Chapter 620 - 338: One Strike

Strictly speaking, Physical Strength wasn’t his weakness. The issue was that his power consumption was simply too high.

If he only enhanced his Secret Artifacts to Tier Seven, it would be enough to last a full combat round. But people are always greedy. After Tier Seven comes Tier Eight, and after Tier Eight, Tier Nine.

’I wonder if I can enhance all my Secret Artifacts to Tier Eight in my current state, and how long I could last...’

Su Chen murmured to himself, his eyes blazing. No matter what, he was sure purifying the mid-level Fog Ashes wouldn’t be a problem.

...

In the depths of the Bronze Sect’s Flame Fire, the area was perennially silent and empty. Around the Red Gold flames, a dense black mist churned ceaselessly.

Compared to before, today’s Flame Fire seemed even more intense, soaring over a hundred feet high and dazzling to the eye. Below, the grayish-black mist continuously surged up along the tongues of fire, as if trying to tear it down.

Streams of green data-light swirled around the Flame Fire, seemingly suppressing the Fog Ashes entangled with it.

But at a certain moment, the streams of green light suddenly shattered. The Fog Ashes swarmed up the Flame Fire. The flames trembled and shot up another ten feet, but in the end, they seemed to shrink back with extreme reluctance.

"Sigh."

To one side, the Bronze Ancient King’s illusory figure sighed softly. "Even after trying everything, this is the limit."

He was somewhat helpless. He was well aware that letting Qin Yun go on her own could cause a great deal of trouble.

But using various methods, the most he could do was extend her time away to one month.

’It’s still too short.’

At this thought, the Bronze Ancient King felt a genuine sense of regret. It wasn’t just because he couldn’t go himself and would miss a potential opportunity to contact the Spirit of Sun, nor was it simply that Qin Yun might escape his control.

More importantly, he couldn’t observe the Sun Flame up close, nor could he be certain if he could use that Sun Flame to completely resolve the crisis of the Flame Fire.

That was one of the things he was most concerned about.

A pity... but he couldn’t leave, and that was that. As he was pondering, his eyes flickered, and the illusory figure dissipated.

In the Ancient King Hall, his true body’s gaze lowered.

Outside the hall, Chu Lingyuan was walking over, with Su Chen following behind him.

"Master," Chu Lingyuan said respectfully. Su Chen greeted him as well.

’What abundant lifeblood. He’s already consciously working on his weaknesses.’ The Bronze Ancient King noticed Su Chen’s subtle change at a glance.

He nodded slightly, his voice deep and resonant. "Why have you sought me out?"

Su Chen responded, "I was the one who wanted to see you, so I asked Senior Brother to bring me here."

"Is that so." The Bronze Ancient King nodded. "Lingyuan, you may go about your business."

"Yes, Master," Chu Lingyuan replied.

"Thank you, Senior Brother," Su Chen said quickly, watching Chu Lingyuan leave.

The moment he turned back, he couldn’t help but be startled. The Ancient King’s true body had taken on the form of an ordinary person and appeared before him without him noticing.

"It’s rare for you to seek me out," the Bronze Ancient King said casually. "What is it?"

Su Chen stated his purpose.

"You want to test yourself against the mid-level Fog Ashes?" The Bronze Ancient King didn’t seem particularly surprised. "You’ve come a bit later than I expected."

"I thought that with your personality, you would have come to test the strength of the mid-level Fog Ashes right after taking first place in the preliminary selection."

’Am I that reckless of a person?’ Su Chen grumbled inwardly, but said aloud, "I wanted to let my power settle and be more confident."

When he purified the outer-level Fog Ashes, he had already felt it was a bit of a struggle. So, even after forging the World Slaughter Form, he hadn’t come to make a pointless effort.

"Hmm, it’s good to give it a try, to know where you stand." The Bronze Ancient King placed a hand on his shoulder and took the opportunity to inspect Su Chen’s physical condition for any hidden aura of a Deceitful God.

’This kid’s muscle strength hasn’t increased, but his cellular resilience has improved severalfold. His heart and other organs are also much stronger, as is the width of his blood vessels... In other words, his Physical Strength has increased immensely.’

The feedback surprised the Bronze Ancient King. A visual inspection was one thing, but only after carefully examining Su Chen’s body did he get accurate data.

With a flicker, the two of them arrived in the depths of the Flame Fire.

’Why is he touching my shoulder? He didn’t do this before...’ Su Chen glanced at his convenient master, suspecting that the Bronze Ancient King was running some kind of test on him.

He had far too many strange things about him, making it easy to associate him with a Deceitful God. And since the Bronze Ancient King had been harmed by a Deceitful God before, it was only normal for him to be cautious.

"Did you take on a new class?" The Bronze Ancient King withdrew his hand and asked directly.

’Just as I thought...’ Su Chen nodded. "To make up for my weakness, I took on some classes that increase Physical Strength."

The final class for the Permanent Body required Tier Seven to take on. This was a hard requirement. Su Chen didn’t mention it, as it would be quite troublesome to explain.

The Bronze Ancient King had no intention of probing further, seemingly having asked only in passing. His gaze fell on the Fog Ashes in the distance. "Go on. I’ll watch from out here."

Su Chen nodded but didn’t enter immediately. With a thought, crimson light intertwined behind him, projecting the image of the Great Venerable Red Thunder, which then merged into his body.

’Why does this feel a bit like Junior Brother Red Sun? It seems to have some connection to the Great Venerable Red Flame Thunder Resonator.’ The Bronze Ancient King discerned a few clues.

Su Chen was absorbing the Venerable Lord’s blessing. The Venerable Lord’s blessing required time to accumulate to its fullest extent. He could prepare it outside, and the slight consumption of Physical Strength was now negligible to him.

This ability, Venerable Lord, specifically targeted his state when channeling the image of the Great Venerable Red Flame Thunder Resonator. It couldn’t strengthen him when he was already enhanced by his Secret Artifacts.

However, his own strength was quite considerable, and the boost from Venerable Lord was not to be underestimated.