Qing Cang's tone was calm. He continued to look down at the tall buildings and streets below, stating, "My martial uncle, the junior brother of the Bronze Ancient King, once held the Morning Star rank class, the Red Fla Echoing Thunder Exalt. I have co on my master's orders to retrieve his class spirituality."
Pausing there, Qing Cang seed to be giving the three of them ti to process the information.
Chong Jingtian's heart sank. Sure enough, they had co for the Exalt. However, the three of them had prepared for this scenario. Feigning just the right amount of surprise and confusion, he said, "The Red Fla Echoing Thunder Exalt? We have never heard of him. But we have heard of the Morning Star rank. Ten years ago, investigators from the Royal Court seed to have co for exactly this reason. We helped them investigate for a long ti, but yielded absolutely nothing."
Qing Cang turned around, seemingly unsurprised by this response. He slowly said, "A short while ago, the Red Fla Echoing Thunder Exalt should have acknowledged two individuals. My master sensed this."
"Those capable of being acknowledged are not simple people. As the most powerful faction on this planet, do you gentlen truly know nothing?"
Chong Jingtian felt a chill in his heart. 'Is that Bronze Ancient King really so formidable that he can sense sothing from so far away?'
But outwardly, a look of sudden realization dawned on his face. He exchanged a glance with Zhou Yanwu, as if confirming sothing, before saying, "Are you referring to that half stone slab?"
"We only discovered it a few years ago and had no idea what it was at first. We only made so discoveries recently. If we had known it was this so-called Morning Star rank class, we would have contacted the Royal Court long ago."
Qing Cang chuckled. It was unclear whether he believed them or not, but he replied, "Not contacting the Royal Court isn't necessarily a bad thing."
Chong Jingtian and the other two could not help but feel stunned. 'What does that an?'
Imdiately after, Qing Cang demanded, "Since that is the case, please hand over the spirituality. I will also be taking those two acknowledged individuals with ."
He wanted to take the spirituality right away—leaving no room for negotiation.
Chong Jingtian's mind raced. He did not respond directly, simply asking, "Taking away the acknowledged individuals, may I ask..."
The three companions beside Qing Cang secretly shook their heads. 'These guys sure have a lot of questions. Do they think we would plot to murder them?'
"You do not need to worry about that," Qing Cang explained with a smile. "Although they have not been chosen by the spirituality, those who have been acknowledged are still quite valuable. I will take them back and nurture them well."
"In that case..." Chong Jingtian gritted his teeth and said, "To be honest with you, the Evil God believers on our planet are currently plotting a Holy Banquet. We are in imminent peril. Could we ask for your assistance?"
A Holy Banquet. Qing Cang's expression shifted slightly. 'Has it already reached this stage?'
His three young companions also looked sowhat surprised.
Qing Cang took a deep look at Chong Jingtian and the others. His expression smoothed over as he spoke in a neutral tone, "This is not a transaction. I ca on my master's orders. I will take the spirituality, and I will take the people."
Whether you agree or not. Chong Jingtian and the others naturally understood the unspoken threat behind his words.
Lan Hao shook his head and interjected, "A Holy Banquet summons an Evil God. Blocking it requires an enormous price. You are surrounded by the Nether Fog, which is incredibly troubleso to clear. Even if you block it this ti, there will just be a next ti."
He stopped just short of bluntly telling them to peacefully wait for death.
"However, I can take you, along with your families and friends, away from here," Qing Cang offered at the right mont.
'These people possess quite decent strength. It would be a waste for them to die here.'
None of the three locals voiced their stance on this proposal, though their expressions betrayed shifting thoughts.
After a mont, Chong Jingtian finally spoke, offering a bitter smile. "Gentlen, I am afraid you cannot take this spirituality away just yet."
"Oh?" Qing Cang narrowed his eyes, a trace of chilling intent flashing within them. "Gentlen, did I not make myself clear enough, or are you overthinking things?"
"There is sothing you do not know," Chong Jingtian quickly explained. "That stone slab was split in two. We only have half of it in our possession. If we are talking about spirituality, I fear it has also been divided into two."
"Is that so?" Qing Cang was genuinely surprised; he hadn't expected this. He could not help but voice his suspicion, "Even with only half remaining, the spirituality can still acknowledge people?"
"At this point, why would I deceive you?" Chong Jingtian sighed helplessly. He added, "However, we do know the location of the other half. It will simply take so ti to retrieve."
"Take so ti..." Qing Cang fell silent. He faintly suspected that these n were trying to stall until the Holy Banquet began, forcing him to call for reinforcents.
'But they must surely consider the consequences of trying to use like that.'
"I want the first half of the spirituality now," Qing Cang demanded in a low voice, his gaze taking on a more scrutinizing edge.
"We will prepare it right away," Chong Jingtian imdiately agreed.
Qing Cang delivered a harsh warning, "Let be clear upfront. I am not a bloodthirsty man, but if I fail to complete my master's orders, I hope you will not bla for being ruthless."
"We understand," Chong Jingtian nodded.
Seeing that their expressions remained normal, not seeming like they were intentionally delaying, Qing Cang's tone softened slightly. "I want to see those two acknowledged individuals."
"No problem," Chong Jingtian nodded first, then said with a helpless sigh, "However, I am afraid you will only be able to see one."
.
"Why?"
Facing yet another unexpected complication, Qing Cang could not help but feel a rising sense of irritation.
"One of them is dead." Not knowing if the other party had so ans of verifying the truth, Chong Jingtian could only be honest.
Wan Chen and his two companions twitched their brows, exchanging glances.
"Dead?" Hearing this, Qing Cang was sowhat surprised, but his brow actually smoothed out. This had nothing to do with him; it happened before he arrived, so his master would not bla him.
"Then I will just see the one."
Qing Cang's indifferent reaction surprised Chong Jingtian a little, but he also breathed a sigh of relief. "No problem."
"Also," Qing Cang added, "Since half of the spirituality can produce an acknowledged person, let Wan Chen and the others try it first."
Chong Jingtian looked at the three young n, his heart sinking to rock bottom. He vaguely guessed that this guy not only wanted to take away the spirituality but also wanted to take the opportunity to see if his own people could gain its acknowledgnt.
'Does Su Chen still have a chance?' he could not help but wonder. Outwardly, he nodded, "No problem. We have hidden that object quite deeply, so we might need you to wait a little while."
Qing Cang stared at them intently. After a long silence, he finally said, "Alright."
Having received his response, Chong Jingtian and Zhou Yanwu prepared to take their leave first, leaving only Shi Yunzhou behind to accompany the guests.
Unexpectedly, Qing Cang said, "Just drop us off here. Notify us once you are ready; our tracks will be easy to find."
"I would like to experience the local customs and culture here."
These words caught Chong Jingtian quite off guard. Naturally, he would not refuse. After making the arrangents, he hurriedly returned to the eting room in the Judgnt Court.
"How did it go?" Wu Chenpei asked imdiately.
Chong Jingtian's expression was grim as he quickly relayed the gist of their conversation.
"The Nether Fog actually poses such a threat?" Chong Jingtian was only halfway through when everyone's expressions changed.
"The Royal Court claid to have a solution, but we will discuss that later," Chong Jingtian swiftly skipped past the topic and recounted the rest of the events.
"Sure enough, they ca for the Exalt," Wu Chenpei sighed. "It seems this Bronze Ancient King is the 'big shot' Hong Xuan ntioned."
"Just how much does your Yuandu know?" Chong Jingtian's expression suddenly turned cold and fierce. "There were four investigators who ca back then, not three! The people who cleaned up the scene were from Yuandu. Did you not find a corpse?"
"How exactly did you get in contact with that Hong family?"
Wu Chenpei's heart trembled. He shook his head, "Now is not the ti to point fingers over this. They want to take the spirituality but refuse to help us drive away the Evil God. What do we do?"
"Qing Cang can take us away..." Zhou Yanwu suddenly spoke up.
"Shut up!" Chong Jingtian rebuked sharply, glaring at Zhou Yanwu. "We have been supported by Yingfeng and its subordinate cities until now. We share in their honor and disgrace, their life and death! Do not ntion this matter again!"
Zhou Yanwu scoffed coldly, the others wearing subtle expressions.
Chong Jingtian looked back at Wu Chenpei. "Can your Yuandu contact any other people from the Royal Court?"
"Contact who? The Hong family?" Wu Chenpei laughed bitterly. "And tell them Hong Xuan was killed?"
"According to the original plan, a chosen person needed to be born, and then the vessel holding the spirituality had to be destroyed for us to succeed. But now, the people from the Royal Court have arrived... Sigh."
"Then what about Su Chen? Doesn't he have a high chance of becoming the chosen person?" Shi Yunzhou pointed out.
"If it were you, bringing your own people to seize the initiative, only to suddenly find that soone you could effortlessly kill had beaten you to it, would you treat them seriously? Or would you simply strike them down?" Zhou Yanwu asked evenly.
Everyone fell silent. Chong Jingtian felt a profound sense of powerlessness and could only say, "Let's stall for now. We will eventually have to head to the ruins to rge the spirituality into one. We know far too little about them; we need to find a way to figure out more."
"In addition, no one is to ntion Su Chen's situation, nor the vision of the three dragons."
"If nothing else can be done, sending Su Chen out under the identity of an acknowledged person can still be considered preserving a sliver of hope."
Zhou Yanwu narrowed his eyes, while Chong Jingtian shifted his gaze to the end of the table. "Old Xia, they want to see Su Chen. Go and inform him."
"Also, Lu Kai and Holy Envoy Wu, during this period, I hope you two do not leave our sight."
"Now is the ti to work together; we won't stab you in the back," Wu Chenpei replied with veiled sarcasm. The others paid it no mind, only feeling a heavy weight in their hearts.
Su Chen had long since returned to his residence. Down in the basent, he sat cross-legged on the floor, bare-chested. Faint energy fluctuations rippled across the surface of his lean, muscular body, dissipating into the air like invisible waves.
Su Chen seed to have entered a bizarre state. The energy fluctuations erupting from his body grew increasingly violent until, at a certain mont, the ripples suddenly stagnated before collapsing outward.
Su Chen abruptly opened his eyes, exhaling a breath of murky air.
'It should be this kind of feeling, but I still failed to succeed...' he pondered to himself.
Lately, every ti he finished training and his body was in a weakened state, he would attempt to fuse his classes.
At first, he had absolutely no clue. Later, he sought out Qin Qingfeng a few tis and vaguely grasped so of the underlying principles. This had deeply shocked Old Qin, simply because Su Chen's progress was far too fast.
Su Chen was certainly not the first person to ask him about class fusion, but no matter how much others listened to his explanations, they struggled to find the right path.
Su Chen himself knew that if he hadn't already taken the Inverse Originator class, he probably wouldn't have figured it out so quickly either.
'It should be about ti. Without the assistance of external items, I estimate this is the furthest I can go.'
Su Chen rested for a mont and opened his interface, preparing to use the guidance bestowed by the Scarlet Essence.
With his preparations complete, he willed it to activate experintally. He imdiately noticed the difference as a bizarre power of unknown origin erupted deep within his body.
His previously dormant spiritual power rapidly flared to life. His body's cells seed stimulated, and arcs of black lightning surged across the surface of his skin.
Amidst the crackling and popping of electricity, Su Chen felt the two distinct forces within his body turning restless.
'This is the feeling.' Su Chen's gaze sharpened, and he hastily held his breath and focused his mind. Fortunately, he had spent the last dozen days experiencing this; otherwise, he truly would have been at a total loss.
This guiding force was incredibly wondrous. He felt the barrier between his spirit and flesh significantly weakened. If fusing classes for a normal professional was like mixing water and stone,
Then, after the weakening effects of his Inverse Originator class, Su Chen's process was like mixing water and clay. Even without guidance, he could attempt to fuse them on his own, though the ti it would take would likely be imnsely long.
But now, the guiding force acted like a massive stirring rod, forcefully churning the two elents together until they blended in perfect harmony.
Miraculous changes occurred within his body. The Astral Court Imperishable Armor activated autonomously, gradually enveloping his entire body. As spiritual power mingled into it, wisps of scarlet lightning radiated outward.
'Is this class fusion?' Su Chen could not help but look down at his hands. Even though he was currently in a weakened state, an unending stream of power from an unknown source kept surging forth from his body.
At the sa ti, it rapidly squeezed every last drop of remaining stamina and spiritual power from his body. The consumption rate was equally astronomical. No wonder Hong Xuan had treated this as his trump card.
Furthermore, it was a dual drain on both his stamina and spirit. Even sustained by the Glutton class, it would be difficult to maintain for very long.
Unexpectedly, a prompt popped up on his interface—
[Under the host's guidance, the Mantra Sovereign and Calamity Patroller have entered a fusion state. The abilities of each class are massively enhanced. You have acquired the Fusion Ability—Calamity of the Mantra: The consumption of offensive mantras against enemies is significantly reduced. Note: Only usable in the fusion state.]
'It actually fused a new ability? Just like Hong Xuan back then?'
But soon, he felt the fusion becoming unstable. Clearly, relying solely on the guiding force was not enough to maintain this fusion state for long.
'Now is the ti. Strike while the iron is hot!'
Su Chen reacted swiftly. Reaching into his storage space, he pulled out the Branch of the World Tree. Without the slightest hesitation, he plunged it straight into his chest with a squelch.
Bizarrely, not a single drop of blood spilled from the wound. The jade-like Branch of the World Tree gradually lted, sinking entirely into his body.
And the fusion state that had been on the verge of collapsing was seemingly nailed firmly in place, becoming incomparably stable.
Myriad Phenona, Advance!
With all the requirents t, Su Chen imdiately chose to advance!
In an instant, white light erupted from his body. This class advancent did not bring any pain; rather, it felt as though an invisible bridge was being forged within him.
[Successfully advanced to Myriad Phenona. You have acquired the Class Ability—Fusion: Fuses spiritual and physical classes.]
[You have received an additional reward. The self-consumption rate while in the fusion state is significantly reduced.]
The advancent process quickly concluded, and Su Chen's body gradually cald down. Looking at the description on his interface, he realized that with the Myriad Phenona's class ability, fusion was no longer an intermittent state left to chance.
After resting briefly and squeezing the accumulated nutrients from his Glutton class to recover so of his condition, he tried once more. With a single thought, he instantly entered the fusion state.
Crackle! Arcs of electricity shot outward. The now-solidified Imperishable Armor covered his entire body. Spiritual power circulated through him, binding with his cells to produce a wondrous transformation.
'So this is the fusion state...'
He carefully analyzed the sensation, just about to study his fusion ability and the extent to which its consumption had been reduced, when his gaze suddenly narrowed. He then relaxed, waving his hand to swing the door of the gravity chamber wide open.
Whoosh. Almost simultaneously, a gaunt figure appeared.
"Teacher," he called out.
Xia Hanshi stood at the open door of the gravity chamber, his eyes narrowing slightly. 'This kid...'
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