Chapter 637 346: 3 Dragon Cauldron Appears

Giant metallic palaces flanked the stairs. It took hundreds, if not thousands, of steps to pass just one of them. Su Chen walked slowly, carefully observing both sides. There were no obstacles along the way.

The pyramid looked magnificent, but after a rough calculation, Su Chen figured it only had about nine levels in total.

He soon arrived at the top platform. Although this was the pinnacle of the tower, it was quite expansive and housed an equally grand palace. Its purplish-gold metallic doors were carved with various symbols. There were no guards on either side, but the doors were tightly shut.

"The vessel of Spirituality is inside?" Su Chen's heart stirred. He stepped onto the platform, but after only a pace or two, his breath suddenly hitched.

Streams of light surged all around, centering on the main palace before suddenly condensing into a giant dragon head. It was the Spirit of Sun.

Su Chen paused and locked eyes with the dragon head. It still looked just as proud and stern.

He wondered, "Does this mean I've triggered the test?" Suddenly, he noticed the wind churning around him as the Residual Fire cloaking his skin gradually faded.

Layers of milky-white radiance rippled across his skin, merging into a faint pillar of light that shot into the sky, pure and flawless.

It was the Divine Dawn Light.

He then noticed a very human-like trace of astonishment and confusion surface in the eyes of the Spirit of Sun. It lowered its head, staring blankly at him.

Was it that shocked by the Divine Dawn?

Su Chen frowned. It definitely couldn't be because of his Talent.

Was it because of the Residual Fire?

Looking at the thinning Residual Fire around him, a guess suddenly formed in his mind. He wondered, "Did it try to chase me away earlier because it mistook me for someone else? I got this Residual Fire from the Residual Spirit. Maybe it mistook me for him."

While Su Chen pondered, the head of the Spirit of Sun lifted slightly. An incredibly dense stream of purple fire drifted out and merged into the Sun Residual Fire enveloping him.

Su Chen's heart skipped a beat, and a bad premonition immediately washed over him.

Sure enough, in the next moment, he felt waves of scorching heat radiating from the Sun Residual Fire around him. The temperature was climbing.

Was this the test?

Even as the thought crossed his mind, stabbing pain flared through his muscles. The agony steadily deepened, as if testing his absolute limits.

Su Chen endured it in silence. The burning pain escalated, turning his skin crimson. Just as it became unbearable and he was about to activate the Secret Artifact within him, the pressure vanished.

His body relaxed as the stream of fire floated back out. A resonant dragon roar faintly echoed in his ears.

He looked up in surprise, only to see a miniature purple dragon drift out from the body of the Sun Spirituality and circle around him.

***

At the bottom of the tower, the Prison King cautiously peeked at the pillar of light.

The Divine Dawn Light, pure and flawless—and it was Twin Divine Dawns at that.

The Prison King recognized it at a glance but secretly shook his head. The Divine Dawn wasn't enough here. When Spirituality picked a Chosen One, personal strength didn't carry much weight.

In fact, between two Professionals who had both gained the recognition of three dragons, the Spirituality might actually choose the one with the lower Talent and weaker strength.

No one could explain what made the difference. Although this man was strong, he certainly couldn't be young anymore, making it impossible for him to gain recognition.

However, he could understand the man's mindset. This was the Sun Profession, after all; who wouldn't want it?

But right at that moment, a faint dragon roar echoed around the Divine Dawn Light, and a dragon shadow rose, leaping and coiling in the air.

"One Dragon Shadow!? He got recognized!"

The Prison King stared at the dragon shadow in astonishment, his face trembling with shock.

He truly hadn't expected this guy to bypass the strict requirements of the Sun Spirituality.

He thought, "What a pity. He's probably suffering due to his age. If he were younger, he might have achieved the status of Twin Dragon Resonance. Twin dragons still have a chance to upgrade to three dragons, but a single dragon is merely a foil."

***

Su Chen looked at the little dragon leaping above him and thought thoughtfully, "I guess this means I'm recognized, but only at the lowest tier."

Suddenly, he froze as a stream of information flooded his mind.

"One Dragon Shadow grants the qualification to follow the Chosen One, the right to roam freely in this area, and the choice of three palaces outside the tower for trials."

Su Chen's eyes twitched. Entering three palaces outside the tower was just a consolation prize.

He thought, "As expected of the Spirit of Sun. Even without using any abilities, my physical strength surpasses the vast majority of Tier Seven, yet I only get the lowest level of recognition."

Only Three Dragon Shadows granted the qualification to become the Chosen One. When facing the Great Venerable earlier, he had basically cheated and hadn't experienced the agony of being tormented by Spirituality.

Seemingly confirming that he was only qualified for One Dragon Shadow, the Spirit of Sun lost interest, and its head began to dissipate.

Su Chen's gaze sharpened. One Dragon Shadow was not his goal. If he went all out, he should at least gain the recognition of twin dragons—he wanted to see what privileges that entailed.

"Cauldron Body Liberation, Secret Artifact Enhancement—straight to Tier Eight!"

Su Chen's aura boiled, causing even the Sun Residual Fire to flicker for a moment.

Hm? The vaguely dissipating head of the Spirit of Sun solidified once more. It paused involuntarily and swung back to face him.

A hint of suspicion seemed to emerge in those vertical pupils filled with arrogance and indifference.

Soon after, an extremely dense stream of fire leaked from its jaws and merged into the Residual Fire again. This time, the burning intensity escalated rapidly, quickly surpassing the limit he had endured last time, and it continued to climb.

"Come on, hit me with more!"

Su Chen took a deep breath, simultaneously activating the Healing Sage and the Unmoving Vajra.

In an instant, his physical strength leaped to another level. The blood mist spraying out from around his body was completely devoured by the Sun Residual Fire.

Gradually, the suspicion in the eyes of the Spirit of Sun turned into surprise, and finally into a look of deep contemplation, as if it were hesitating.

After another moment, Su Chen gritted his teeth, trembling. Intense pain wracked every part of his body. The intensity of the burning had reached a point where even he could no longer withstand it.

The Spirit of Sun narrowed its eyes, seemingly making up its mind. It drew back the stream of fire, and then two more small purple dragons shot out from its body. With resonant roars, they coiled around Su Chen.

***

"How did it suddenly jump to Three Dragon Shadows?"

Below, the Prison King stared wide-eyed at the three purple dragon shadows overhead, finding it utterly inconceivable.

He thought, "According to that Residual Spirit, isn't it true that only those with the True Radiance Talent can obtain Three Dragon Shadows and thus qualify to compete for the position of the Chosen One?

"This man only has the Divine Dawn. Or... has his strength far exceeded the normal level, making the Spirit of Sun look at him in a new light?

"But if that's the case, and there's a guy in the three-dragon sequence who is considered powerful even at the Ancient King level, how can anyone else compete?"

These thoughts crossed his mind, but he couldn't help shaking his head. This wasn't his concern. Right now, all he needed to think about was how to stay alive.

***

"Three Dragon Shadows grants the qualification to compete for the Chosen One, bestows the Fire-igniting Ash, and allows free entry and exit here. One may choose nine palaces below the sixth level for trials."

Receiving this information, Su Chen breathed a sigh of relief but was also quite surprised. Wasn't it only the True Radiance that could gain the recognition of three dragons?

"Well, at least I can freely enter and exit now," he thought. A streak of crimson light flew toward him. Su Chen reached out and caught it, watching it materialize into a cluster of fiery ash.

[Fire-igniting Ash: Can be used as fuel to ignite a specific flame.]

Only then did the Spirit of Sun completely dissipate. Su Chen could faintly sense the will of the Sun Dragon before him; it seemed to have been quite hesitant about granting him the qualification of Three Dragon Shadows.

He reasoned, "That Residual Spirit probably wasn't lying about this. The Divine Dawn is just the threshold, and only the True Radiance holds true qualification. If the strength I displayed hadn't surprised the Spirit of Sun, it likely wouldn't have granted me the three-dragon qualification."

Su Chen made a rough deduction as he deactivated his physical enhancements. After achieving Three Dragon Shadows, he still didn't know how to compete for the role of the Chosen One.

However, based on his experience fighting for the Morning Star Chosen One, he guessed that the true competition process would only begin after multiple people with three-dragon recognition appeared.

In reality, it mainly came down to who could win the Spirituality's favor to ultimately become the Chosen One.

Different Spiritualities favored different traits. Some favored those with unwavering resolve, while others favored the bloodthirsty...

Su Chen muttered to himself, "There are too many uncertain factors. Who knows how long it'll take for others with the Three Dragon Shadows qualification to show up?

"Besides, given the arrogance of the Spirit of Sun, God knows what kind of stunts it might pull. Forcing the system panel to absorb it is the best way to go."

However... he looked at the palace before him. Looking for a shortcut didn't seem that simple either. Was he really supposed to rely on that Residual Spirit?