...
An unexpected breakthrough!
Su Chen was quite invigorated. Finding a solution for the Divine Dawn blood in this manner was far beyond his expectations.
’I wonder what on earth the Purifier will manage to analyze from this.’
Back in the training room, he called up a virtual screen, and dense text appeared on it.
[Thunderlight Aegis Body Refining Technique]
[Sonoburn Soul-Refining Meditation Technique]
Following the instructions, pale blue arcs of electricity burst from his pores. They spread along the patterns of his skin, weaving an increasingly dense and brilliant web that enveloped his entire body from head to toe before condensing into a constantly flowing layer of liquid plasma that sealed his form.
At the same time, an incandescent white speck of light appeared without warning at his Spirit Core. It expanded rapidly, transforming into a milky-white flame that burned, silent yet turbulent, licking every corner of his Spirit Body.
After his brief outing, Su Chen returned to his routine, waiting for Zhou Yunyang to deliver the Divine Dawn blood.
A few days later, Zhou Yunyang arrived at Su Chen’s Floating Island carrying a metal canister. Just as he stepped out of the Flying Device, he heard a clanging sound.
Following the sound, he saw a group of people gathered in a distant, open area. Su Chen was bare-chested, his lean, powerful muscles flexing in rhythm with the hammer strikes.
CLANG! BANG! CLINK!
Under the guidance of Song Yang and the other two, every one of Su Chen’s strikes landed precisely on different parts of the metal as he simultaneously turned, shifted his feet, and changed his angle.
The four of them coordinated with extreme tacit understanding. Under the continuous blows, the metal was constantly stretched, folded, and stretched again, while sparks flew like a torrential downpour.
SSSZZZ!
A harsh vaporizing sound, accompanied by billowing white steam, spread out. After the quenching, the rough blank was formed. Su Chen then followed their instructions and moved on to the fine-forging process.
The motion of his hammering fists grew far more delicate as he began the fine forging. A continuous stream of crisp CLINKs filled the air. Under the dense strikes, the sword’s spine gradually straightened, and a sharp bevel began to emerge along its edge.
As the time of the Dark Sun approached, Su Chen pushed a whetstone along the blade’s bevel. The friction between the metal and the fine steel sandstone produced a steady sound, and the blade began to gleam with a cold light.
The finished, silvery-white longsword lay on the table. The faint, intricate patterns of the forging process remained on its blade, and if you drew near, you could feel its lingering warmth.
[Snow Dragon Sword—Tier Five: A weapon propped up purely by the strength of its materials. Nothing special.]
"Congratulations, Star Seed, you’ve forged another one," Song Yang said, paying him a compliment. "This Snow Dragon Sword is exceptionally sharp. It’s a rare find, even among Tier Five Weapons."
’Rare...’ Su Chen was speechless. This was the third Tier Five Weapon he had forged. He estimated that in a little over half a month, he would be able to complete the Soldier Master’s requirement.
"It’s all thanks to your guidance," Su Chen replied smoothly, his gaze falling on Zhou Yunyang, who was standing to the side. He had been there for a while without making a sound.
Seeing Su Chen finish his forging, Zhou Yunyang quickly walked forward, a hint of apology in his voice. "Grand-Uncle, my sincerest apologies for the delay. I was only able to bring it to you today."
"I wasn’t in a hurry." Su Chen waved his hand, passing the Snow Dragon Sword to a mechanical automaton beside him. ’I’ll save this to give as a gift.’
Logically, the Vocational Support Department was only responsible for helping people complete their professional requirements. Any items produced in the process, like forged weapons, did not belong to the individual; they still belonged to the department.
But things always went "missing."
"Then we’ll take our leave," the three of them, Song Yang included, tactfully said before departing.
Su Chen put on a shirt and invited Zhou Yunyang into the reception room. The latter offered his usual compliments, "Tsk tsk, forging a weapon with your bare hands. I’ve really seen something today."
"Just completing a professional requirement. It’s torture," Su Chen waved his hand dismissively and served him tea.
Zhou Yunyang handed the metal canister to Su Chen, not forgetting to add a word of caution:
"Grand-Uncle, I’d advise you not to spend too much energy on this. There are quite a few factions and people researching the Divine Dawn Talent, but none have produced any results so far."
’He didn’t mention this when he was selling it to me, but now that he’s delivering it, he brings it up?’
Su Chen was inwardly speechless. His palm rubbed the canister as he said casually, "I’m just a little curious."
"I thought as much." Zhou Yunyang wasn’t surprised. With just three milliliters, it was impossible to research anything.
’Besides,’ Zhou Yunyang mused, ’Su Chen is definitely not a researcher. Maybe he’s just reselling it, or perhaps it’s for some kind of professional requirement?’
He had his suspicions, but he wasn’t too concerned. It was the blood of a dead Divine Dawn Level expert; it couldn’t cause any major problems.
Su Chen was impatient, but he suppressed his emotions. He exchanged a few pleasantries with Zhou Yunyang and saw him off on his Flying Device before returning to the training room.
He twisted open the metal canister. Wisps of blue, chilly air escaped, and with a humming sound, a thumb-sized glass tube rose from the center of the canister. It contained a dark brown liquid, like solidified asphalt, that seemed to have lost all its vitality.
’The blood of a dead person... this should work, right?’
Now that the moment was here, Su Chen felt a little apprehensive. He reached out, took the tube, and dripped the contents onto his hand. It felt cool to the touch.
Almost instantly, the dark brown blood vanished, and the panel refreshed.
[Acquired Divine Dawn Level blood. The Purifier is attempting to analyze. Discovered it is blood from a deceased person. It is somewhat disgusted, but the blood is still of some use. Analyzing...]
’As long as it works.’ Su Chen’s furrowed brow relaxed, and he breathed a sigh of relief. After waiting for about half an hour, the panel refreshed again.
[Great Venerable Red Flame Thunder Resonator has joined the analysis...]
’It dragged the Great Venerable into this again,’ Su Chen muttered to himself. ’The Purifier’s status probably isn’t much different from a Great Venerable’s, or at least they can communicate.’
[The Purifier seems to have discovered something, but upon sensing the host’s body Traits, it has brought the Reverser into the analysis...]
’Reverser?’
Su Chen was stunned. Only then did he remember that because of the Reverser’s existence, his Talents were forcibly linked and equalized, making it impossible to level them up individually.
’This might complicate things...’ Su Chen’s eyes flickered.
[All Things has joined the analysis array...]
’All Things joined in, too?’ Su Chen was surprised. Text continued to stream across the panel as more and more of his professions joined the analysis.
’Are they trying to brute-force it with numbers?’
Su Chen was secretly at a loss for words. The wait was longer than he had imagined, so he simply entered a state of training.
Only when Flame Fire was rekindled did new information appear.
[The Purifier has completed its analysis. Although the task was quite tricky, a solution was indeed found with the help of numerous professions...]
[The Candidate has voluntarily been devoured by the Purifier, using a wisp of the Moonlight Spirit to open the Divine Dawn Foundation...]
[The Purifier is devouring the Candidate...]
Su Chen froze. ’It devoured the Candidate?’
...
At the same time, beneath the Ancient King Stele, Qin Tianlin’s eyes were shut tight. He had already triggered its anomalous resonance four times. Standing beneath the stele exerted a powerful, natural pull on him.
He could feel he was only a single step away from being acknowledged by it, which made him increasingly anxious.
Therefore, he had been coming here frequently as of late.
RUMBLE—
Suddenly, the Ancient King Stele resounded again.
Qin Tianlin’s heart skipped a beat, and a surge of excitement washed over him.
’Will I finally gain its acknowledgment today?’ He reined in his emotions, searching for that faint, mysterious connection and tentatively reaching out for it.
The commotion from the Ancient King Stele drew the attention of many onlookers. Sect members passing through the square stopped in their tracks to watch.
"It’s resonating again?" someone said in surprise.
"I heard Qin Tianlin just triggered the fourth resonance a few days ago. Is he finally going to be acknowledged this time? He has a Divine Dawn Level Talent, after all," someone else remarked with a sigh.
"So what if he gets acknowledged? He’s still not the chosen one," another person said, their tone unreadable. "Besides, Venerable Qin Yun’s fate is still unknown..."
"Ha," someone sneered. "Venerable Qin Yun’s fate is indeed unknown, but this... might not be a bad thing for Qin Tianlin."
"If Venerable Qin Yun ends up safe and sound, then everything will be as it was before, unchanged. But if something really did happen to the Venerable, the Qin Family would indeed become unstable..."
"But have you considered that a Morning Star Tier position would open up because of it? Wouldn’t Qin Tianlin have a chance then? He has a Divine Dawn Level Talent; there’s a nine out of ten chance he’ll become the chosen one."
Hearing this, the crowd paused. Many of them hadn’t considered this angle.
Just as the crowd was engrossed in discussion, the Ancient King Stele began to tremble even more violently. However, the phenomenon that occurred when Su Chen was acknowledged did not repeat itself.
Qin Tianlin hesitantly opened his eyes. The four chains binding the Ancient King Stele were pulled taut. Golden light shone from the stele’s surface, but it seemed as if... it was about to shoot straight into the sky? It was bizarre.
At that moment, with a CRACK, the chains binding the stele suddenly shattered.
Before Qin Tianlin’s stunned eyes, the Ancient King Stele transformed into a streak of Flowing Light and shot off in a specific direction.
’The Ancient King Stele... flew away?’
It wasn’t just him; everyone in the square was dumbfounded, their gazes fixed on the direction in which the Ancient King Stele had flown.