"Tsk..."
As soon as Su Chen tried, he realized it was no simple task. Wrapping his spiritual energy around the Nether Realm Stone felt like pushing against a natural, invisible wall of resistance.
The consumption was especially terrifying when it ca to the Nether Realm Mother Stone.
Su Chen continuously activated his Glutton ability to convert his stamina into spiritual energy. Yet, even so, he still could not take away a portion of what he had unearthed today.
Although they were only Child Stones, a rough estimate placed their value at around two to three million star coins.
"What a pity..." Su Chen sighed helplessly. If he couldn't take them out, there was simply nothing he could do about it. The next ti he entered the Nether Realm, he would just appear in a random area covered by the fireworks, not here.
Had his physical class not already reached the fifth tier, granting him abundant stamina to convert into a massive amount of spiritual energy, the amount he could bring out would have been even smaller.
After a mont of thought, he gathered the raw ores he couldn't take with him and carried them out of the mine.
A group of Nether Realm creatures had gathered at the mine's entrance again. Just like before, they scattered in all directions the mont they saw him erge.
Only one creature hesitated and stayed behind. It was about two ters tall, completely covered in pitch-black fur, with a single horizontal eye on its forehead.
'Is that the black ape?' Su Chen looked at it. It was one of the workers from his previous assembly line.
It still sowhat resembled a monkey, and at the very least, didn't have any grotesque appendages. On a whim, he simply tossed all the Nether Realm Stones he couldn't take with him over to it.
He had already realized that the fundantal reason these Nether Realm creatures occupied this place was to feed on sothing contained within the Nether Realm Stones.
The black ape's expression filled with excitent. It snatched up the stones, glanced at him, and then shoved them into its mouth, swallowing them whole.
Su Chen couldn't tell if it was an illusion, but after the creature swallowed the Nether Realm Stones, the sowhat blurry fur on its body seed to grow denser and more substantial.
"Thanks..." A faint fluctuation of spiritual energy transmitted the ssage.
'It actually thanked ...' Su Chen felt a bit amused but didn't take it to heart. He waved his hand and vanished, enveloped by the remaining Nether Realm Stones.
Back on the floating island, Su Chen opened his eyes and instinctively looked in front of him. Sure enough, a pile of Nether Realm Stones had appeared.
"Truly miraculous..." Su Chen couldn't help but marvel. The Nether Realm seed to exist in a liminal space between illusion and reality.
"The place where all souls return to ruin... how interesting."
He reached out, shoved all the Nether Realm Stones into his storage space, and sent a ssage to Ming Lin.
After tidying up a bit, he chugged a few mouthfuls of a nutrient potion to restore his stamina.
Less than an hour later, Ming Lin returned to the floating island. Looking deeply hurried, he strode into the room and impatiently downed a massive gulp of water.
"Phew... those guys are incredibly difficult to deal with..."
He currently acted as Su Chen's steward. Almost all external social engagents and receptions were handled by Ming Lin.
"If you're too tired to deal with them, just decline their invitations," Su Chen advised.
"No need." Ming Lin grinned. "To be honest, it feels pretty damn good. Back on the Crimson Thunder Planet, those guys would easily be at the level of a presiding judge or a chief, yet now they're all greeting with flattering smiles."
"Tsk, tsk... the feeling is quite sweet."
Su Chen chuckled and asked, "How did your eting with those black market rchants go? The ones you contacted through Ding Fan?"
"Hmm..." Ming Lin sat down and replied, "It went decently well. Do you have sothing to sell? Is it the power of a Treacherous Deity?"
Ming Lin made this guess because he knew Su Chen had collected a massive amount of Treacherous Deity power when they left the Crimson Thunder Planet.
This was also one of the reasons Su Chen had asked Ding Fan to introduce him to those black market rchants in the first place.
"No, it's not the power of a Treacherous Deity." Su Chen's eyes flickered as he took out a dark brown stone.
"A Nether Realm Stone?" Ming Lin paused. He hadn't been wasting his ti lately and had cramd a lot of basic knowledge, so he recognized the item at first glance.
"You want to sell this?" He hesitated, seemingly wanting to ask sothing else but holding it back. Furrowing his brow, he said, "That makes things a bit complicated. We can't sell it through the black market rchants Ding Fan introduced."
"However..." His tone shifted, carrying a hint of smugness. "I also reached out to a few black market rchants privately."
"Impressive," Su Chen praised, though he wasn't particularly surprised.
For Ming Lin to have risen through the ranks of the Tribunal and rallied his own faction, he was naturally no simple character.
Who knew if relying solely on Ding Fan's connections might carry hidden risks? It was only logical for Ming Lin to cultivate his own batch of contacts. Since he already had established channels, reaching out to others wasn't difficult.
"This Nether Realm Stone ore is a Child Stone. It should probably fetch around seven or eight hundred thousand star coins..."
"It's not just one." Su Chen shook his head, pulling out a massive pile from his storage space and dumping it onto the floor.
Ming Lin's face froze in utter shock. "Mother Stones? And two of them?! Where on earth did you get these?"
He blurted out the question instinctively. Due to the firework crisis, these materials and resources related to the Nether Realm were in extrely high demand within the Bronze Cult, and privately reselling them after exchanging for them was strictly forbidden.
"Can you sell them?" Su Chen simply asked.
Ming Lin's expression shifted as he pondered carefully. "It might be a little risky."
Without trying to hide anything, he explained, "Those buyers will more or less be able to guess that these things ca from within the Cult."
"If the Cult ever discovers that Nether Realm Stones are being smuggled and sold, they'll likely be able to trace it back."
"Smuggled?" Su Chen shook his head. "Relax. These items were not taken from the Cult to be resold."
"They weren't?" Ming Lin was surprised but also breathed a sigh of relief. This made things significantly easier.
Regardless of where Su Chen had procured them, as long as they hadn't leaked from the Cult's internal supply, the danger dropped by eighty percent.
"Then there's no problem at all." Ming Lin was just about to reach out and take them when Su Chen added, "After you sell these Nether Realm Stones, use the funds to buy the Cunning Fox's divine power for . Mid-tier divine power."
"Buy the power of a Treacherous Deity?" Ming Lin was startled yet again.
However, thanks to the shock of the Nether Realm Stones, he didn't question it instinctively this ti. Instead, he recalled the words Venerable Tianlin had imparted to him upon arrival: 'Su Chen harbors secrets. Do not attempt to pry too deeply. All you need to know is that my future, your master's future, and the future of the Crimson Thunder Planet all rest solely upon Su Chen's shoulders.'
"If it's too difficult, we can wait a bit," Su Chen offered after a mont of thought. He knew this matter was rather thorny; if Ming Lin wasn't confident, delaying it for a while wouldn't hurt.
"It shouldn't be a major issue." Ming Lin's expression shifted before he gritted his teeth and declared, "Even though the power of a Treacherous Deity has always been viewed as a strict taboo by the major cults and even the Royal Court, it actually circulates quite widely in the shadows."
When Ming Lin had first discovered this, he had been quite astonished. Back on the Crimson Thunder Planet, such a thing was considered an absolute taboo that no one was allowed to touch.
"Many factions possess special thods to utilize this Treacherous Deity power. As long as we are willing to pay a high price, buying it won't be a problem."
"That works." Su Chen nodded. After a brief pause, he added, "If any accidents occur, there's no need to hide my involvent."
Ming Lin paused for a mont before laughing. "Of course. There's no way I could shoulder the bla for sothing like this alone."
Su Chen watched Ming Lin hurry off with the Nether Realm Stones. He felt quite reassured leaving tasks in the man's capable hands.
'Two stones a day... in three days, I should be able to obtain a portion of the Cunning Fox's essence to use on the Endurers...' Su Chen shifted his focus to another matter.
He hadn't forgotten about the plan to use the Spirit Fire and Divine Blood to forge the Unsullied.
He already had clues regarding the Spirit Fire over in the Nether Realm. After snooping around a few more tis, he should be able to pinpoint its exact location.
'However, I still don't know exactly how much Divine Blood will be enough...' Su Chen pondered. 'Moreover, bringing out the Divine Blood I currently possess is going to be rather troubleso...'
Divine Blood was entirely different from corrupted believers. With believers, unless they displayed obvious physical mutations, it was incredibly difficult to detect their corruption by a Treacherous Deity without conducting a thorough spiritual examination.
Divine Blood, however, was a pure energy substance. He was currently in the core territory of the Cult; directly exposing it here would inevitably lead to imdiate discovery.
Although he still had the container he used when he first obtained the Divine Blood, he was highly skeptical about whether it could completely seal away the energy signature without any leaks.
'Right, the Nether Tower.' An idea sparked in Su Chen's mind. The Nether Tower was the most foolproof thod of concealnt.
Constructed from Nether Iron Crystals, the structure naturally blocked all forms of detection. Even if soone were to die inside it, no one would notice.
'Exactly...' Su Chen's eyes lit up with growing clarity. 'Although this thing is fixed to connect to the Cult's controlled territory, I can simply destroy the runic symbols inside to turn it into an isolated black box.'
'If I ever need to use it normally again, finding soone to repair it shouldn't take much effort either.'
Su Chen was a man of action. He headed straight to the Nether Tower, locked himself inside, and forcefully rubbed out several of the symbols engraved on the walls.
Still feeling a bit uneasy, he proceeded to erase a few more.
Taking a deep breath, he muttered, "Even if I get caught, the worst-case scenario is claiming I brought it with from the Crimson Thunder Planet. Of course, it's best not to be discovered at all."
With his mind made up, Su Chen reached out and retrieved an exquisite tal box from his storage space.
He paused for a few seconds before letting out a sigh of relief. There was zero reaction from the outside world, nor did any high-tier professionals suddenly tear the Nether Tower apart. 'It looks like the aura is completely contained.'
He carefully opened the box. Resting inside was the Divine Egg of the Black Buddha. It was a scarlet, oval-shaped object speckled with faint points of black light.
Bringing physical objects from reality into the Nether Realm followed the exact sa procedure.
He attempted to envelop the egg with his spiritual energy, which proved to be surprisingly easy. However, Su Chen didn't let his guard down as he initiated the process to enter the Nether Realm.
Sure enough, the familiar dizzying sensation of teleportation never arrived. Instead, it felt as if sothing was desperately dragging him down, while his spiritual energy poured out like water from a burst dam.
Su Chen's heart skipped a beat. He hastily channeled his Glutton ability to convert more energy, but right at the halfway mark...
He ca to an abrupt halt and opened his eyes. 'I thought that since this thing ca from a Treacherous Deity, it wouldn't consu much spiritual energy. Now it seems I was overly optimistic.'
To borrow Deacon Feng's phrasing, the material coefficient of Divine Blood was simply astronomically high. With his re fourth-tier spiritual quality, there was absolutely no way he could drag it into the realm; a fifth-tier spirit might stand a chance.
Su Chen glanced at his status panel. The developnt of his Mantra Law Lord class only had ten percent left to complete. He was very close.
However, the evolution requirent remained unfulfilled—stealing a portion of Scarlet's divine power.
Over the past few days, Su Chen had already ford a rough plan on how to achieve this, leaving him quite confident in his success.
Putting the Divine Egg away, Su Chen returned to his training room. He waited for his stamina to recover before starting his ditation techniques.
He didn't stop until the ti of the Dark Sun approached, returning once more to the Nether Tower.
Inside its confines, he felt much more at ease. Even if he transford into the state of another Treacherous Deity believer, he didn't have to fear exposure.
His spiritual energy surged forth, and the surrounding scenery twisted as he stepped into the Nether Realm once again.
With a tal mask securely fastened over his face, Su Chen imdiately scanned his surroundings to pinpoint his location.
Fortunately, he hadn't spawned within the core territory controlled by the Cult this ti; he was quite a distance away.
He averted his gaze from the faint, golden, dragon-shaped phantom looming in the distance, and a na surfaced in his mind.
Qin Yuefeng, Lord of the Nether Hall. A ninth-tier spiritual professional who had guarded this place for many years.
Uncertain of how much of a commotion his next actions would cause, Su Chen sprinted even further away. He didn't stop until the dragon-shaped phantom was entirely out of sight and he had put a solid distance between them.
Stealing a Treacherous Deity's power might be harder than ascending to the heavens for an ordinary person, but for a Scarlet Priest, it was rely a standard, minor request.
Wielding the Formless True Blade, Su Chen carved winding, serpentine runes into the ground, weaving them together to form a runic array.
He stood right in the center as crimson arcs of electricity gradually sparked to life around him. His hair and pupils simultaneously turned a violent shade of scarlet. From his lips drifted a long, haunting chant: "Ruler of the Scarlet Thunder, Bestower of Furious Wisdom, at the descent of the Crimson Lightning..."
This was a sacrificial ritual thod he had obtained through Ming Lin's intelligence gathering. Because the Dust Star Sea housed innurable chaotic factions, the blockade on information regarding Treacherous Deities was far less stringent than on the Crimson Thunder Planet.
As his chanting echoed, the runes etched into the earth began to glow, fiercely agitating the surging scarlet electricity.
Until, in a single mont, a deafening boom ruptured the heavens and earth. A pillar of crimson lightning crashed down from the sky, engulfing Su Chen entirely and violently blasting away the drifting mist.
A bloody, scarlet radiance completely overtook Su Chen's vision. Vaguely, within the blinding light, he could make out the silhouette of a massive, soaring scarlet bird bearing three human-like faces.
At the sa ti, a majestic, ethereal voice echoed from an unknown source: "Humble servant, speak your request."
"Please grant a portion of low-tier divine power," Su Chen demanded without the slightest hesitation.
There was no verbal response. The crimson lightning pillar simply dissolved.
However, floating right before Su Chen's eyes was a thumb-thick, writhing scarlet dragon—exactly one portion of low-tier divine power.
"How delightfully convenient and efficient!" Su Chen's eyes glead as he reached out, storing the power directly into his system panel.
For a Great Treacherous Deity like Scarlet, who had corrupted an unfathomable number of life-bearing planets, there were countless worshippers offering sacrifices at any given second.
It was utterly impossible for the deity to cast their gaze upon every single one of them. Only followers of imnsely high status, such as a Divine Child or a Head Priest, could attract their true attention.
As for what Su Chen had just interacted with, it was best understood as an automated processing program akin to artificial intelligence. It simply dispensed rewards corresponding to the supplicant's authority level or the value of their sacrificial offerings.
As a Scarlet Priest, even without a grand ritual or valuable tributes, begging for a asly portion of low-tier divine power to spread corruption was naturally within his authorized limits.
But if he had requested more than one portion, or asked for mid-tier divine power, that would have been an entirely different story. That would require actual sacrifices or a much higher level of authority.
If he had impudently requested high-tier divine power or even Divine Blood, the Treacherous Deity would have cast its true gaze upon him. Without a thoroughly justified reason, the consequences of drawing that attention would be exceptionally grim.
At the sa ti, the text for 'Divine Thunder Caller' on his system panel gradually beca dyed in a deep scarlet hue. The words blurred and then reford, officially evolving into 'Crimson Thunder Overlord'.
"Crimson Thunder Overlord... not a bad na." Su Chen skimd over the new title. His thoughts then drifted to the Black Buddha's egg, which contained Divine Blood, and an idea sparked in his mind.
'What was the purpose of that Black Buddha egg again? Oh right, it was to corrupt Wei Yinshuo back then. The ultimate goal was to target the Great Exalted's spirituality...'
Su Chen recalled the events thoughtfully. 'In that case, could I use a similar thod to con these Treacherous Deities and fleece them for so Divine Blood?'
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