"Defeat three dragons?"
Su Chen's heart stirred, and he could not help but ask, "What do you an?"
Lan Hao glanced back, acting as though he was about to share a great secret. In the narrow tal corridor, illuminated by the constant glow of lights on both sides and watched over by overhead surveillance caras, the two of them were completely alone.
After ensuring no one was around, Lan Hao finally explained in a hushed tone, "You saw it yourself that day. We were all favored by two spiritual dragons, but Wan Chen alone received three."
"Although this was rely an initial assessnt by half of the spirituality, it reveals quite a bit. Barring any accidents, he will undoubtedly hold the advantage."
Lan Hao's eyes flickered. "However, the spirituality of the Morning Star tier is not so lifeless object. If you, despite being favored by only two spiritual dragons, can defeat soone favored by three, you will prove your overwhelming strength. Naturally, the spirituality will view you in an entirely new light."
Su Chen suddenly understood. So there was an elimination chanism among those who had been acknowledged.
That likely explained why the Great Venerable had been so pleased when he defeated Hong Xuan.
"But I am only at the fourth tier..." Su Chen feigned hesitation.
"Lord Qing Cang seems to have a way." Lan Hao did not elaborate too much, fearing that his instigation would be too obvious. He wanted to make it seem like he was rely offering a helpful suggestion.
Changing the subject, he sighed, "However, this thod is truly not simple. Even where we co from, Wan Chen is considered absolutely outstanding."
He noticed Su Chen reveal a thoughtful expression.
Lan Hao added, "But if you can defeat Wan Chen and take his place, gaining the favor of three spiritual dragons, then when the spirituality rges into one, there is a massive chance you will beco the Chosen One."
As he spoke, fearing Su Chen might not know what a Chosen One was, he thoughtfully explained the uniqueness of the Morning Star tier and the imnse importance of the person chosen.
Su Chen appropriately displayed an expression of sudden realization mixed with deep yearning, along with a tiny trace of expectation. He asked, "After becoming the Chosen One, will I be able to beco Lord Qing Cang's student?"
This guy clearly wanted to goad him into fighting Wan Chen. Su Chen could more or less see through it, but he also wanted to use Lan Hao to learn more about the universe outside the Crimson Thunder Planet.
'Lord Qing Cang's student?' Lan Hao sneered inwardly. 'He truly is from a barren planet; his foresight is far too short-sighted.'
"Perhaps. However..." Lan Hao trailed off, seemingly hesitant to say more.
They had arrived at Su Chen's room. After scanning his biotrics to unlock the door, he entered a rather spacious living area fully equipped with everything he could need. The window on the wall offered a clear view of the outside world.
Only after they stepped inside did Lan Hao speak again. "To be honest, Lord Qing Cang specifically ordered not to tell you about these matters for the ti being."
"But since you and I hit it off so well, I might as well tell you."
This was not a complete lie. To prevent any unexpected mishaps, they had been forbidden from revealing too much information about the Crimson Fla Echoing Thunder Great Venerable to these locals.
However, in order to stoke the flas of ambition in Su Chen's heart, Lan Hao decided to reveal as much as he could. He whispered mysteriously, "If you beco the Chosen One of the Crimson Fla Echoing Thunder Great Venerable, you might actually catch the eye of the Ancient Bronze King
."
The Ancient Bronze King. Su Chen imdiately perked up. He truly knew very little about the outside world, which was why he had to be so incredibly cautious when dealing with these people. If he could bridge this information gap, he would be able to act with much more confidence.
"Is this Ancient Bronze King very powerful?" Su Chen asked tactfully, using his feigned ignorance to provoke the other man's desire to boast.
"Powerful?" Lan Hao almost dropped his facade entirely. He abruptly stood up and paced back and forth, looking extrely agitated. "He is far more than just powerful. He is simply—"
He hesitated, his mouth opening and closing repeatedly, before finally spitting out two words: "Beyond powerful!"
Su Chen was left speechless. Lan Hao's expression shifted; dealing with these country bumpkins was truly a hassle. He forced himself to explain patiently, "It is very difficult for to describe it in words. You will only be able to comprehend the absolute might of the Ancient Bronze King once you have so understanding of the Dust Star Sea."
"Dust Star Sea..." Su Chen seized upon another new term, once again putting on a confused expression.
Lan Hao frowned. Forget it. Since they were already on the topic, sharing so basic information with him shouldn't be a big problem.
"The so-called Dust Star Sea is a vast region that encompasses countless planets just like your Crimson Thunder Planet," he explained in slightly vague terms.
Su Chen rolled his eyes inwardly. 'Isn't that just a large star sector?'
Lan Hao continued, "Within it, the Royal Court stands as the primary ruling power, supported by the Five Great Sects as its pillars. The Ancient Bronze King is the absolute master of the Bronze Sect."
The Royal Court. The Five Great Sects. Su Chen pondered silently. Just from these few words, he could vividly imagine the sheer number of tangled factions and complex rivalries that must exist out there.
'And what role do the Eldritch Gods play in all this? Are they foreign invaders?'
'If that's the case, then Qing Cang and his group don't have much of a connection to the Royal Court. Could they have even co here behind the Royal Court's back?'
After speaking, Lan Hao frowned again, feeling that his explanation was far too shallow. However, words could hardly capture the vast, boundless expanse of the Dust Star Sea, the absolute might of the Royal Court, or the imnse grandeur of the Five Great Sects.
No matter how cleverly he phrased it, it would still sound like a sweeping generalization.
In the end, he simply stated bluntly, "Anyway, as long as you can catch the eye of the Ancient Bronze King, the so-called Holy Banquet on your planet and all its related troubles will cease to be an issue."
Hearing this, Su Chen could not help but feel a flicker of genuine interest. This Ancient Bronze King sounded like an incredibly massive, unshakeable pillar of support that he could rely on.
But the difficulty of clinging to such an ultimate backer was likely beyond imagination.
First, he had to beco the Chosen One of the Crimson Fla Echoing Thunder Great Venerable. The problem was, even if he did secure that position, whether he could actually stand before the King was another issue entirely.
For a nobody without any foundation like him, even if Qing Cang and the Bronze Sect accepted him, others might not simply sit by and watch.
After all, the Morning Star tier spots were strictly limited, with every position fiercely contested. If one faction claid it while another did not, wouldn't the losers suffer a massive disadvantage?
"Furthermore, there is one more thing." Lan Hao glanced at him. Even though there were only the two of them in the room, he lowered his voice even further. "Rumor has it that the Ancient Bronze King has split off a sliver of his consciousness, and it currently resides within Lord Qing Cang."
"If you defeat the three dragons against the odds, not only will you gain the spiritual favor of the Crimson Fla Echoing Thunder Great Venerable, but you'll also have a chance to perform in front of the Ancient King."
Split off a sliver of his consciousness? Su Chen froze slightly and could not help but ask, "Is this Morning Star tier truly so important that an Ancient King would split his own consciousness just for this?"
He recalled sothing he had heard from Xia Hanshi. The Crimson Fla Echoing Thunder Great Venerable seemingly had ties to a prominent figure. Was that figure the Ancient Bronze King?
"It is naturally important, but there is another reason why the Ancient King split his consciousness." Lan Hao practically laid all his cards on the table. "The previous titleholder of the Crimson Fla Echoing Thunder Great Venerable was the Ancient King's junior brother."
"Do you understand now? This is a heaven-defying advantage. If word of this were to spread, the entire Dust Star Sea would be in an uproar."
Benefits, advantages, a glorious future—he had laid everything out on the table. It was just challenging Wan Chen, after all. With Qing Cang watching over them, the difference in cultivation tiers could be neutralized, aning there was absolutely no danger.
He refused to believe this guy wouldn't be tempted.
"It truly is a heaven-defying advantage..." Su Chen echoed, sighing with deep emotion.
Lan Hao suddenly acted as if he had just snapped out of a trance, sighing helplessly, "Once I started talking, I ended up saying far too much."
"Brother Su, you absolutely must not leak a single word of what I've told you today. Otherwise, Lord Qing Cang will never forgive ."
"Don't worry. You and I hit it off so well, how could I ever betray you, Brother Lan?" Su Chen solemnly promised.
"As for defeating the three dragons against the odds, I've thought about it again, and it is indeed exceedingly difficult." Lan Hao hesitated, leaving the thought hanging.
Su Chen nodded in response. "I understand what you an, Brother Lan."
Only then was Lan Hao satisfied. He stayed and chatted about random things for a little while longer before finally leaving the room.
'The Royal Court. Sects. Ancient Bronze King. Junior brother. Split consciousness.' Su Chen silently digested the newly acquired information as he walked to the window. Outside, the ground below was rapidly shrinking.
Although he could not feel any vibrations, the spaceship had already taken off.
'If the Ancient King is truly watching, I might actually have a chance.' Su Chen's eyes flickered. 'But I can't just blindly trust Lan Hao's words alone.'
'As for this guy's true motive, is it really just to trick into sticking my neck out?'
Lan Hao had revealed all sorts of benefits and advantages, even telling him things that Qing Cang had strictly forbidden them from discussing. It all sounded wonderful on the surface.
But the crux of the matter was: if it was such a great opportunity, why didn't Lan Hao seize it for himself?
'From the looks of it, they aren't completely united either. Everyone has their own agenda. My decision to hide my strength earlier was correct; otherwise, these guys would have ganged up to target .' Su Chen rubbed his chin.
'First, I need to find a way to verify if the Ancient King truly tagged along.' As Su Chen pondered this, he began to fiddle with the Spiritual Pressure Bracelet in his hand.
The device was not difficult to use. Su Chen slipped it onto his wrist and followed the instructions Lan Hao had given him before leaving. In a corner of the room, he found an area on the floor engraved with a lightning bolt emblem.
The mont he stepped onto it, the tal bracelet on his wrist imdiately began to vibrate.
Symbols on its surface lit up one after another, projecting a three-dinsional hologram around the band. Imdiately after, web-like threads of energy shot outward. Thousands of glowing filants wove together in the air, forming a distinct, square-shaped zone.
Standing inside, Su Chen felt the gravity continuously shifting until it rapidly locked into a standard he was familiar with. Moreover, his ntal energy grew increasingly active.
"Tsk, this is genuinely convenient," Su Chen could not help but remark. The zone he was standing in served as the power supply for the bracelet. Maintaining this special auxiliary state consud a significant amount of energy.
It was difficult for a class-holder to fuel it purely with their own stamina, and the device's internal energy reserves wouldn't last very long either. Training inside a designated power supply zone like this was the optimal approach.
After taking a brief mont to adapt, Su Chen didn't imdiately start his training. Instead, he went out for a stroll and found Old Xia for a chat. He learned that they would arrive at the ruins in roughly ten days.
If they weren't traveling through the Nether Fog, which forced them to reduce their cruising speed, Qing Cang had claid they could have made the trip in a single day.
Even so, ten days was incredibly fast. Under normal circumstances, traveling from Yingfeng to the site of the ruins would take at least a month and a half.
'With a ti difference of over a month, will the other cities be able to deliver their Eldritch God power in ti?' Su Chen frowned. He didn't want to go around collecting them one by one later; if he did, he would probably have to explain himself to Qing Cang.
The Royal Court likely did not harbor a friendly attitude toward the Eldritch Gods or their powers, and Qing Cang was certainly no Old Xia.
"We'll just have to see how things play out," Old Xia replied. He hadn't expected the spaceship to be this fast either.
Su Chen then relayed so of the information he had gathered from Lan Hao to Xia Hanshi.
"Just as I suspected." Xia Hanshi didn't seem too surprised. "These people are not aligned with the Royal Court. Chong Jingtian had already guessed as much earlier, and he's been hesitating over whether or not to contact the Court."
"This Qing Cang has quite the impressive repertoire of thods. If he had shown a hostile and unyielding attitude right from the start, Chong Jingtian would have likely contacted the Royal Court's people ages ago."
Hearing this, Su Chen rely remained silent. After exchanging a few more words, he headed back to his room.
Over the next few days, he rarely stepped outside. He stayed cooped up in his room, entirely focused on developing his class progression.
He might have been perfectly content to sit still, but soone else was not. For the past few days, Lan Hao had been secretly observing him. He had fully expected Su Chen to be bursting with impatience and rushing off to challenge Wan Chen imdiately.
Yet, to his dismay, the kid had only left his room a handful of tis, each outing lasting no longer than ten minutes. The rest of the ti, he stayed hidden away, acting as if he had completely forgotten about the matter.
'What the hell is this guy doing? Does he really not want to beco the Chosen One? Has he simply accepted his fate?'
Lan Hao gritted his teeth in secret. If this approach failed, he would have to find another thod. He couldn't afford to waste any more ti.
On their fourth day aboard the spaceship, he finally lost his patience and knocked on Su Chen's door.
"Brother Lan?" Su Chen looked at him with an expression of complete surprise. "What's wrong?"
"That matter I spoke to you about previously?" Lan Hao tried to be tactful. After all, if he marched right up and demanded to know why Su Chen hadn't challenged Wan Chen yet, even a fool would realize sothing was fishy.
His main goal was to figure out exactly what was going on in Su Chen's head.
"Oh, that matter. I already brought it up with Lord Wan Chen, but he seed a bit reluctant," Su Chen replied hesitantly.
"A bit reluctant?" Lan Hao exclaid in shock. He had assud the holdup was on Su Chen's end, but it turned out this guy had already brought it up.
"Are you serious?" Lan Hao instantly grew suspicious, then hurriedly explained himself, "It's not that I don't believe you, but why would Wan Chen refuse?"
Su Chen shrugged helplessly. "He said that since we're all friends, a challenge like that would only hurt our relationship. He felt it was completely unnecessary."
"Unnecessary?" Lan Hao's reaction was intensely dramatic. He stared in absolute disbelief. "He's blatantly looking down on you! He said sothing like that, and you just took it without any reaction?"
"What reaction was I supposed to have?" Su Chen sighed deeply. "What kind of status do I even possess?"
"You—how can you say you don't have status?" Seeing him act so defeated, Lan Hao looked utterly exasperated. "Lord Qing Cang intends to take you in as his disciple. Even though Wan Chen has an extraordinary background, he has no right to speak to you like that."
"Co on, I'm taking you to see him." Half of Lan Hao's indignation was actually genuine. He had thought Su Chen was simply too scared, but it turned out that bastard Wan Chen was just too arrogant.
He had wasted several precious days because of this—how could he not be furious?
'He's in such a rush...' Su Chen's eyes flashed subtly. Watching Lan Hao storm off toward Wan Chen's room, he quickly followed behind.
Only to find that Wan Chen wasn't in his quarters. After querying the spaceship's artificial intelligence, they learned that he was currently in the upper command deck with Qing Cang.
"Perfect timing." Lan Hao acutely realized that this was an excellent opportunity neither side could possibly refuse.
His righteous indignation instantly swelled. "Lord Qing Cang is there too. This is the perfect chance to let him hear this. I want to see what right this Wan Chen has to sprout such nonsense."
He led the way, marching straight for the command deck. He didn't actually have authorization to enter, but after he announced his identity, Qing Cang opened the door.
There were quite a few people inside. Qing Cang, Wan Chen, Lin Yue, and even Chong Jingtian were present, seemingly in the middle of discussing sothing important.
"Lan Hao?" Qing Cang swept his gaze over, then noticed Su Chen trailing behind him. He frowned slightly. "What is it?
"
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