On Su Chen's floating island, inside the training room.
The area seed to be shrouded by a strange domain, faintly distorting the light.
His brows were tightly furrowed. The spiritual power in his mind surged outward uncontrollably, like a bursting underground river.
This invisible force churned and shrieked in the void, followed by a violent internal reaction.
Every strand of spiritual energy seed to ignite, its temperature climbing sharply as it entered a frantic, boiling state.
His spiritual core trembled violently. The pure core resembled a piece of jade subrged in a pool of blood, slowly but firmly perated from its deepest depths by a scorching, ominous, yet powerful crimson hue.
The originally stable outline of the core constantly vibrated and reshaped under the crimson dye, gradually transforming to take on Su Chen's appearance.
[Mantra Law Lord has been promoted to Crimson Thunder Majesty!]
[Mystic Relic Lord has been strengthened — Controllable Mystic Relics 1]
[Arcane Hand has been strengthened!]
[Mantra has been strengthened!]
[Crimson Thunder Prison shares a similar affinity with the new class ability, fusing and transforming...]
[Telekinesis shares a similar affinity with the new class ability, fusing and transforming...]
[Might of the Law Lord shares a similar affinity with the new class ability, fusing and transforming...]
[Fusion and transformation successful. Acquired new class ability — Majestic Aspect: Embryonic God Form.]
[Acquired extra reward: Total spiritual power increased by 20%.]
The boiling spiritual power expanded outward for a fraction of a second before falling completely still.
A brand new, stable, and majestic crimson spiritual core erged. It was sharply defined, resembling a miniature figurine, though its external features were sowhat blurry.
Wreathed in crimson lightning, it hovered in the very center of his sea of consciousness.
His spiritual power retracted and returned.
Su Chen opened his eyes. A scarlet gleam flashed in the depths of his gaze, sharp enough to pierce a person's soul.
He swept his gaze over the interface, skimming past the strengthened abilities. The extra reward had boosted his total spiritual power.
His attention primarily landed on the new ability, [Majestic Aspect].
As his class leveled up, stronger class abilities would frequently fuse with those of similar affinities. Not only would they retain the characteristics of the fused abilities, but they would also grow significantly stronger. He was already accustod to this.
However, he now knew that when other people promoted their classes, their class abilities did not undergo autonomous fusion and transformation. This was likely one of the advantages of his manifested interface.
Yet, this particular ability only had a four-word description, which genuinely surprised him.
"Embryonic God Form..." Su Chen's mind stirred. Unexpectedly, a crimson figure stepped out from his body. Its appearance was sowhat hazy, but it was undeniably his spiritual body.
"It can leave the body now." Su Chen looked at his own physical form.
Unlike the one-ti deterrence of the [Might of the Law Lord], this spiritual body could genuinely remain outside for a long ti.
Manifesting spiritual power as a phantom outside the body for extended periods was originally a standard ability for Tier 6 professionals, but now he could achieve it with the help of this skill.
This offered many advantages. Being completely untraceable was one of them; he could pass through all sorts of obstacles and kill without leaving a trace.
However, after testing it for quite a while, Su Chen failed to feel anything particularly special about this Embryonic God Form.
"Just what makes it so unique..." After experinting for a mont, Su Chen temporarily gave up. If there was a difference, it would reveal itself sooner or later.
His spiritual power returned to his body, and Su Chen stood up. Nearly half a month had passed since he last mined Nether Realm Stones.
He had spent most of this ti advancing the developnt progress of the Mantra Law Lord, but he hadn't neglected other matters, frequently venturing into the Nether Realm during the Dark Sun period.
His efforts were not in vain; he had roughly pinpointed the location of the spirit fire.
Moreover, now that he was at Tier 5, he reckoned he could bring out the divine blood with relative ease.
"Stealing the divine blood..." Su Chen had been plotting this for a long ti. After tidying up a bit, he left the training room and headed for the Nether Tower.
During the short walk, Su Chen habitually opened his smart terminal to check for any new ssages.
There actually was a new ssage from that logistics deacon, though he was reaching out on behalf of soone else.
"ng Shiyu wants to see ? His teacher has prepared a grand banquet and sincerely invites to attend."
Seeing the na, Su Chen thought carefully before finally rembering who the other party was.
"And who is his teacher?" Su Chen murmured as he read the ssage.
The ssage had been sent half a day ago, but Ding Fan replied very quickly.
"It is the Vice Hall Master of the Artifact Hall, Fan Zhao."
To think it was him... Su Chen paused slightly, narrowing his eyes. "Politely decline on my behalf. I still have unfinished business to attend to."
A mont later, Ding Fan responded: "Alright."
The relationships within the faction were truly convoluted. Su Chen turned off the screen, shaking his head secretly as he adjusted his state of mind and entered the Nether Tower.
He carefully took out the Heituo Divine Egg, cautiously testing to see if he could bring it into the Nether Realm.
It was much easier this ti. The class promotion brought not only an increase in quantity but also a qualitative leap.
With only a little effort, he successfully brought the Heituo Divine Egg inside.
Once in the Nether Realm, the divine egg involuntarily emitted a bizarre fluctuation, trembling ceaselessly.
Unsure of what consequences this might trigger, Su Chen hurriedly brought it back to reality and stored it away.
This round trip had consud quite a bit of spiritual power, but the Glutton rapidly replenished the deficit.
It was currently the Dark Sun period. There were still two or three hours before the fla re-ignited.
Returning to the Nether Realm once more, Su Chen looked around, locked onto a direction, and darted outward. Following his class promotion, his spiritual body had beco much clearer in the Nether Realm, and his speed had greatly increased.
While comprehending these subtle changes, he abruptly stopped, a thought suddenly popping into his mind. 'Would the Majestic Aspect be any different... inside the Nether Realm?'
After brief consideration, Su Chen activated the Majestic Aspect ability. His previously hazy and illusory spiritual body gradually transford, taking on a crimson appearance with much clearer facial features.
Crackle! Arcs of lightning sparked in the surroundings. Su Chen, however, felt a deep sense of astonishnt. He raised his hands and murmured, "So, this is the true aning of the Embryonic God Form."
After transforming into the Majestic Aspect, his spiritual power consumption in the Nether Realm plumted, dropping to less than a fifth of what it used to be.
The sense of rejection completely vanished; he even felt a faint sense of intimacy with the Nether Realm.
'Is this the result of devouring two abilities related to the Eldritch Gods?' Su Chen was quite exhilarated. The drastic reduction in spiritual power consumption was a massive advantage for his activities in the Nether Realm.
'Could it be that, after reaching a certain level, I can also beco an Eldritch God?'
His thoughts wandered, but his feet didn't stop. He sprinted freely, estimating the approximate location before finally coming to a halt.
He only had to wait for a little over half an hour before the dark sphere in the sky gradually ignited with blazing golden flas. The light steadily expanded, scattering the rolling mist once again.
The spot Su Chen occupied was still within the fla's coverage. He walked a bit further out until he reached a specific boundary.
"Is it really this distinctly divided?"
He stared at the dividing line before him. One step further, and the outside was the grayish expanse of the Nether Realm; on this side, it was bathed in bright sunlight.
'It seems this fla isn't true light, but rather an energy domain. Its power weakens at this point and can no longer isolate the influence of the Nether Realm, which creates this starkly divided scene,' he thought.
Su Chen pondered this as he stepped across the boundary and found an empty clearing.
After so thought, he first deactivated his Majestic Aspect to eliminate any potential hidden risks. Only then did he transform into his Heituo Priest state, drawing a circle on the ground and sketching a horizontal eye within it.
Standing in the center of the eye, he chanted in a low voice: "...Saint of the Sevenfold Shackles..."
2
Soon, invisible black ripples of light surfaced. A hazy, indistinct voice echoed in his ears: "For what matter do you summon ?"
Su Chen took a deep breath. Looking at the boundary of the fla right in front of him, he whispered, "I entreat the Holy Lord to bestow divine blood!"
"Divine blood?" Su Chen could clearly sense that the hazy voice by his ear seed to rise in pitch.
Right at that mont, the seemingly crude circle beneath his feet unexpectedly welled up with a dark-brown, oil-like substance. It then began spreading in all directions, as if attempting to sketch an even more complex sacrificial array.
'This...' Su Chen was secretly alard. Within the Nether Realm, the power of these Eldritch Gods was truly formidable.
'They could never achieve this level of manifestation in the real world.'
His heart skipped a beat, and he nearly bolted into the fla's coverage area. However, when the expanding array touched the edge of the fla, it abruptly halted.
Where the two forces t, a loud sizzling sound erupted, accompanied by rising black mist. The oily substance quickly shrank back.
"Fla? Where are you?" Heituo's voice was noticeably different this ti, even carrying a hint of genuine emotion.
Su Chen hastily replied, "My Lord, I am near the fla of the Bronze Faction."
"The Bronze Faction?" Heituo seed sowhat surprised. "Why do you demand divine blood?"
"Because of Su Chen." Su Chen stated his own na.
"Su Chen!"
Sure enough, Heituo's tone shifted once more, carrying a faint trace of excitent. "The Su Chen from the Crimson Thunder Planet?"
"That's right, it's exactly him!" Seeing that Heituo still rembered him, Su Chen quickly said, "I can bring Su Chen to you, My Lord, as long as..."
"You can bring Su Chen to ?" Heituo completely interrupted Su Chen's explanation.
'He actually believed ?' Su Chen froze slightly, unable to help feeling a bit surprised.
But then he understood. He was currently in the guise of Heituo's believer. Given how long Heituo had existed, the deity had probably never experienced being deceived by one of its own followers.
His spirit lifted, and he continued, "Indeed, but I need your divine blood to corrupt a few individuals. Only then will I have a chance."
Saying this, Su Chen realized that this was far easier than he had anticipated, so he added, "However, one drop of divine blood might not be enough. Still, I will do everything in my power to make this happen."
The voice in his mind fell silent for a mont before ringing out again. "Excellent. Bring Su Chen to at all costs. If you can achieve this, you may beco my Divine Son."
'So he starts painting empty promises now,' Su Chen secretly grumbled. He forced his voice to sound ecstatic. "I will absolutely do my utmost to relieve your burdens, My Lord!"
Heituo did not respond further. However, the horizontal eye beneath Su Chen's feet began to radiate an eerie glow, the black oily liquid churning endlessly.
Soon, a single drop of black blood erged from within, exuding a profound and aberrant aura.
Su Chen kept one foot inside the fla's boundary, deeply afraid of any unexpected mishaps. Yet, these Eldritch Gods seemingly had absolute faith in the loyalty of their believers.
Even as the drop of divine blood appeared and the black eye on the ground returned to normal, no anomalies occurred whatsoever.
'It was that simple?'
Looking at the drop of divine blood before him, Su Chen still felt rather astounded.
Divine blood was incredibly difficult to acquire. Eldritch Gods were ultimately creatures of the Nether Realm and lacked the biological concept of blood. The so-called 'divine blood' was essentially a highly condensed manifestation of a special substance.
'This old friend Heituo truly obsesses over .'
Su Chen's eyes shifted. 'From the looks of it, this guy could be a long-term supplier of divine blood. I should be able to trick a few more drops out of him in the future.'
'What about the other Eldritch Gods...?'
Seeing how effortlessly he had obtained a drop of divine blood from Heituo, Su Chen began plotting against the other Eldritch Gods.
But after thinking it over, he couldn't co up with a suitable justification.
'I have my own existence as a natural bait for Heituo, but what excuse should I use for those other Eldritch Gods...'
'No, wait. They might not be completely ignorant of the na Su Chen.' Su Chen suddenly rembered that back on the Crimson Thunder Planet, the movents of Heituo's believers were far from minor. There was also the Faceless Ghost Divine Son...
'Perhaps I really can use the na Su Chen to ruthlessly fleece them. However, I must weigh this carefully. Dealing with these Eldritch Gods in the Nether Realm requires the utmost caution.'
Su Chen did not act rashly, deciding to draft a thorough plan first.
Upon returning to reality, Su Chen stored away this drop of divine blood and pondered to himself. 'According to Wei Zhenghong's vague hints, the divine blood required to forge a Holy Class doesn't have to be a massive amount. Its essence is to alter the properties of the spirit fire. One portion might be enough, though two portions would be ideal.'
'For now, it's definitely enough to forge the Unsullied. All I lack is that spirit fire...'
After thinking for only a short while, he heard activity from outside. Su Chen stepped out of the Nether Tower and ran right into a travel-worn Ming Lin, who had just rushed back. Ming Lin's expression was grave, and a deep fatigue was etched into his brows.
Seeing Su Chen walking out of the Nether Tower, he appeared sowhat surprised.
The two returned to the main building. Only then did Ming Lin take out three specially-made black tal boxes from his spatial storage, saying, "The last three portions of mid-tier Cunning Fox divine power are all right here."
Su Chen's gaze landed on the three tal boxes before he promptly stored them away.
Ming Lin had to both offload their goods and purchase the Cunning Fox divine power. It was no easy task.
Yet, in rely half a month, he had already managed to clear out most of the inventory. It was truly impressive.
Counting these three, he had now purchased ten portions of Cunning Fox divine power—enough to forge a single drop of true essence.
"Thank you for your hard work," Su Chen said sincerely. If he had to handle this alone, he didn't know how much ti and energy it would have consud.
"It's nothing, really. Once I found the proper channels, it wasn't a big issue." Ming Lin waved his hand, then frowned. "However, I get the feeling that soone has been keeping an eye on lately."
"Oh?" Su Chen's eyes narrowed slightly.
Ming Lin looked a bit hesitant. "I used several different identities for both selling and buying."
"But whether it's offloading Nether Realm Stones or buying Eldritch God power, these are highly sensitive transactions. It's inevitable that soone would notice . I just don't know if it's idle curiosity from bystanders, or if I'm being specifically targeted."
He wasn't entirely sure. After all, it was just a nagging suspicion without any concrete evidence.
However, Su Chen did not brush it off. "Then let's keep a lower profile for the ti being," he said thoughtfully.
Hearing this, Ming Lin couldn't help but sigh in frustration. "Our foundation is simply too shallow. Without people of our own, our hands are tied when trying to accomplish many things."
'People of our own...' Su Chen felt equally helpless. The internal lineage of the Bronze Faction was strictly ordered, and its relationships were incredibly convoluted. How could he dare employ outsiders?
However, an idea flashed through his mind, and he suddenly asked, "Are the people the faction sent to the Crimson Thunder Planet about to arrive?"
Ming Lin pondered for a mont. "Calculating the ti, they should be arriving soon."
Su Chen nodded. "According to what Senior Brother Chou Cang said, they should be bringing a group of people back."
"That's right! I almost forgot—we still have our people from the Crimson Thunder Planet!" Ming Lin couldn't help but stand up, smashing his left fist into his right palm. "Knowing the Chief's personality, he can probably guess our current predicant. The first batch of people he sends will definitely be carefully selected, and their loyalty won't be an issue at all. Things will be much easier for us then."
As he spoke, Ming Lin couldn't stop himself from grinning. "If they knew about your current situation, they'd probably be scared half to death again."
He looked highly exhilarated. It wasn't just because they would have more hands to help out, but also because these were people from their hotown. Naturally, the emotional connection felt entirely different.
Su Chen also felt deeply emotional. Counting the days, it had already been half a year since they left the Crimson Thunder Planet. He wondered how Old Xia and the others were doing.
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