Chapter 718: Moonlight Treasure Bone Finally Obtained

He originally only needed one piece anyway. Now, this was just to prevent that piece from having any accidents. After a long silence, he feigned a struggle before nodding, “Alright, one piece it is.”

Profound Celestial Ancient King nodded. “Thank you for your understanding, young friend. Out of the five of us, you may choose anyone.”

Su Chen pretended to ponder for a moment, then pointed. “I choose him.”

The expressions of the other Ancient Kings shifted slightly.

Zhenwu Ancient King’s expression changed drastically. He took a step forward and shouted harshly, “You’re courting death!”

Su Chen was pointing exactly at Zhenwu Ancient King. However, he wasn’t doing this out of personal revenge. While on the outside, he had carefully investigated the general background of the other Ancient Kings—aside from Bronze Ancient King—as well as Hanhai Emperor.

Profound Celestial Ancient King’s combat style basically relied on mobilizing various Elemental Powers, while Star Dome Ancient King excelled in various Talisman Array techniques. Holy Cauldron Ancient King went without saying; he leaned more toward a support role. It was said that he could resurrect people truly without any hidden repercussions, provided the time of death hadn’t been too long.

As for Hanhai Emperor, he was relatively mysterious. Rumor had it that he possessed some sort of Commander-type profession.

Only Zhenwu Ancient King favored head-on melee combat. If he were to extract Professional Traits, Zhenwu’s would likely be the most compatible with him.

Naturally, the others were unaware of Su Chen’s considerations. They only felt that this kid in front of them certainly held a grudge. Zhenwu Ancient King had previously made several tentative attempts to break open the hall doors, and this kid had clearly harbored resentment over it, deliberately singling him out.

Su Chen ignored the furious Zhenwu Ancient King; instead, his gaze shifted to Profound Celestial Ancient King.

The latter sighed and turned around. “Zhenwu, we just agreed to this.”

“Who agreed to this with you!” Zhenwu Ancient King sneered bluntly. “You are being played like fools by a Tier Seven Professional and don’t even realize it. I don’t have time to play along with you.

“At worst, we’ll fight our way in! I want to see exactly what this Spirit of Sun can do to us!”

“Can they actually fight their way in?” Su Chen’s heart skipped a beat. “Then why are they wasting time with me here?”

Bronze Ancient King’s expression was wooden, his voice completely devoid of emotional fluctuations. “Just giving up a single bone versus fighting the Spirit of Sun—which consequence is more severe? Can’t you weigh that yourself, Zhenwu?”

Hearing his cheap master’s words, Su Chen became thoughtful. It seemed they weren’t entirely sure they could win and lacked confidence, so they were trying to avoid a clash as much as possible.

“Exactly,” Star Dome Ancient King added. “Zhenwu, it’s nothing more than a bone. At worst, just let Holy Cauldron help you recover your vitality.”

Holy Cauldron Ancient King’s cheek twitched. He said in a deep voice, “Yes, it’s nothing more than a bone. With Xuan Tian assisting me, I can help you recover very quickly.”

Profound Celestial Ancient King’s expression froze for a moment before he also chimed in, “Yes, Zhenwu, it’s just a bone. Let Bronze open up an undisturbed area, and with the rest of us assisting from the side, it will more or less allow you to recover some vitality.”

Since they weren’t the ones taking the loss anyway, the group faintly surrounded Zhenwu in the center.

Zhenwu Ancient King stared coldly at the phantom, well aware that since the knife wasn’t falling on their own necks, they all hoped he would compromise. A single bone indeed couldn’t be considered a massive sacrifice, but this feeling of being restrained by an ant-like Professional truly made his anger surge.

After a brief moment, he finally suppressed his rage. His voice was icy. “It’s just a single bone.”

He twisted his arm. Going against the natural grain of his flesh, he forcefully drove his broad hand into his own spine. The muffled sound of tearing flesh and skin was exceptionally grating, akin to a dead branch being forcibly snapped.

With a crisp CRACK, a completely crimson vertebra was forcefully ripped out of his body. A faint, bloody halo flowed across its surface, resembling molten red iron slowly moving in the dark. The edges of the bone were as sharp as blades, yet the cross-section was crystal clear. Fine, spiderweb-like patterns could be faintly seen pulsing within.

“Holy Cauldron!” Zhenwu’s cheek twitched as he shot a cold glare at Holy Cauldron Ancient King.

Holy Cauldron looked at Xuan Tian, and Xuan Tian looked at Bronze.

Bronze Ancient King was secretly speechless. He opened his palm, and a torrent of data surged out, linking and intertwining as it emitted a low hum. In less than a breath’s time, a translucent Energy Barrier took shape. The pale-cyan light wall gleamed with a cold, metallic luster. Fine, circuit-like ripples flowed across its surface, isolating them from external erosion.

Holy Cauldron Ancient King then walked behind Zhenwu Ancient King and gently tapped on his spine. A warm, jade-like liquid seemed to seep from his palm, slowly pouring in along the fissures. Profound Celestial Ancient King and the others stood on both sides, calling upon their respective powers to assist.

Subtle CRACKLING sounds emanated from within Zhenwu Ancient King’s body. Visible waves of pale-gold qi surged out from the wound, swirled between Holy Cauldron Ancient King’s fingers, and were meticulously guided back deep into the flesh and blood.

It wasn’t like they could forge another bone for him out of thin air. They were simply expending a bit more effort to mend Zhenwu Ancient King’s trauma and make him feel a little better.

The pacification process ended quickly. With a flick of Profound Celestial Ancient King’s finger, the blood-red Moonlight Treasure Bone fell into the hands of the phantom in front of the hall.

Su Chen’s heart trembled slightly. He manipulated the phantom, just about to turn around and head back inside, only to find that it was pinned in place, completely unable to move.

Profound Celestial Ancient King said mildly, “Now that you have accepted this apology gift, isn’t it time we discuss the method for letting us out?”

Su Chen sneered. “Accepted what? I’m still being pinned down outside.

“Everyone,” he emphasized. “I’m not the one acting treacherously here.”

Profound Celestial Ancient King narrowed his eyes and withdrew his power, watching as the phantom walked through the hall doors while cradling the bone. Regardless of whether the person before them actually had a method or not, there was no harm in letting him try.

Besides… it wasn’t his bone anyway.

“I finally got my hands on it…”

Su Chen looked at the blood-red bone held in the phantom’s hands, his heart filled with a myriad of emotions. There were only six Moonlights in the entire Dust Star Sea, and that was excluding Bronze Ancient King. If they hadn’t been trapped in this Flame Space, it truly would have been extremely difficult to obtain this.

“The Flame Fire Golden Sand and Moonlight Treasure Bone are already in my hands, and they still need to be forged by the Sun Flame. I wonder if fusing them into the Great Venerable’s Residual Fire would work…”

With a stir of his mind, Su Chen used the Fire-igniting Ash to draw out a wisp of Residual Fire. When all three items were situated in the same spatial area, the interface reacted—

[The Purifier senses that the materials have been fully collected and is preparing to assist the host in undergoing transformation…]

Suddenly, the Flame Fire Golden Sand, the Moonlight Treasure Bone, and the wisp of Sun Residual Fire all sank into his body simultaneously.

“Young friend!” a shout came from outside the hall doors.

“Wait on the transformation…” Su Chen hastily commanded, and the text on the interface paused.

He had taken their item but hadn’t responded. If those old geezers outside felt they were being played and flew into a rage out of humiliation, insisting on breaking into the hall, that would be troublesome.

But giving them the method to get out right now was something Su Chen felt a bit reluctant to do, given the current situation. They had already associated this incident with him. Once they got out, they might just come knocking on his door.

“Still, these old geezers could just flip the table on me. Unless I never come in here again, I won’t be able to stall them for much longer,” he thought. “Moreover, they possess something else I want—the Origin left behind by the Residual Spirit.”

Su Chen weighed his options; he needed to handle this with the utmost delicacy. Thinking of this, he suddenly asked the Residual Spirit, “For the method you mentioned about using the Origin to deduce the professional requirements of the Spirit of Sun, what else is needed to assist in the process?”

Startled by the sudden question, the Residual Spirit quickly responded, “Faith Essence. Pure Faith Essence. You need at least fifty portions—the more the better. Only then can we do our best to suppress the Spirit of Sun’s resistance during the deduction.”

“Fifty portions of Faith Essence…” Su Chen’s eyelid twitched. “Refining Qin Yun into residual ash only required five portions. This is a straight ten-fold increase, and it’s merely the bare minimum… I’ll likely have to rely on those old geezers outside to get these Essences.”

He would have to deal with them a bit longer. Su Chen conjured another phantom and walked out.

“I thought you were gone for good, young friend.” Seeing Su Chen step out again, a smile surfaced on Profound Celestial Ancient King’s face. “If that were the case, we would have had to risk the Spirit of Sun’s wrath and try fighting our way into your hall.”

“I’m not as untrustworthy as you all,” Su Chen ridiculed.

Profound Celestial Ancient King didn’t mind the jab and asked, “Then can we discuss the method to get out now?”

“We can,” Su Chen replied. “I won’t hide it from you all, I do indeed have a method to let you out. However… there’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world.”

“Don’t be insatiably greedy! You’ve already taken one of my bones!” Zhenwu Ancient King shouted coldly.

Su Chen shook his head. “That was your apology gift. It has nothing to do with a trade.”

Profound Celestial Ancient King then asked, “How do we trade then? Do you want another bone?”

“No,” Su Chen replied instead. “The price has changed this time. I want Faith Essence. One hundred portions of pure Faith Essence.”