Chapter 512: Detaining the Golden Ape |
"Not bad..."
Su Chen nodded in satisfaction. Although the Heavenly Mark Blessing was formidable, the previous consumption had always been a major and difficult problem, forcing him to make many trade-offs and use the Seven-Branch Wondrous Tree to offset it.
Solving this difficult problem, he could also be more unhurried in utilizing his professions later.
"It's just that the material consumption is probably not low." Su Chen gripped the Great Hammer and stored it back into his body.
Upgrading Mystic Tools to the 9th-Tier and upgrading them to Morning Star, the consumption was obviously Incomparable. But at least he solved the most troublesome issue of spirituality; the rest was nothing more than some Materials.
It wasn't like he had to find someone to forge them, which would take mental and physical effort. He estimated that the Materials would just consume some Faith Essence.
"Let's try Limit Break..." With A Slight Stir in One's Heart, flame and thunder instantly surged around his body, shooting out. Having just advanced, he still couldn't control his body very well.
With a slight change in his body, energy uncontrollably leaked out. His hair fluttered, faintly veiled in a layer of energy radiance.
"Hmm... The degree of improvement is already extremely limited." Su Chen briefly comprehended it. It couldn't even be called a multiplier, hard to mention in the same breath as previously elevating by a whole tier.
"However, with Limit Break's improvement being limited, I've lost quite a powerful Method." Although not surprised, he inevitably felt somewhat disappointed.
After all, Limit Break was previously considered an extremely powerful ability, something he would definitely use before engaging in combat.
"I wonder if after Evolving into an Azure God, it will continue to enhance Limit Break, or if a new ability will be born. Limit Break was actually quite useful."
Su Chen reigned himself in and tested his other abilities, gradually gaining a more profound understanding of himself. After advancing to Morning Star, his other abilities had more or less been enhanced.
Spending a day or two, he gradually adapted to this entirely new body. It was also thanks to him frequently controlling this level of intensity before that he could adapt so quickly.
During this process, he absorbed the incomplete Morning Star Artifacts he had purchased previously into his body, completing the Sky-Scars. He also integrated another Great Hammer into his body and roughly comprehended all the Materials needed to upgrade his Mystic Tools.
"I wonder what the situation with this Golden Ape is..." Su Chen held a small cyan bead in his hand. According to his previous experience in detaining Nether Realm Creatures, there was bound to be some resistance during the detention process, but the intensity of this guy was truly too high.
He didn't know if he could hold it back.
"Fortunately, I considered it thoroughly when taking on the Venerable Manifestation and left behind a restraining Method."
Right now, he wasn't in a hurry to detain it. No matter what, he had to complete the last Mystic Tool and elevate all the other Mystic Tools to the Morning Star level. Only after thoroughly stepping into Peak Condition would he attempt the detention.
With a stir of his mind, he returned to the Bronze Sect. After leaving a message for He Chengying, he directly turned back to High Heaven through the Heavenly Gate.
Exiting the Heavenly Gate, he returned to Bronze Heaven in a single step. The people he saw were Few and Far Between, and among them, there wasn't even one at the Morning Star level, so naturally, no one could discover that he had already advanced.
"If it's exposed that I have already advanced to Morning Star, I'm afraid it will cause no small disturbance. Although it will be exposed sooner or later, it's better to delay it for a day if I can."
Su Chen responded to a few greetings and returned to his residence. He immediately projected the Holographic Screen to search for various Materials.
Inside High Heaven, the relevant Materials weren't considered rare. As long as one expended Faith Essence, they could be purchased in almost unlimited quantities.
Nine types of Mystic Tools, some large and some small, consumed different Materials. Some Materials cost hundreds of Faith Essence to purchase, while others only required a few dozen. But on average, each portion cost seventy or eighty.
Adding the nine types of Mystic Tools together consumed over seven hundred portions of Faith Essence.
"It truly isn't much..." Su Chen had made a few large purchases recently, so seven hundred portions of Faith Essence couldn't be considered much in his eyes.
Normally, inside High Heaven, if one wanted to forge a Morning Star Artifact, the overall cost would be around five hundred.
Among them, having a divine blacksmith take action took up the bulk. At the same time, to minimize the depletion of one's own Morning Star Spirit as much as possible, one had to find specialized people to perform the extraction. The bulk was mainly spent on these two aspects; the Materials were actually the cheapest.
The Materials he purchased all at once were too complex. To avoid trouble, he chose to have them delivered uniformly, so it took a bit longer, requiring four or five days to be delivered.
"The Essence in my hands is truly dried up now. I still don't know where to get the seven thousand portions I lack for the Spirit-Nurturing Marrow. With Buddha Land preparing for faith poisoning right now, I'm afraid it won't be easy to slowly raise it..."
"It seems I can only go find Ni Zhan..." Su Chen's Thoughts drifted, feeling quite helpless. "Moreover, I haven't gotten my hands on the Mystic Origin Spirit Fetus yet. Don't tell me when the Spirit-Nurturing Marrow is found, I'll still have to wait for the Spirit Fetus."
"I'll have Old Chu ask around indirectly to see what the situation is." Su Chen sent a message to Chu Lingyuan, deciding to see the situation with the Spirit Fetus before determining his next step.
He adjusted his posture and started operating the Ascension Refining method. The manifestation scenes of his professions emerged around him, then fused into one, turning into the Seven-Branch Wondrous Tree swaying behind him.
Running it this time, he naturally didn't feel the dry mouth and parched tongue like when he was at the 8th-Tier. Instead, it was quite smooth and fluid. Rolling heat surged within his body, oscillating out and circulating.
This feeling was extremely comfortable, like soaking in a hot spring, with countless soft, boneless little hands massaging his body, even sinking into it and kneading his cells.
Su Chen inadvertently immersed himself in it, and five days passed in the blink of an eye.
"Hiss... Phew..."
Su Chen forcibly pulled himself out, unable to help but let out a sigh. "It's truly a completely different sensation. Previously, when operating Body Tempering and Meditation Methods, there would more or less be some stinging pain, but this Ascension Refining method is truly too comfortable."
"I don't know who created the source of this, snatching the fortune of professions."
"However, this rate..."
Su Chen opened the Status Panel and looked at the column for the Seven-Branch Wondrous Tree.
For four days, he had been operating the Ascension Refining method without stopping for a moment, yet the progress behind 'Entry' remained at 0%, without the slightest inch of progress.
Not only that, he felt that the day he would Refine Twelve Morning Fires was also indefinitely far away.
"No wonder that Qin Guanyu, even with the Azure God Talent, still took two hundred long years to temper out four streams of Morning Fire. No, three streams. He should be advancing towards the fifth stream now..."
Su Chen couldn't help but shake his head. A time span of tens of years at every turn was still somewhat hard for him to adapt to.
"I wonder what kind of scene it would be if I used Morning Star Embers to assist."
Su Chen was already moved by the thought, but he was truly At One's Wits' End right now. The remaining Faith Essence couldn't afford Morning Star Embers at all.
But he still had a Morning Star corpse in his hands, Zhou Lin's, which hadn't been refined into Cinders yet.
"I'll wait a bit and see..."
Su Chen stood up and exited the Hall Door. It was the Materials he bought that had arrived. Although there were many Materials, they were all top-tier metal Materials, mostly already refined, and overall could be contained in a slightly larger box.
Su Chen briefly checked them, signed for them, and returned to his residence with the box. Looking at the metal Materials emitting various colors of radiant light inside, he couldn't help but be Raring to Go.
He first took out the black-red Great Hammer. With a stir of his mind, several large chunks of metal Materials floated out. Some had dragon scale Patterns etched on their surfaces, while others were black, like coal stones.
Psionic Power gradually poured out, wrapping around them. In an instant, the hard metal Materials gradually softened, their edges emitting a crimson halo, and then melted like snow and ice.
He slowly guided this mass of gradually liquefying metal to merge into the black-red Great Hammer in his hand.
The Patterns on the surface became increasingly clear with the integration of the metal, as if countless energy pathways were circulating and wandering deep within the hammer.
Su Chen only felt his palm burning hot. Faintly, a Dragon's Roar echoed in his ears. On the surface of the hammer, the dragon scale Patterns writhed slowly, climbing up like a living creature, trembling and ringing non-stop.
Until reaching a certain limit, the differently colored Streaking Light surfacing on it trembled, faintly letting out a sharp cry, transforming into a black-red wandering dragon, and thoroughly fusing into one with this Great Hammer, indistinguishable from each other.
Boom!
Surging black-red electric arcs instantly erupted, but were forcefully pressed down by Su Chen right from the start.
"Morning Star Artifact..." Su Chen grasped this Great Hammer, sensing it carefully. "Not quite right. Because Morning Star Artifacts are forged by extracting spirituality, they carry certain Characteristics of the profession, but this thing doesn't. It just had its intensity elevated."
"Perhaps calling it a Sky-Scar Artifact is more appropriate."
Su Chen didn't care much. He wasn't going to use this thing as a weapon anyway, only using it for amplification. No matter how you put it, it was at the Morning Star level. The cost of upgrading one was not low. It took him over ten days from beginning to end to forge all nine types of Mystic Tools in his body into Sky-Scar Artifacts.
"I can be at ease now." Su Chen felt the various Mystic Tools in his body. With all nine Sky-Scar Artifacts activated, he could obtain the maximum 80% amplification of God-Ascension, equivalent to the blessing of sixteen Sky-Scars.
"Tsk tsk... Now I can go attempt to detain that Golden Ape." With a stir of his mind, Su Chen entered the Nether Realm of High Heaven, picked a time when there were relatively few people, headed to Five Pillar City, and rushed into the Nether Realm.
Detaining the Golden Ape wasn't Advancing to Morning Star after all, so there was no need to keep tossing about back and forth between the Bronze Sect and High Heaven.
"Here should be about right..."
Finding a secluded place, Su Chen landed on the earth of the Nether Realm and took out that cyan-gold bead.
Looking closely, the Four-Armed Golden Ape was sleeping soundly inside, having been knocked out by electricity. Azure Lightning Arcs faintly surfaced around it from time to time.
"Four-Armed Golden Ape, huh..." Su Chen's eyes flickered. This thing was comparable to a Divine Dawn Morning Star that had tempered out eight or nine streams of Morning Fire, roughly at the peak upper-level Morning Star rank.
If he could detain it, relying on its strength, it could be considered formidable in the Great Void Realm.
He could then use it as support to detain those Nether Realm Creatures slightly weaker than the Four-Armed Golden Ape.
Even if they were slightly weaker than the Four-Armed Golden Ape, they were probably still far stronger than him. If gathered together, they would likely bring an extremely terrifying amplification.
Applying slight pressure with his palm, the cyan-gold bead in front of him cracked with Rifts, but didn't completely shatter. Instead, formless power overflowed, sending the Four-Armed Golden Ape out.
Just after breaking away from the Bronze-Gold Bead, its figure expanded like an inflated airbag, turning into a thousand-zhang tall gigantic creature in the blink of an eye.
Mountain-like muscles bulged, every texture flowing with a golden halo. The suddenly appearing extreme mass even whipped up rolling violent winds and made the Nether Mist boil.
But its outline gradually began to distort. The Golden Light at the edges flickered, as if being torn apart by a formless power, ethereal and shifting like smoke and mist, as if it would dissipate at any time.
"Roar..." This Four-Armed Golden Ape didn't awaken immediately, only letting out a roar in a daze.
"This kind of Nether Realm Creature can only exist in the Great Void Realm. If it directly appears in the Nether Realm, it will autonomously dissipate."
Su Chen didn't dare to delay. The sound of Chains rolling echoed inside his body. Black Chains spread out from his limbs, rapidly coiling around the body of this Four-Armed Golden Ape.
They tightened abruptly and yanked fiercely.
Su Chen's face turned red and his teeth clenched. He actually couldn't budge this Four-Armed Golden Ape at the first attempt.
"Hiss..." His cheeks twitched. He directly activated the Nine Heavenly Scars. The radiance of flame and thunder burst forth, and Vitality surged towards the heavens. With the auxiliary effect of God-Ascension, he had sixteen Sky-Scars on his body.
This magnitude could be considered terrifying for him right now, and the consumption was just as he expected, reduced very low.
Clatter!
Finally, the spreading Chains slowly dragged the Four-Armed Golden Ape lying on the ground.
The edges of its body faintly fused into one with the Nether Mist. Perhaps because of the pain, the Four-Armed Golden Ape's roar became increasingly intense, seemingly about to wake up.
"Get, in!"
Su Chen's face flushed red, the Chains tightening bit by bit. As the thousand-meter-large Four-Armed Golden Ape got closer and closer to him, it also gradually shrank.
Finally, in the instant it completely opened its eyes, before the Violent roar could be shouted out, it was forcefully dragged into his body.
"It finally came in."
Su Chen only just breathed a sigh of relief when he felt a fierce roar, like a Great Bell and Chime, explode by his ear.
"Roar!"
Violent, angry!
In an instant, Su Chen only felt an Unimaginable power seemingly about to explode within his body. His muscles expanded as if being pumped with air, and a faint stinging sensation came.
"Suppress it for me!" Su Chen had long anticipated this. The veins on his forehead twitched. The surrounding radiance of flame and thunder surged, outlining a magnificent shadow that merged into his body.
"Roar!"
The sound of Chains alternated endlessly with the drum-like sound of beating on a chest. Su Chen could feel that the cage existing in an unknown place within his body was already nearly torn to pieces.
If he persevered any longer, it would immediately Backlash on his body.
"The gap is too big; it's still too forced. If I temper out one or two more streams of divine fire, I should possibly be able to do it, but now..."
Su Chen felt helpless in his heart. He still held that cyan-gold bead in his hand. Relying on the slight Method he left behind during the Venerable Manifestation, after letting that Four-Armed Golden Ape out in a moment, he could still store it back in.
However, right at this moment, the Status Panel suddenly popped up—【Solar Marrow Calamity-Transcending Heavenly Venerable senses the host's difficulty. Benefiting from the power remaining outside the realm, he can provide you with some assistance.】
Huh?
Su Chen's heart shook slightly, naturally consenting.
The next moment, the cyan-gold bead held in his hand suddenly shattered. Wisps of Azure Lightning Arcs submerged into his body like wandering dragons, darting into that nearly shattered lightning prison.
In an instant, the Violent Golden Ape causing massive destruction inside suddenly paused. As if sensing a natural enemy, it actually began to whimper.
Snap!
A nearly imperceptible electric arc landed on it. Seemingly inconspicuous, it howled as if being burned by fire and pricked by needles.
One after another, the Azure Lightning Arcs struck this Golden Ape so it had nowhere to hide, cowering in a corner.
And very quickly, it found the place where it wouldn't be struck by this thing, which was inside that controlling cage.
A strange power began to erode into its body. It subconsciously resisted, but looking at the wandering electric arcs outside, it could only endure it head-on.
Su Chen focused all his attention, striving to stimulate the power of the Nine Hells Thunder Evolution, until at a certain moment, as if reaching a certain limit.
Boom!
Blazing Golden Light violently surged out from his pupils. Boiling Elemental Energy headed straight for the firmament. The ground collapsed, and a terrifying power rose from within his body.
The Golden Light on his back condensed like substance, actually slowly growing a pair of solid arms. Formed from pure flames of light, with rough outlines, containing Unimaginable power.
"Phew... This kind of power..." Su Chen took a deep breath, feeling that power that seemed to burst him open. He actually had the feeling of when he was at the 8th-Tier, opening the Eight Heavenly Marks for the first time and being assisted by God-Ascension.
"What a terrifying amplification..." Su Chen looked down at the golden arms spreading out from his back. They contained explosive power, much greater than what his Main Body could exert.
"Great!" Su Chen couldn't help but grin, not wasting his long anticipation.
However, this kind of amplification that far exceeded himself also brought no small burden, and this time it wasn't just physical stamina consumption.
Su Chen attempted to deactivate the Sky-Scars and immediately felt a stinging pain spreading from his internal organs. He hurriedly deactivated the Heavenly Mark Blessing of the Nine Hells Thunder Evolution as well.
"The amplification of the Nine Hells Thunder Evolution is different from the Sky-Scars. If the physical strength isn't enough, it's very hard to endure. I must activate the Sky-Scars to be able to endure it." Su Chen pondered.
The amplification of the Sky-Scars came from the Mystic Tools and was transformed through the World-Slaying Manifestation. Previously, at the 8th-Tier, he only felt a physical stamina burden but didn't suffer physical Backlash.
But the Nine Hells Thunder Evolution was different. It wasn't purely an amplification. After all, the Nether Realm Creatures could also be released to act autonomously. In terms of amplification, it would naturally cause a greater impact on the body.
"But this isn't bad either." Su Chen didn't feel any disappointment. At worst, he would think of ways to continue enhancing the Nine Hells Thunder Evolution, or there was no harm in using it in combination with the Sky-Scars.
"I wonder if, under this situation now, I can defeat that Bearded Man." Su Chen extracted the Great Heaven Pill to recover his condition, spent some time, turned back to Five Pillar City, and returned to the property he purchased last time.
With a stir of his mind, the Formless Heavenly Gate appeared.
"There are still three chances. I have already consumed one. If this time doesn't work, there will only be the last one left. That last one, no matter what, must wait until I temper out three streams of Morning Fire before using it." Su Chen briefly took stock.
That Bearded Man had tempered out three streams of Morning Fire, and his Talent was even above Azure God. The intensity of his various Holy Class abilities was also bound to not be low.
Although he hoped to press the opponent against the ground and rub him, Su Chen didn't have absolute certainty of winning right now.
However, even if he couldn't win now, when he tempered out three streams of Morning Fire, he would definitely be able to defeat that Bearded Man.
"If I can win, taking a wisp of Origin Fire out to sell, no matter what, I should be able to scrape together enough for seven thousand, right."
This was also why he wanted to try again. If Ni Zhan showed resistance and wasn't willing to pay out a large sum of Faith Essence again in a short time.
Then he had to prepare a backup plan, to Evolving into an Azure God as soon as possible and "become" the Chosen.
Although the Origin Fire was also very important, matters had priorities and urgencies, requiring trade-offs.
Pondering in his heart, Su Chen stepped into it. After a bout of the world spinning, what entered his eyes was impressively a gray and withered Firmament and earth.
"I came directly to the desolate region?" Su Chen was astonished. He thought he would have to wait another month, guessing secretly: "Because the Trial has stepped onto the right track, no extra waiting time is given?"