sky-Scars.
He estimated that even with all nine Sky-Scars fully opened, the ability of the Flame Thunder Great Venerable could still bring an extremely considerable amplification.
Su Chen nodded in satisfaction. As for the remaining abilities, they didn't seem to be brought by the Crimson Flame Responding Thunder Great Exalted, but rather seemed like exclusive Professional Abilities of the Morning Star level.
【Morning Star Body】 was quite standard. Although the recovery amplification was Better than nothing, the Lifespan amplification was quite pleasant.
But this 【Might of Morning Fire】 was somewhat interesting.
"Final amplification, it couldn't be what I think it is..." Su Chen's heart stirred faintly.
He tried utilizing three Sky-Scars. Sure enough, the amplification it brought wasn't as if it was going to burst everything like before. It wasn't that the might had decreased, but that his own physical strength had increased.
He had long anticipated this. A wisp of golden Flamelet surfaced on the surface of his body, then abruptly burrowed back into his body.
In an instant, his expression became quite spectacular. "It really is like this..."
The so-called final amplification meant that after all abilities were applied, it would then be multiplied on top.
Opening three Sky-Scars, combined with God-Ascension's 20% amplification, theoretically, the strength was close to four Sky-Scars. But after utilizing Morning Fire, it directly exceeded four Sky-Scars.
Under normal circumstances, all abilities couldn't amplify and stack upon each other; they merely relied on the profession's own physical attributes.
But Morning Fire was different. It amplified the Professional Abilities themselves. In other words, its Access Level was extremely high.
"If all nine Sky-Scars are fully opened, combined with God-Ascension's 80% amplification, it's equivalent to sixteen Sky-Scars. Enhanced by Morning Fire, it can bring me an additional amplification of nearly two Sky-Scars."
"And this is just one stream of Morning Fire. If I Refine Twelve Morning Fires, it will double."
Su Chen briefly estimated and didn't feel 10% was too low; instead, he secretly clicked his tongue. "No wonder they say one fire is one world. Setting aside the various physical attribute improvements after Tempering Morning Fire, just the might brought by this fire is extremely terrifying."
And at the same time, the amplification of Morning Fire naturally became more terrifying the stronger the Professional Abilities were. This also meant that Top-Tier Holy Classes naturally possessed an advantage.
"One step fast means every step fast. Therefore, the top figures of the Five Pillars all seek Top-Tier Holy Classes. With Morning Fire as this final amplifier, being off by a hair means being off by a mile."
Su Chen increasingly sighed with emotion, but then his thoughts shifted to that Bearded Man. Against him, an 8th-Tier, he had used three streams of Morning Fire to amplify his abilities right from the start.
His expression inevitably darkened, and he cursed silently a couple of times.
With A Slight Stir in One's Heart, a black-red Great Hammer materialized in his hand. This was the Mystic Tool that had always been fused within his body.
Su Chen originally intended to confirm whether this Mystic Tool could be upgraded to the 9th-Tier or elevated to Morning Star.
As a result, the moment he brought it out, he noticed something was slightly amiss. A layer of Streaking Light vaguely enveloped it.
"This is... a Sky-Scar?" Su Chen was astonished. The essence of this thing was the incomplete spirituality of a Morning Star Artifact, and it had actually fused as one with these Mystic Tools.
He could be certain this was a change that only happened after Advancing to Morning Star; this situation absolutely didn't exist before.
"Meaning, as long as I complete the Materials, I can forge all Mystic Tools into Morning Star Artifacts?" A Sharp Gleam flashed in Su Chen's eyes.
There were many benefits to this. Previously, he relied purely on consuming physical stamina to endure the cost of elevating Mystic Tools to the Morning Star level. If he directly forged the Mystic Tools into Morning Star Artifacts, the cost would naturally decrease greatly, only needing to bear the basic activation cost and God-Ascension's extra consumption.
It went from a Trump Card with massive consumption to a conventional amplification at once.