Chapter 587 322: Divine Dawn

Huh?

Suddenly, Luo Chen's expression twisted. His pupils contracted, and his heart felt as if it were being squeezed by an invisible hand. Looking up, he only managed to catch a blood-gold afterimage, radiating a savage aura.

It moved with extreme speed, yet it didn't stir the slightest breeze. It was as if it had appeared before him with a single step. A fist like a thunderclap came smashing toward his face, preceded by a suffocating heat that felt as if all the air had been sucked away.

'How can he be so much stronger than Qin Tianlin?' Luo Chen was aghast. He had used Qin Tianlin as a benchmark and thought he could handle this with ease. But right from the start, Su Chen had given him a huge surprise.

Luo Chen scrambled to react, raising an arm to block. Su Chen's fist, accompanied by a muffled crack, slammed into his forearm. An immense force washed over him, sending him flying backward.

'This Su Chen...' Luo Chen's expression grew incredibly grave. A golden ring swirled within his pupils. This was his Holy Profession, which allowed him to perceive an enemy's movements, the flow of their Energy, and their weaknesses.

But this time, as his gaze fell upon Su Chen, a look of utter disbelief appeared on his face. He was horrified. 'No weaknesses? How is that possible!'

In his eyes, Su Chen was like an impossibly dense block of iron. No matter how he attacked or from what angle, he would be unable to cause any damage whatsoever.

'What kind of ability is this?'

Luo Chen muttered to himself, his scalp tingling. Su Chen wasn't just a little stronger than Qin Tianlin; he was no weaker than Luo Chen himself. And yet, the man was an entire major Tier below him.

...

"What was so urgent that you had to summon me?" Qing Cang asked as he stepped out of the Flying Device, immediately spotting Su Chen waiting at the port.

"I'm preparing to head to the Floating Island where Lord Lu Huai is," Su Chen explained.

"Oh? So the last person who can use the Profound Celestial Instrument has finally arrived. The Royal Court has been pushing for days, and Lu Huai was getting a bit impatient," Qing Cang said in realization, though he was still puzzled.

"What does that have to do with me? I already spoke with him. You can just send your person over."

Su Chen chuckled. "Well, I'm a bit worried something unexpected might happen."

"Lu Huai is trustworthy," Qing Cang said, a little exasperated by Su Chen's extreme caution.

"Better safe than sorry," Su Chen replied with the same old phrase.

Since Qing Cang was already here, he didn't argue further. He just nodded and said, "Let's go, then."

Su Chen followed Qing Cang onto the Flying Device. After waiting a moment and seeing that Qing Cang wasn't moving, he couldn't help but urge, "Aren't we leaving, Senior Brother?"

"We're about to. Where's your person?" Qing Cang raised an eyebrow.

Su Chen grinned. "I'm that person."

"You?" Qing Cang was stunned. He asked again just to be sure, "The one who's supposed to use the Profound Celestial Instrument... is you?"

"Mhm."

An indescribable expression appeared on Qing Cang's face. He suddenly recalled something. "A couple of days ago, you said you wanted to use the Profound Celestial Instrument to see if you could reach the Divine Dawn Level. You weren't joking?"

Su Chen gave a subtle nod.

"That's not right. Wasn't this slot decided months ago? You were planning this even back then? And here you were, constantly thinking about that Spirit of Sun..."

The more Qing Cang thought back, the more something felt off. He couldn't help but laugh. "And I actually believed you didn't care about the Spirit of Sun at all."

He mentally calculated the timeline. The time Su Chen had mentioned this slot to him was indeed after the news about the Spirit of Sun had come out.

"You could say that," Su Chen said without offering any further explanation.

Qing Cang chuckled. In hindsight, Su Chen's previous nonchalance had been the strange part; his current behavior made perfect sense. After all, this was the Spirit of Sun they were talking about.

"However, the Profound Celestial Instrument can't raise a Star Amber Talent to the Divine Dawn Level," Qing Cang said, shaking his head. It wasn't like others hadn't had the same idea as Su Chen, trying to use the instrument for an upgrade.

In fact, the Profound Celestial Sect had tried it more than anyone, and they never had any success.

"It's worth a shot. After all, there's no downside," Su Chen shrugged.

"There really is no downside," Qing Cang said with a resigned laugh. Things had already come to this point. If he didn't let Su Chen try, the kid definitely wouldn't be happy.

The hatch of the Flying Device closed, and it set off toward the nearby Floating Island.

"You really kept this under wraps. You even used it to screw over the Royal Court," Qing Cang remarked with some emotion. "Otherwise, the Royal Court would have kept that Morning Star Essence in their grip for a long time to come."

"A happy accident," Su Chen explained. "I honestly wasn't thinking that far ahead at the time."

Qing Cang nodded, but then his brows furrowed again. He asked hesitantly, "So, the reason you asked me to come along... don't tell me you're afraid that if you actually do advance to the Divine Dawn Level, Lu Huai might try something funny?"

Even if the user was Su Chen, that didn't explain why he insisted on bringing him along. After thinking it over and over, this seemed to be the only possibility.

"Exactly," Su Chen said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "What if I really do reach the Divine Dawn Level and Lu Huai suddenly has a crazy impulse to trade his life for mine? Wouldn't that be a huge loss for me?"

"Trade his life for yours? What on earth goes through that head of yours all day?" Qing Cang didn't know whether to laugh or cry. This wasn't just being cautious; this was preparing for a one-in-a-million chance.

The distance between the two Floating Islands wasn't great to begin with. After a short, leisurely flight, they arrived at their destination.

They disembarked from the Flying Device and waited at the port for a short while before seeing Lu Huai emerge from the main building.

"Qing Cang, you're finally here! The Royal Court is about to drive me crazy with their nagging, all waiting for this last person of yours." As he got closer, his gaze swept past Qing Cang and fell upon the person following him—to his surprise, it was Su Chen.

Lu Huai stopped in his tracks, his expression darkening with displeasure. "Didn't they say the Royal Court already gave you the Morning Star Essence? Why are you still stalling? I don't care about your business with the Royal Court, but you can't just keep me stuck here."

"Who's keeping you stuck here?" Qing Cang wasn't annoyed. He replied with a faint, unreadable smile, "The final person to use the Profound Celestial Instrument has already arrived."