Chapter 722 Chosen Path? World Slaughter Form Enhancement!

However, everything above the third floor was a dull grayish-black, while only the third floor and below, along with the Spiritual Hall overhead, glowed brightly.

“I can actually go into that hall?” Su Chen muttered. He selected a specific palace on the third floor.

The Fire-igniting Ash drifted to his left, gradually forming a swirling vortex of flames.

“The method of traversing the Spiritual Tower was already present in this Cultivation Residence. It was just hidden, only unlocking when one’s authority reaches a certain level.

“In other words, the creator anticipated the possibility of someone blocking the exit outside,” Su Chen speculated as he stepped into the vortex.

***

Outside the palace doors, several Ancient Kings watched the True Radiance light gradually recede. Their gazes unanimously converged on the Bronze Ancient King once more.

“Talent Transformation…” the Zhenwu Ancient King said, his voice cold and stern as he felt the stinging pain emanating from his back. “I’ve only seen it in two people. The first is your student, Su Chen, and the second is the person inside this hall.

“Do you think it’s possible they are the same person?”

The Bronze Ancient King frowned, his displeasure evident. “Must we discuss this again? We’ve already seen that person’s combat methods earlier, and they have absolutely nothing to do with Su Chen.”

“So what if it’s Talent Transformation? There’s no guarantee the Abyss Realm doesn’t possess such methods. Why do you insist on fixating on Su Chen? It would be one thing if you genuinely suspected him to be the person in the hall, but if this is just an excuse to suppress him… are you afraid of him?”

“Afraid?” The Zhenwu Ancient King sneered. “As long as you, old man, remain alive, he’ll never be able to stand on equal footing with us in his lifetime. What’s there to fear? It’s just a reasonable deduction.”

“I just thought of something,” the Hanhai Emperor suddenly interjected. The others looked over as the majestic Emperor spoke in a slow, measured tone.

“Right before the preliminaries of the Peak Star Conference began, you suddenly requested Morning Star Essence from the Royal Court. Once that substance leaves a Morning Star’s body, its vitality rapidly deteriorates. Only our Royal Court has the technology to preserve it.

“You are also a Moonlight. Why did you suddenly request this Morning Star Essence, and for whom?”

“Oh no!”

The Bronze Ancient King’s heart skipped a beat. These incidents meant little on their own, but if a catalyst were to string them all together, it would inevitably lead to further speculation. After all, these old men were each more shrewd and ruthless than the last.

“Morning Star Essence…” The Profound Celestial Ancient King’s eyes flickered. “Hanhai, what are you getting at?”

The Hanhai Emperor’s tone was indifferent. “Shortly after Su Chen placed first in the preliminaries and took the Morning Star Essence, his Talent evolved into the Divine Dawn Talent within the Profound Celestial Instrument. And shortly after this person took Zhenwu’s Moonlight Treasure Bone, their Talent evolved into the True Radiance Talent. Don’t you think that’s a bit too coincidental?”

“Morning Star Essence… Moonlight Treasure Bone…”

The Ancient Kings wore varying expressions. The correlation between the two was simply too high. Even though they had watched that battle and found no Holy Profession characteristics similar to Su Chen’s, now that the matter had been brought to light…

The Bronze Ancient King maintained a calm facade. “Why say so much? Whether this is true or not, you will all undoubtedly pay my Bronze Sect a visit to investigate once we leave.”

“Investigating after we leave will be a bit too late,” the Hanhai Emperor mused. “How about this? The next time we make contact in the Dust Star Sea, we’ll send a joint delegation to check on Su Chen’s Talent status.”

Waiting to verify it after they left was originally due to the fact that the person in the hall lacked other identifiable traits, making verification difficult. However, now that the True Radiance Talent had appeared, there was a much simpler method. They could confirm it without having to wait until they exited.

With the others already in agreement, the Bronze Ancient King could only expressionlessly agree. “If that’s the case, we’ll send someone to take a look when the time comes.”

He sighed inwardly. He wasn’t actually too opposed to this approach. If it truly turned out to be Su Chen, escaping from a Morning Star would be far easier than escaping from a Moonlight.

“I hope…” His train of thought paused. He didn’t know whether he actually hoped Su Chen was the person in the hall or not.

***

[Great Heaven Pill: Crafted using Earth Essence Fluid and a vast array of precious materials through an extremely complex process. It contains an immense amount of nutrients, can rapidly restore Physical Strength, assist in healing injuries, and stimulate developmental efficiency.]

In front of Su Chen lay a gradually dissipating dark-brown giant flood dragon. Its scales had been shattered, leaving it a bloody, mangled mess.

In his hand, he held a grayish-black object, roughly the size of a fist and shaped like an iron pellet.

“This thing…” Su Chen inspected the large iron ball in his hand and asked hesitantly, “Is it edible?”

It seemed like an ultra-compressed Support Potion, but with so many effects, it could be called a panacea.

He had used two of his challenge opportunities. Aside from this Great Heaven Pill, he had also previously obtained a [Perfect-Level Deceitful God Source Power].

He simply summoned the Residual Spirit to ask about the situation.

“Great Heaven Pill?” the Residual Spirit pondered. “I seem to recall it being a high-level resource from Great Heaven. It has many uses and is extremely precious even in the Abyss Realm.”

“Nonsense…” Su Chen blocked the spirit again. After a moment of thought, he simply opened his mouth and swallowed the pill whole. Keeping it around meant he wouldn’t know when he might finally use it.

Forcing his throat to work, he forcibly squeezed the thing down into his stomach. Checking internally with his Spiritual sense, he saw the iron pellet suspended in his stomach, a faint light swirling across its surface.

He attempted to control his stomach to absorb some nutrients from it.

However, the moment he started, a feeling of extreme fullness surged through him, as if he had overeaten.

“This thing… is this incredible?” Su Chen was astonished. He had only absorbed a tiny bit of it.

This seemingly inconspicuous object appeared to be far more astonishing in its effects than he had imagined.

But on second thought, it made perfect sense. After all, it was a reward from the Sun Trial.

“I have four challenge opportunities left. Saving them for when I reach Tier Eight will be plenty.”

Returning to the Cultivation Residence via the Fire Pillar, Su Chen made some brief adjustments. Just as he was about to leave, his expression froze as his interface suddenly popped up:

[The Holy Profession World Slaughter Form has successfully devoured Forging Celestial Mark. Forging Celestial Mark’s profound understanding of weaponry has greatly benefited the World Slaughter Form. Secret Artifact Enhancement cost is reduced by 30%.]

[The World Slaughter Form has used the Soul Imprint Casting capability to enhance the Hammer of Celestial Marks. Collected Celestial Marks will leave behind a trace imprint upon use. Large amounts of metallic materials can be used to restore the usage count of the Celestial Marks.]

“It finally yielded results…” Su Chen was slightly shaken. Scanning the text, he looked moved. “No wonder it took so long. It was figuring out how to enhance them.”

A cost reduction for Secret Artifact Enhancement was excellent; after all, it was his most relied-upon ability.

Furthermore, the Celestial Marks formed from the Spiritual energy extracted by Morning Star Artifacts had changed from single-use consumables to a rechargeable format. The price for this was the erasure of the [Soul Imprint Casting] ability.

For him, this wasn’t a nerf; he hardly had any use for that ability anyway.

Su Chen read it through again, in high spirits. “This way, I won’t have to constantly collect Morning Star Artifacts. After all, those things don’t grow on trees; a single Morning Star only has one.

“I already have two Celestial Marks on hand, so I need to collect five more… Wait, no. Once I reach Tier Eight, my Control Secret Artifacts will increase to eight, which means I’ll need to collect six more…

“Hmm… the Spirit of Sun still has four of them in its mouth. I need to figure out a way to pry them out.”

As he calculated this in his mind, the Sun Residual Fire enveloped him and shot into the sky.

***

Inside the Nether Tower, Su Chen opened his eyes, feeling as though a lifetime had passed. He checked the time; he had been gone for the better part of a month, which wasn’t actually that long.

Taixuan Tianyi, True Radiance… the images flashed briefly through his mind.

Su Chen stood up, pushed open the door of the Nether Tower, and walked out. The moment he stepped outside, he froze in place. A brilliant cyan light flooded his entire field of vision.

Taking two steps forward, Su Chen frowned deeply. As far as his eyes could see, everything was faintly covered by a cyan glow.

More accurately, a massive barrier had enveloped the entire Copper Heart.

“It’s not just the Copper Heart…” Su Chen gazed into the distance. It seemed to center around the Flame Fire, encompassing a vast surrounding area, including two Life Stars.

He looked at the cyan barrier at the edge of his vision. It resembled a semi-transparent membrane woven from countless specks of light. It flickered faintly, with streaks of electricity coursing through it. This was not a sign of instability.

Rather, it was a manifestation—one very similar to the scenario when the Bronze Ancient King opened up a mimicry zone within the Flame Space.

“Did something happen?” He guessed that this was likely a defensive measure.

“Furthermore…” Su Chen scanned the surroundings of the Floating Island, his expression tightening. “Someone has been here.”

He glanced at several scattered objects; their positions had all been shifted.

“I activated a temporary lockdown before I left. There are only a handful of people capable of forcing their way in.”