’But what on earth was that pillar of light...?’
Su Chen still couldn’t quite figure it out. He decided to wait until tomorrow and go ask around on the Copper Heart.
"You certainly look relaxed."
As Su Chen was eating, a somewhat familiar voice suddenly drifted over.
The dining hall doors flew open, and a gentle breeze swept in, coalescing into a figure in front of the dining table. It was Qing Cang.
"Senior Brother Qing Cang." Su Chen was stunned, then a look of delight crossed his face. "You’re finally back! Please, have a seat, have a seat."
He stood up enthusiastically and personally pulled up a chair for Qing Cang, vaguely sensing a hint of resentment in his senior brother’s eyes.
As he got closer, he caught the strong smell of alcohol on his senior brother and was surprised. ’Did he come here after drinking?’
Hearing Su Chen call him "Senior Brother" again, Qing Cang fell silent for a moment before sitting down with a sigh. "You really gave me a huge surprise."
"Huh? What surprise?" Su Chen asked, confused.
"What surprise? What’s the deal with your Talent! That group on Red Thunder Star, Chong Jingtian and the others, they lied to me, and they did it so brazenly!"
Perhaps emboldened by the alcohol, Qing Cang’s words lacked their usual subtlety. When he first discovered Su Chen had become one of the chosen, he had only felt it was a pity.
Later, when he discovered Su Chen’s strength was absurdly high, it became heartache.
And now, discovering that Su Chen actually had a Star Amber Talent, he was filled with even more regret.
’If I had just spoken up earlier, would this guy be calling me Senior Brother? He’d be respectfully calling me Master.’
Because of this, his dissatisfaction with those crafty old foxes on Red Thunder Star grew.
’How did they have the guts to pass off a Star Amber as an Ink Jade? Weren’t they afraid I’d check it on the spot?’
He also blamed himself a little. He had a stereotype about Desolate Planets, assuming they couldn’t produce anyone with a powerful Talent, so he hadn’t even thought to verify it.
"Er..." Su Chen looked a bit awkward. He poured Qing Cang a drink and said, "The Chief and the others were just being cautious."
"Sigh..." Qing Cang let out a breath, his interest waning. "If I had known you had a Star Amber Tier Talent, I wouldn’t have made that trip to the Profound Celestial Sect."
"You mean the Profound Celestial Instrument, right? Bringing it back to help the other members is a great thing," Su Chen couldn’t help but say.
"You’re certainly considerate of the Sect," Qing Cang shot him a look, speaking irritably.
"The Sect is my home," Su Chen said quickly. But then a thought struck him, and partly to change the subject and partly to confirm his own suspicion, he asked, "That pillar of light that suddenly shot up from me earlier... was that caused by the Profound Celestial Instrument?"
"Mm," Qing Cang nodded. "You’re sharp. It was indeed the Profound Celestial Instrument."
"That Lu Huai is a cunning one. When he saw the Ancient King Stele suddenly act up, his mind filled with suspicions. Senior Brother Lingyuan used a diversionary tactic, claiming it was due to your own uniqueness, but Lu Huai was skeptical, which is why he investigated your Talent."
"A diversionary tactic?" Su Chen paused, thoughtful. The sudden arrival of the Ancient King Stele had apparently caused a much greater impact than he had imagined.
After speaking, Qing Cang’s gaze fixed on him, his tone serious. "Tell me honestly, the sudden arrival of the Ancient King Stele—was that your doing, or was it for some other reason?"
’This...’ Su Chen felt helpless. He certainly couldn’t mention the system panel. He could only say vaguely, "I’m not sure what happened either. I was just training in the development chamber, and the stele just flew over for no reason."
"You don’t know either?" Qing Cang’s eyes darkened, and he murmured, "Could it be that something has really happened to Master?"
’Something happened to the Ancient King?’ Hearing this, Su Chen’s mind raced until he pieced the logic together. The sudden flight of the Ancient King Stele, an unprecedented event, had given rise to much speculation.
His Star Amber Talent had indeed surprised many people.
But it wasn’t as if there had never been a Star Amber Level Talent before. In fact, even when Qin Tianlin was at the stele’s base, it hadn’t caused such a commotion.
This anomaly with the stele could easily be linked to the Ancient King, and when you added the Sect’s Flame Fire problem...
This series of misunderstandings might lead some to believe that something had happened to the Ancient King, causing the stele to perform an action that went beyond mere "acknowledgment" ahead of schedule.
’This...’ Su Chen’s expression flickered. ’What is this, a butterfly effect?’
But he couldn’t explain it properly, so he could only say tactfully, "I suppose the stele must have seen my extraordinary potential."
There was no smile on Qing Cang’s face. "Let’s hope so," he said wistfully.
Seeing Qing Cang’s reaction, Su Chen couldn’t help but ask, "Did something happen?"
The situation with the Flame Fire had been going on for years. A minor anomaly shouldn’t be enough to make Qing Cang this worried.
Qing Cang didn’t hide it. He nodded and said, "Qin Yun has returned from the Lost Flame, severely injured."
"Venerable Qin Yun?" Su Chen was taken aback. "Heaven helps the worthy," he remarked with a sigh.
Qing Cang couldn’t help but sneer. "Alright, stop pretending in front of me."
Su Chen sighed inwardly. ’This senior brother of mine seems to be in a really bad mood.’
After speaking, Qing Cang’s tone turned cold. "He would have been better off dying in that Lost Flame."
Su Chen’s eyelid twitched. Even for someone of Qing Cang’s status, those words were a bit extreme.
Su Chen had heard about the conflict between Qing Cang and Qin Yun. It involved a past incident and another one of the Ancient King’s disciples.
But the information within the Sect was vague, and he didn’t know the specific details.
Then, Qing Cang added, "Only two people made it out of the Lost Flame. One was the Prison King, who is unconscious, and the other was Qin Yun, who is severely injured and on the brink of death."
"Only two came out?" Su Chen was shocked again. "What about the others?"
"According to Qin Yun, they are most likely dead."
"Dead?" Su Chen sucked in a sharp breath. "Five Morning Star Tier experts dead? Won’t the Sect and the Royal Court go ballistic?"
"Yes," Qing Cang said, a worried look on his face. "The only ones who know what happened inside are Qin Yun and the Prison King. If the Prison King doesn’t wake up, all eyes will be on Qin Yun."
Su Chen’s expression shifted. ’Everyone else died, but just the two of them survived. There must be a reason for that.’
’How did the others die? Did Qin Yun and the Prison King do something sinister? Was it a case of ’better you die than me’?’
There were too many tangled issues here, not to mention the secrets of the Lost Flame itself. Whether Qin Yun could explain it clearly or not, this was a mess that he wouldn’t be able to escape once he was involved.
"If he truly had the Sect’s best interests at heart, he would kill himself immediately," Qing Cang said bluntly.
Su Chen shook his head. "Kill himself? I’m afraid the venerable Qin Yun wouldn’t be too willing to do that."
Qing Cang sneered. "Of course he wouldn’t. No one clings to their own life more than he does."
"Isn’t there still the Prison King?" Su Chen asked.
"Even if the Prison King could be woken up, the Royal Court wouldn’t let him," Qing Cang said, his tone pessimistic and helpless. "The Ancient King can’t easily leave the Flame Fire, and there’s already a lot of talk outside. The Royal Court has been eyeing our Sect’s Flame Fire like a tiger watching its prey. I’m afraid they’re going to make a move this time."
Seeing Su Chen’s silence, Qing Cang’s body trembled slightly, and a wave of alcoholic vapor billowed out from him before dissipating. "I’ve said too much. Don’t mind my rambling."
"Senior Brother, you’re being too serious," Su Chen said, shaking his head.
Qing Cang then said, "The Profound Celestial Instrument doesn’t work on Star Amber Talents, so you can’t use it. However, you can recommend a few candidates for it."
’Recommend candidates?’ Su Chen’s first thought was Ming Lin. He only had an Ink Jade Talent; the Profound Celestial Instrument should be able to give him a huge boost.
"Thank you, Senior Brother," Su Chen said. Based on his deductions about the Creation Copper Heart, he guessed that even within the Profound Celestial Sect, not just anyone could use this instrument.
Upgrading a Talent also came down to cost-effectiveness. The return on investment for upgrading from Ink Jade was naturally different from upgrading from Profound Purple.
The spots Qing Cang was offering must be very precious.
On second thought, an idea stirred in Su Chen’s mind. He feigned confusion and asked, "This Profound Celestial Instrument can directly upgrade Talents? What method does it use?"
"What method?" Qing Cang glanced at him. "What other method could there be? You just stuff the person inside."
"It’s that simple?"
"Well, not entirely." Qing Cang shook his head. "There’s only one Profound Celestial Instrument in the entire Dust Star Sea. The fundamental principle seems to be some kind of reforging method."
He couldn’t remember the details clearly. You just used it when you used it. It was like the Creation Copper Heart; besides the Ancient King, no one knew the principle behind it. It was very complicated.
’Just as I thought.’ Su Chen was now certain. The "Profound Celestial Reforging Method" the Purifier had mentioned had to be this Profound Celestial Instrument.
If he wanted to ascend to a Divine Dawn Level Talent, he would have to rely on this Profound Celestial Instrument.