"Heh..." Chong Jingtian sneered, a hint of disdain in his voice. "No one asked for your permission."
"Do you really think Qing Cang is actually kind just because he looks amiable? That he agreed just because I casually brought it up?"
Zhou Yanwu's expression shifted unpredictably. This was exactly what he couldn't figure out. How did Chong Jingtian command such imnse respect?
"It's because... of Su Chen," Chong Jingtian said, casting a glance at him. "Qing Cang doesn't actually care about what happens to you all afterward. In fact, he might not even profit from this deal."
"It's simply because Su Chen caught his eye, which is why he gave a modicum of face."
Su Chen... Zhou Yanwu truly never expected that, in the end, everything would circle back to Su Chen.
He originally thought that once Qing Cang and the others arrived, Su Chen would lose his value. Even if the anomalous phenona he triggered when confronting the spirituality were astonishing, without a powerful backer or foundation, the title of the chosen one would have eluded him.
Yet, he still managed to catch Qing Cang's eye—
"Stop overthinking it... The deal has been struck, and this is the only path you have left." Chong Jingtian punctured the last sliver of hope in Zhou Yanwu's heart. "I know you might still want to contact the Royal Court."
"But you also need to ask yourself—what value do you possess that would make the Royal Court stick their necks out for you?"
Zhou Yanwu stared at him coldly, but soon, a wave of sheer helplessness washed over him. It was true... what value did they even have?
Chong Jingtian shook his head inwardly, feeling a profound sense of sorrow. As if recalling sothing, Zhou Yanwu adjusted his emotions and said in a deep voice, "If those people knew about the anomalous phenona Su Chen triggered when he directly confronted the spirituality back then, what would they think?"
Chong Jingtian's gaze turned chilling. "That would be perfect," he replied. "Lord Qing Cang would likely value Su Chen even more."
Despite his words, Chong Jingtian still harbored so concerns. Wan Chen and Lin Yue got along well with Su Chen partly because of Qing Cang's attitude, and partly because Su Chen posed no threat to them.
If the truth were exposed, would Qing Cang support him to the bitter end?
Chong Jingtian couldn't be certain. The man's previous words still echoed in his ears—no matter how high his class compatibility was, it was useless if his talent was insufficient.
Even if he thought this in his heart, he naturally would not show any signs of weakness when facing Zhou Yanwu.
Zhou Yanwu's cheek twitched faintly. Right at that mont, Jiang Shumo hurried over. Disregarding everything else, he spoke with clear urgency. "Chief, Tianqing's transport ship has been intercepted by Xia Jie."
Hearing this, Chong Jingtian was montarily bewildered before his brow twitched. The power of the Eerie Gods!
His expression shifted slightly, and he hurriedly followed Jiang Shumo as they rushed out.
anwhile, a blue, hamrhead-shaped transport ship had parked on one side of the settlent. Before the people on board could even disembark, they saw Bronze Cult troops gathering around them.
The pilot's face was etched with panic. Over the communication channel, the settlent's dispatcher strictly ordered them not to make any sudden moves and to wait for further instructions.
"Commander Xia..."
Xia Hanshi looked at his clansman before him and asked with a frown, "Why have you brought n to surround this transport ship?"
There was no arrogance on Xia Jie's face. The old man in front of him shared the sa class rank as he did and was not to be underestimated. He explained in a deep voice, "My n detected the aura of an Eerie God on this vessel."
Xia Hanshi's heart sank slightly. This was exactly the situation he had wanted to avoid. However, after learning that the Royal Court's people were outside, he hadn't dared to leave the transport ship lingering in the distance.
After all, he had brought Su Chen over. If they were discovered by the Royal Court, it would be all over.
"It is like this. The Eerie God's aura you ntioned cos from items storing the power of Eerie Gods. I asked them to deliver these," Xia Hanshi explained.
"You asked them to deliver them?" Xia Jie's brows furrowed slightly, his gaze unavoidably turning scrutinizing. "Within the Bronze Cult, anything related to the Eerie Gods is classified as taboo."
Xia Hanshi narrowed his eyes, exuding a trace of danger. "This is not the Bronze Cult. After all, nobody even cares about the Holy Banquet here."
Xia Jie's face grew cold, yet he hesitated internally. This guy seed to be Su Chen's forr master.
Over the past while, he had seen Su Chen hanging out with him on more than one occasion.
If he were to clash with him...
"Commander Xia!" Chong Jingtian pushed his way through the crowd and stepped in, shielding Xia Hanshi behind him. He looked confused. "What is going on here?"
Xia Jie reigned in his expression, using the out he was given, and repeated the reason once more.
"This was my oversight. I failed to inform you in advance," Chong Jingtian explained after hearing him.
Su Chen had also heard the commotion. Disembarking from his spaceship, he blended into the crowd.
'It seems that Eerie Gods and anything related to them are universally despised no matter where you go,' he thought, glancing at the Bronze Cult troops who were treating the situation as if facing a mortal enemy. He hadn't expected the reaction to be this severe.
Right at that mont, his expression shifted slightly. The gathered crowd parted on their own accord, revealing Qing Cang's arrival.
He had only exited the tal corridor in the middle of the night yesterday and had been resting until now.
"What happened?" He stepped into the clearing and asked for the situation. Xia Jie had no choice but to explain the reason once again.
"Items related to an Eerie God?" Qing Cang raised an eyebrow, though his reaction wasn't particularly grand as he looked toward the transport ship before him.
Chong Jingtian explained, "These are items we've collected over many years of fighting against Eerie God cultists. We transported them here to see if we could use them to flush out those hidden cultists."
"Oh?" Qing Cang looked sowhat surprised. "You have ways to utilize the power of these Eerie Gods?"
Chong Jingtian gave a helpless explanation. "We're just trying our luck."
"I see." Qing Cang didn't seem to care much. After pondering for a mont, he asked, "Are you selling these Eerie God powers?"
"I can offer a price..." He paused mid-thought, realizing that making an offer might be difficult.
The standard currency of the Dust Star Sea wasn't used here, and what Chong Jingtian's group desperately needed was to resolve the Grand Banquet problem—a problem he couldn't fix.
'Qing Cang wants to buy these Eerie God powers?'
Within the crowd, Su Chen couldn't help but feel astounded. 'There are ways to utilize these Eerie God powers in the outside world?'
"Uh..." Chong Jingtian hesitated for a mont before deflecting, "This is our final hope."
Qing Cang sighed but didn't push the matter. He rely told Xia Jie, "You don't need to keep such a tight watch."
Xia Jie nodded and ordered his subordinates to leave. And just as Qing Cang finished dealing with the matter and prepared to re-enter the tal corridor filled with raging fire and punitive lightning...
Chong Jingtian suddenly called out to him. "My Lord..."
He lowered his voice. "There is a very important matter."
"Oh?" Qing Cang looked surprised. After a brief thought, he invited him into the spaceship.
"Thank goodness nothing happened." Su Chen breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the crowd gradually disperse.
"You guys seem to have stockpiled quite a bit of Eerie God power."
A voice sounded right next to his ear. It was Wan Chen, who had appeared beside him at so unknown point.
This guy always wore a deadpan expression, yet he never missed an opportunity for gossip. Su Chen grumbled inwardly before hearing his advice. "When you leave, you should gather so. Items related to Eerie Gods are quite precious and can fetch a good price."
Su Chen's heart stirred, and he couldn't help but feel intrigued. "Around here, we avoid Eerie Gods like the plague. Do their remnants and sealed powers actually have other uses?"
"Naturally," Wan Chen nodded. "There are people who can utilize the power of an Eerie God to create things beneficial for class advancent."
"Hm?" Su Chen's body jolted, and the shock on his face was entirely genuine.
The class advancent process could be cheated. He had seen this early on with Zhang Hengyu.
However, such thods weren't common in Yingfeng. At most, they could temporarily boost ntal or physical attributes, making their applications highly limited.
But in the outside world, it seed these thods were far more widespread, and they even relied on the power of Eerie Gods.
Wan Chen felt that Su Chen's shock was perfectly normal. He explained, "Class requirents can be incredibly bizarre. Even with resources and manpower, so requirents are simply too difficult to et, and forcefully advancing can negatively impact your abilities."
"But by harnessing the power of an Eerie God, there is a chance to distort the cognitive perception of a class's pseudo-spirituality."
Su Chen actually knew what this so-called pseudo-spirituality was. He had happened to hear Lin Yue ntion it recently. It was a rather popular theory in the Dust Star Sea.
In essence, it stated that the mont you learned all the information regarding a class, a type of pseudo-spirituality associated with that class would be born within you.
This pseudo-spirituality acted as an internal and external supervisor, comprehensively monitoring whether the class requirents were fulfilled. If one could influence this pseudo-spirituality, then class advancent would no longer be an issue.
Su Chen had been quite amazed at the ti. Didn't this perfectly explain the situation with his system panel recording classes? It was basically materializing this pseudo-spirituality. "However, it isn't easily accomplished." Seeing his interest, Wan Chen dialed back his words. "This isn't a conventional thod. The power of Eerie Gods is highly dangerous and carries significant risks. It's hard to say what kind of side effects it might cause."
"There is no shortage of people who have been corrupted by Eerie God power and fallen into depravity. But in the end, there are always those willing to take the risk, which is why these items remain quite valuable."
"I see..." Su Chen mused, sighing softly at the realization that the outside world was truly a vastly wider domain.
Using this as a springboard, the topic shifted to the Eerie Gods. Su Chen asked nurous questions and gleaned a wealth of information.
Eerie God cultists were also active in the Dust Star Sea. Only the core territories of the major factions could be considered truly safe.
The most critical detail was that Eerie Gods varied in strength, and the Eerie Gods that appeared on Crimson Thunder Star were all highly renowned, major Eerie Gods.
"It isn't that your Crimson Thunder Star is uniquely plagued by disasters..." Wan Chen explained. "It's because many minor Eerie Gods in the Nether Realm lack the capability to corrupt across planets. Those with such power are all major Eerie Gods."
It was a sort of survivorship bias. Su Chen naturally understood the logic.
Inside the spaceship, Qing Cang's expression changed drastically after hearing Chong Jingtian's account. He abruptly stood up and demanded, "Did you really see such a person?"
"Yes..." Seeing Qing Cang's intense reaction, Chong Jingtian grew even more suspicious. Had Xia Hanshi really been the one who discovered him?
His expression turned solemn. "I went out on patrol last night and spotted this person from a great distance away."
"The sense of threat emanating from him was overwhelming. I didn't dare get closer, so I only caught a rough glimpse."
Finally, Chong Jingtian asked cautiously, "Who is this person?"
"Ni Chuan... a man from the Royal Court." Qing Cang's face looked grim. He didn't believe Chong Jingtian was lying. Having never left Crimson Thunder Star, the man couldn't possibly know Ni Chuan's physical characteristics if he hadn't seen him.
But the problem was, why would the Royal Court's people co here, and how did they arrive so quickly?
"Do the other three cities also possess ans of contacting the Royal Court?" Qing Cang asked in a low voice.
Chong Jingtian understood his implication and imdiately clarified. "Fierce Sun and Tianqing have absolutely no knowledge of the stone tablet. At the very beginning, Yuandu and I were also unaware that the class on the tablet belonged to the Morning Star rank. It definitely wasn't us contacting them in secret."
Although he told a white lie, the fundantal truth remained that they hadn't been the ones to do it.
"If it wasn't you..." After a brief mont of thought, Qing Cang mostly cleared Chong Jingtian and his group of suspicion.
Judging by their travel speed, the Royal Court's departure ti must have been right around the ti he left. Even if soone on Crimson Thunder Star had contacted the Royal Court, the timing was far too coincidental.
Qing Cang didn't finish his sentence, his face darkening as he suppressed his brewing anger. Before arriving, he had never shared these exact coordinates with anyone.
"Then, right now..." Chong Jingtian couldn't help but ask. "We can't afford to wait anymore." Qing Cang paced back and forth, his eyes flashing. Stopping abruptly, he said in a deep voice, "Follow ."
Completely bewildered, Chong Jingtian followed Qing Cang out of the spaceship at a brisk pace. He watched the man approach the tal corridor spewing crimson flas, but he didn't enter.
Then, witnessing Qing Cang's actions, his expression filled with shock. What was he doing?
"How are Eerie Gods born?" Hearing Su Chen's question, Wan Chen pondered for a mont. Just as he was about to answer, his gaze shifted, and his face suddenly stiffened. He stared blankly in a certain direction, too stunned to speak.
Su Chen was waiting for his answer, only to realize that the other man seed to have witnessed sothing utterly unbelievable.
Following his line of sight, Su Chen's heart skipped a beat as well.
He saw the usually aloof and ethereal Qing Cang kneeling right in front of the crimson-fire corridor.
'Has the torture driven him insane?'
Su Chen subconsciously thought this, only to notice a blazing light erupt in Wan Chen's eyes as the man blurred forward to get closer.
It felt like sothing major was about to happen. Su Chen had a premonition. The number of people gathering around was steadily increasing, including Xia Hanshi, who had been dealing with the Eerie God items from Tianqing, and Zhou Yanwu, who wore a solemn expression.
Qing Cang didn't shy away from the gazes of others. Kneeling on the ground, his voice rang out loudly, echoing far into the distance. "Master, the people from the Royal Court have arrived. I implore you for your aid."
Mas...ter?
Su Chen's breathing hitched slightly. The Ancient King was actually here?
And he had already slipped into the ruins?
Wan Chen breathed heavily, a fiery light gleaming in his eyes as he silently clenched his fists. Xia Hanshi's gaze sharpened. The Ancient Bronze King?
After Qing Cang's words fell, there was initially no reaction. The surrounding crowd broke into expressions of doubt and surprise.
But right at that mont, a thunderous roar erupted from the earth. The crimson tal ground surrounding the ruin's entrance began trembling violently. Spiderweb-like chasms cracked open across the surface before it completely shattered like a fragile eggshell, the destruction spreading rapidly in all directions.
Rumble!
Crimson magma shattered its restraints, and pillars of fire entwined with violent arcs of lightning shot ten thousand ters into the sky. The heavens were instantly engulfed by a crimson thunderstorm, with pythons of electricity tearing through the clouds to interweave with the hellfire below.
Everyone was horrified, but Qing Cang had already risen to his feet. Azure wind currents suddenly exploded outward, enveloping every single person in the settlent, as well as the transport ships and vehicles, carrying them backward with an irresistible force.
At the epicenter of the fire and lightning purgatory, the ground lted away. Like a subterranean dragon turning over, amidst the dreadful screeching of warping tal, a colossal, magnificent shadow smashed through the rock layers from deep underground and surged skyward.
The overturned earth and stone transford into a torrential rain of molten rock. The resulting shockwaves kicked up massive clouds of dust.
Under the dumbfounded gazes of the crowd, a massive, crimson-gold cauldron with three legs, two handles, and dragon engravings—standing over ten thousand ters tall—erged from the purgatory of fire and lightning.
It appeared to have endured a brutal and devastating battle. Its tallic luster was dim, and its surface was covered in dents and fissures, revealing fractured chanical structures within.
A scarlet fluid composed of magma and liquid lightning coursed across its exterior. One of the cauldron's legs had been mostly snapped off, with congealed molten tal tumors hanging from the remaining stump.
Even so, a sense of boundless, overwhelming majesty washed over the onlookers, causing their breath to catch in their throats.
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