Chapter 719: Transforming into True Radiance, Insane Professional Traits!

Hearing this, the Ancient Kings’ expressions changed slightly. This asking price was by no means low—draining a Little Deceitful God dry would only yield about a dozen portions.

“This price is simply too high. It is merely a method; we must still prepare the relevant materials ourselves.” For the first time, the Profound Celestial Ancient King frowned. He even dropped the friendly ‘young friend’ moniker, stating bluntly, “Let us not haggle back and forth. How about this: a flat rate of thirty portions.”

“You are all grand figures, why haggle like me?” Su Chen waved his hand dismissively. “That is far too low. Eighty portions, at the very least.”

“One never knows the hardships of managing a household until they are the one in charge. These are all ancestral legacies painstakingly accumulated by our predecessors.” The Profound Celestial Ancient King offered a bitter smile. “Fifty portions. Not a single one more.”

“Sixty portions. That is my absolute bottom line,” Su Chen insisted. “Deliver the goods first, and then I will tell you the method.”

“Deliver the goods first?” the Xingqiong Ancient King frowned. “And what if you just take the items and run?”

Su Chen shook his head. “And what if you simply leave without honoring your end of the bargain? You can brave the wrath of the Spirit of Sun and attempt to force your way inside, but I cannot exactly step outside to cause trouble for you.”

“Wait…” the Profound Celestial Ancient King asked. “If we cannot go inside, how are we supposed to deliver these items to you?”

“As for delivering the Faith Essence, I naturally have my own methods.”

This person truly possessed a myriad of methods. In a way, this only bolstered the credibility of his claim that he held the secret to freely entering and exiting the Flame Space.

Sixty portions. Split among them, it would only be ten portions per sect, which was acceptable. After a moment of deliberation, the Profound Celestial Ancient King agreed. “If that is the case, then we have a deal at sixty portions. Please, young friend, enlighten us on how to deliver the Faith Essence.”

“It is not complicated. You merely need to add a few steps to the ritual we used to establish contact last time…” Once Su Chen finished his explanation, the phantom projection finally dissipated and returned.

“They won’t be able to issue their instructions for another three months. After the Faith Essence is delivered, they will have to wait yet another three months before they can issue any new commands,” Su Chen calculated inwardly. “This should stall them for at least half a year.”

He couldn’t help but hesitate. “Half a year… That is still a bit too short.”

He shook his head. “Forget it. I will just have to see how things play out.”

Setting the matter aside for now, Su Chen returned his gaze to the interface panel. Right now, undergoing the metamorphosis into True Radiance was his top priority.

As if sensing his intentions, the panel trembled slightly. Soon after, streams of light spilled from it like flowing water. Their dark red hues were laced with swirling, fine golden glimmers, faintly exuding a violent and brutal aura as they wound and coiled around him.

As the light gradually seeped beneath his skin, a subtle stinging sensation surged forward like a tide, accompanied by a spreading, enveloping warmth. Su Chen hurriedly centered his focus.

Somewhere in the desolate, silent starry sky, various uniquely shaped warships were distinctly divided into six massive arrays. Inside the top-level conference room of a grayish-black flagship, the temporary helmsmen of the other sects—Li Qingyi, Wu Yue, and Qi Heng—were all gathered. Some sat expressionless, while others wore faint smiles.

It wasn’t until the metal doors slid open that Chu Lingyuan knitted his brows tightly, his gaze fixed on the tardy Prison King.

“Zhen Yu, the ritual has ended. We should be returning to our respective sects. Why have you suddenly called us all together again?”

“Indeed. There are still many sect matters waiting for us to handle,” Li Qingyi agreed.

They had already concluded their preliminary communications with the Ancient Kings. As the status reports would only occur once every three months, there was no need for them to remain here personally; the personnel responsible for the handovers were already on their way. They only needed to assign a permanent staff to this location and periodically transport the required resources.

Had it not been for the fact that Zhen Yu had just escaped from the Flame Space—and that the ritual he spoke of had proven true—they would have completely ignored the Prison King’s summons and left at the first opportunity.

“Do not be so anxious, everyone,” the Prison King rasped. His physique had filled out somewhat, no longer appearing as withered as when he had first awakened. He strolled forward at a leisurely pace. “Although the ritual has concluded, there is still one matter that we must hash out clearly.”

The several Morning Stars exchanged subtle glances. Wu Yue, whose temper was notoriously explosive, demanded bluntly, “Spit it out. Do not play your mysterious games with us here.”

“This matter concerns the truth behind my entrapment in the Flame Space, as well as the fall of our sects’ Morning Stars.”

Chu Lingyuan’s heart skipped a beat. Catching the Prison King’s sinister gaze locking onto him, a deep sense of unease immediately welled up in his chest.

Sure enough, in the very next moment, the Prison King spoke with slow deliberation. “That man, Qin Yun, is a treacherous, selfish, and malicious dog. He was the first to make contact with that Residual Spirit within the Flame Fire. Having succumbed to the Residual Spirit’s Enchantment, he deceived the rest of us into believing his lies, causing us to blindly follow that apparition’s orders.

“Worse yet, after the Spirit of Sun was enraged, Qin Yun colluded with that Residual Spirit to sacrifice and slaughter our comrades one by one! He used the lives of the various sects’ Morning Stars to pave his own escape from the Flame Space. Even I nearly perished in there.”

The Prison King’s voice rose higher and higher with blistering indignation until his final words echoed fiercely throughout the entire conference room.

A dead silence instantly fell over the room. Qi Heng’s expression shifted slightly, and a flicker of emotion crossed Li Qingyi’s eyes.

Wu Yue slammed his hand against the table and stood up, interrogating Chu Lingyuan aggressively, “Is what Zhen Yu said true? Was my Senior Brother Shao Feng murdered by Qin Yun?!”

Chu Lingyuan had already sensed that something was terribly wrong. He had no way to verify the Prison King’s story, but his gut told him that it was most likely the truth.

“The Bronze Sect must give us an explanation for this!” the Prison King roared in a booming voice.

Although Chu Lingyuan privately suspected the tale was true, he couldn’t possibly admit to it on the spot. He countered in a deep, steady voice, “This is entirely your one-sided story, Zhen Yu. How do we know that it wasn’t you playing Qin Yun’s role?”

“If it were me, would I have been left trapped inside?” the Prison King shot back. With a casual flick of his wrist, black mist surged forward. The sounds of chains clattering, CLINK CLANK, filled the air as an illusory scene materialized—

Monstrous purple flames surged toward the heavens. The Spirit of Sun spanned across the firmament, while human figures clashed and wove through the chaos below.

Agonizing wails echoed from the projection—it was the exact scene of the Morning Stars’ fall. Most prominent of all was the figure of Qin Yun, his expression cold and ruthless, completely wreathed in the blazing purple flames.