Chapter 596 - 326: Who Exactly Is It?

Soon, another person arrived. It was Xiang Zhou, the one whose top spot had been taken by Qin Tianlin. His voice was somber. "Senior Brother Li, Senior Brother Shen."

He greeted each of them in turn, then stood woodenly to one side.

"Senior Brother Shen, do you have any idea why Master Qing suddenly summoned us all here?" Li Guanting asked, somewhat puzzled, carefully probing for answers.

"Junior Brother Li, you don’t know whose floating island this is?" Shen Yi’an shot him a glance and asked coolly.

Li Guanting shook his head. "I really don’t."

"This is His Excellency Lu Huai’s floating island."

"Lu Huai from the Profound Celestial Sect?" Li Guanting sounded surprised. "He’s still here?"

When Shen Yi’an shook his head, Li Guanting grew even more confused. "So why did Master Qing summon us to His Excellency Lu Huai’s floating island?"

Shen Yi’an’s gaze was profound, but he did not respond.

Li Guanting didn’t press the matter. Instead, he asked pointedly, "Senior Brother Shen, did you see the Divine Dawn Light that erupted a while back?"

"It burst forth from the Copper Heart Department—a Dual Divine Dawn Talent. I wonder who it was. Senior Brother Shen, did you notice anything at the time?"

It wasn’t just the people on Dragon Abyss; even the Sect members in the Copper Heart Department were speculating. The Stewards and Vice Hall Masters were especially excited. In the future, a person with Twin Divine Dawns would surely be able to contend with the Morning Star Tier, which was like gaining another Star Seed.

"I don’t know yet," Shen Yi’an said, shaking his head, his eyes glinting. "But I think we’ll find out very soon."

’We’ll find out very soon?’ Li Guanting muttered to himself, genuinely curious. ’Is there really someone in our Sect who has hidden themselves so well? It couldn’t be a newly awakened Talent, could it? Awakening with Twin Divine Dawns from the start... that’s just monstrous.’

Shen Yi’an did not respond.

Soon, a few more people arrived, greeting the others one by one.

That made a total of six people. Except for Wei Zhenghong and Su Chen, every possessor of a Star Amber Level Talent was present.

Shen Yi’an’s gaze narrowed, and he found himself staring in a particular direction, but no flying device ever appeared.

"Everyone has arrived." Qing Cang, however, emerged from deeper within the floating island.

"Master Qing," the group hurriedly greeted him.

Qing Cang nodded. "Follow me."

"Just us?" Li Guanting asked, surprised. He glanced around and seemed to notice a common thread. "It looks like all of us have Star Amber Level Talents. Hmm... and there’s one person missing..."

’So it really was him...’

Li Guanting was still pondering this when he heard Shen Yi’an’s voice at his side. It was a mix of relief, confusion, and faintly suppressed excitement.

"Really who?" Li Guanting asked blankly, but he saw that Shen Yi’an was already following Qing Cang deeper into the floating island. He had never seen the man ranked first on the Holy List walk with such haste. He hurried to catch up.

Lu Huai stood expressionlessly before the main building. His gaze swept over the group behind Qing Cang, and his tone was detached. "Who’s first?"

"I’ll go first." Shen Yi’an stepped forward without hesitation, his eyes fixed on the Profound Celestial Instrument in Lu Huai’s hands, his expression full of hidden anticipation.

"The Profound Celestial Instrument?" Li Guanting couldn’t help but exclaim in shock. "They brought us here to use the Profound Celestial Instrument? But... doesn’t the instrument have no effect on Star Amber Level Talents..."

His thoughts were still a jumble. But seeing Shen Yi’an’s unusual reaction, his expression suddenly froze. He snapped to a realization and couldn’t help but turn to Qing Cang:

"Don’t tell me... those Twin Divine Dawns... were actually the result of Su Chen’s transformation using the Profound Celestial Instrument?"

’They were all summoned to use the Profound Celestial Instrument, and Su Chen was the only one who didn’t show up. Master Qing and Su Chen are on excellent terms; there’s no way he would forget him if something good came up.’

’Combined with Senior Brother Shen’s reaction, the answer was obvious.’

Qing Cang glanced at him and nodded. "Correct. His luck... is a bit better."

That was all he could say. Not even the Bronze Ancient King could be certain whether Su Chen’s transformation was due to the Morning Star Essence, the Great Venerable Red Flame Thunder Resonator’s Spirituality that had merged with him, or a combination of the three.

He held no hope that Shen Yi’an or any of the others would be able to transform.

"It really was Su Chen!?"

Now that it was confirmed, Li Guanting’s heart skipped a beat. He recalled the moment he had challenged Su Chen not long ago. The memory of that incoming punch was still vivid in his mind—it was terrifying.

But then, a fiery glint flashed in his eyes as his gaze fell upon the Profound Celestial Instrument.

’A Divine Dawn Talent means a huge leap in development efficiency, and you can even Melt a Holy Profession without needing to find a Spiritual Fire. Who wouldn’t want to save that much trouble?’

Shen Yi’an had already stepped into the Profound Celestial Instrument. Even though both Qing Cang and Lu Huai were convinced that Shen Yi’an—and indeed, everyone else present—would not succeed, they couldn’t help but turn their gazes toward him.

A long time later, Shen Yi’an stumbled out. Qing Cang and Lu Huai exchanged a glance before silently looking away again.

"I didn’t succeed?" Shen Yi’an murmured, looking down at his own hands, his expression somewhat dazed.

"Don’t become obsessed with it," Qing Cang reminded him.

Hearing this, Shen Yi’an let out a long breath. His expression cleared slightly as he walked to one side.

Next, Li Guanting, Xiang Zhou, and the others each took their turn. As expected, just like all the times before, no miracles occurred.

Everyone wore a different expression, but none could hide their disappointment.

"There, is your Bronze Sect satisfied now?" Lu Huai said bluntly. "Can you let me leave? Venerable Qingyi has likely discovered I’m out of contact by now."

"More than that," Qing Cang said with a smile, "the Profound Celestial Ancient King has already personally inquired about this matter. Today, we will send you on your way."

Hearing this, Lu Huai inwardly sighed in relief. He put away the Profound Celestial Instrument, his face still a mask of indifference. "Then let’s go."

"You may all leave on your own," Qing Cang instructed, before he and Lu Huai boarded a flying device and set off for Dragon Abyss.

"Su Chen’s luck is really something else..." Li Guanting sighed helplessly as he watched the two depart. He then added, baffled, "Since when can the Profound Celestial Instrument create a Divine Dawn Level Talent? Did the Profound Celestial Sect improve it?"

"Perhaps," Shen Yi’an said, shaking his head as he started walking away.

’Thinking of that kid who was barely half his age, he felt an indescribable mix of emotions: melancholy, bitterness, resentment, helplessness... and maybe even a hint of... jealousy?’

He frowned, centering himself and clearing his mind of all distracting thoughts. ’So this is how others felt when they faced me in the past?’

’Wei Zhenghong doesn’t seem to know about this yet.’ At this thought, the mood of the man ranked first on the Holy List seemed to improve considerably.

...

On Su Chen’s floating island, inside the training room, the temperature was scorching, like the inside of a furnace. The air shimmered and distorted around a central figure who was glowing red like forged iron. The sound of grinding joints grew increasingly frequent.

Soon, Su Chen let out a muffled grunt as an intense, tingling numbness spread throughout his body. White mist, like steam, erupted from his skin with a HISS, as if his very blood were boiling.

[Red Melting Unbreakable Body Refining Technique has been upgraded to Master Level.]

[New Ability Gained - Iron-Forged Body: Slightly increases physical defense, strength, and Elemental Resistance.]

[Fierce Shadow Orbit Meditation Technique has been upgraded to Master Level.]

[New Ability Gained - Fierce Shadow Art: Slightly increases your elemental power.]

*Phew...* Su Chen took a moment to adjust, then opened his status panel. The development progress for Thunder Ash World Master had already reached 38%.

’Calculating the time... if nothing unexpected happens, I estimate I can advance to Tier Seven before the preliminary selection ends.’

Su Chen made a quick estimate and even startled himself. ’This development efficiency far surpasses that of an ordinary Divine Dawn. The Purifier is just too effective. In terms of stacked efficiency, I probably reached the Divine Dawn level a long time ago. Now, it’s been strengthened even further after my transformation.’

He clicked his tongue in silent amazement. Instead of selecting a new Body Refining Technique or Meditation Technique, he swiped his wristband and pulled up a document: [Notes on Melting a Holy Profession with Divine Dawn].

Old Qing had just sent it to him. Information of this level was considered top secret within the Sect.

He studied it word by word, line by line. After a long while, he finally looked up, his brow slightly furrowed. ’The resource consumption is much higher than using a Spiritual Fire.’

’With a Spiritual Fire, it would only take about two drops of Divine Blood to alter its properties for the purpose of Melting a Holy Profession.’

’But using the Divine Dawn’s ability to ignite the Morning Fire, which is much weaker, would require at least five drops of Divine Blood to maintain its intensity and complete the process.’

’As for whether it could ever reach the intensity of a primordial Morning Fire, there was no data to prove it.’

’After all, no one had ever successfully Melted a completely new Holy Profession before reaching the Morning Star Tier.’

’And if I want to achieve my idea of freely customizing Holy Professions, I’ll have to explore the upper limits of the Morning Fire’s intensity. But at the very least, I need to finish Melting my Permanent Body first, or my body won’t be able to handle it.’

’Fortunately,’ Su Chen murmured to himself, ’the Permanent Body is an existing Holy Profession, so I just need to get five drops of Divine Blood. The Ancient King has already ordered Old Qing to cooperate with me, so it’s just a matter of asking.’

"Huh?" Suddenly, Su Chen’s eyes lit up. ’This Divine Blood... isn’t that also blood from the Moonlight Tier?’