Chapter 645 - 350: Holy Profession - Shadow Shattering Body

As for the Flame Fire Golden Sand, it sounded related to Flame Fire, but he couldn’t even begin to guess its nature. It wasn’t just recently; Su Chen had already sent people to secretly investigate for a while, and even purchased clues from the Prophet Council. However, he still found absolutely nothing regarding these two materials.

Su Chen wondered, "What exactly is the mission Old Qing went on? Why hasn’t he returned yet?"

Qing Cang had escorted Qin Yun there, and the Ancient Kings had caught up from behind. Logically, Old Qing should have returned long ago. Yet even the Peng King had already come back, but Old Qing was still nowhere to be seen. Su Chen had investigated both openly and secretly before learning that Old Qing seemed to have gone on some mission. If there was anywhere he could get clues about these two materials, it would probably have to be from Old Qing.

Su Chen let his thoughts wander for a while before gradually entering his development state.

In a corner of the ship’s cabin, Qin Yun lowered his head. Through a certain connection, he was currently communicating with the Sun.

"Why didn’t you tell me before that bearing this wisp of the Sun’s Spiritual nature would cost such a huge price?"

Even though the Sun was not far away, there were five Ancient Kings present. He could only communicate carefully through this method. It wasn’t a mental communication—otherwise, the Ancient Kings would have immediately noticed—but a deeper level of communication through a wisp of Residual Fire the Sun had left in his body.

"What did you expect? That is a wisp of Spiritual nature from the supreme Spirit of Sun. How could there not be any price?" the Sun responded nonchalantly.

Qin Yun felt a surge of anger. If it weren’t for those Ancient Kings hanging onto his life for him, he would have died long ago. Even so, it had consumed a significant amount of his Life Origins, which directly affected his lifespan. In other words, even if he were to return to his peak condition now, he probably wouldn’t have much time left to live. This kind of loss made him grit his teeth and nearly spit blood in frustration as he sharply questioned, "What exactly is your plan? How do you intend to compensate for my losses? You get Su Chen’s body, but what about me?

"An illusory Moonlight Tier profession? With my current lifespan, can I even hold out until then?! If I really reach a dead end, I will expose everything about you."

"I cannot tell you my plan right now," the Sun said calmly. He had completely grasped Qin Yun’s weaknesses.

Before the plan began, this kid really might have turned against him. However, the plan had already started, and his price had already been paid. The sunk cost was too high, and fighting to the bitter end would be meaningless. As long as there was still hope, Qin Yun could only wait obediently. Of course, the Sun followed up with words of comfort. "As for your losses, I will naturally compensate you once I obtain Su Chen’s body. You should know how many good things are in that Flame Space."

"Are you sure Su Chen’s body can be acknowledged, or even chosen?" Qin Yun pressed further.

"He carries quite a few secrets, but relying solely on his Twin Divine Dawns, he can probably only obtain one dragon. Two dragons would be his absolute limit. However, I have other methods to take it a step further," the Sun said vaguely.

"You’d better..." Before Qin Yun could finish his internal thought, a shadow suddenly enveloped him. He cautiously raised his head, only to see the Zhenwu Ancient King looking down at him indifferently, his eyes filled with scrutiny.

Qin Yun’s heart skipped a beat as he suddenly heard the Zhenwu Ancient King say, "Since we have this wisp of Spiritual nature, why can’t it just test us directly? Why go through all the trouble to find other acknowledged candidates?"

"Your strength is too great. You can only be tested through the main Spiritual entity. This wisp of Spiritual nature cannot accomplish that." The Sun seemed to have anticipated this question, and his response was flawless.

However, the Zhenwu Ancient King was still dissatisfied. "Then we might as well have charged straight in and taken a gamble back then. Even though that guy wasn’t chosen, has he already been acknowledged?" He was still brooding over that indifferent, dismissive gaze.

"Unlikely," the Sun gave a negative answer. He knew the truth: that guy was so strong that he must be very old. It was completely impossible for him to be acknowledged.

"Why do you say that?" The Zhenwu Ancient King turned his head. "Do you have a way to be certain?"

Hearing the Zhenwu Ancient King’s question, the other Ancient Kings also cast attentive glances over. The Sun didn’t respond immediately. Seeing this, the Zhenwu Ancient King’s eyes gleamed brightly. "You really do?"

Doing this was meaningless, as that guy couldn’t possibly be acknowledged... but the Sun suddenly realized that he might be able to use this opportunity to accumulate some power for himself. After a moment, he replied, "By using this wisp of Spiritual nature in Qin Yun’s body, I do indeed have a way to try and find out if the Spirit of Sun currently has an acknowledged candidate. However, it will cost a significant price."

"By using this wisp of Spiritual nature in my body?" Qin Yun’s brow twitched. With this thing inside him, every little action could potentially harm him. Coupled with this guy’s notorious track record, Qin Yun instinctively wanted to interrupt him. But remembering his current situation—where no one would likely care about his words anyway—he had no choice but to take a few heavy breaths in silence.

He made up his mind. "If this Sun screws me over one more time, to hell with his plan. I will expose everything and drag him down with me."

"Do you need Divine Blood and the Power of Faith again?" the Hanhai Emperor asked. Upon receiving a positive answer from the Sun, he spoke indifferently. "It’s nothing more than each of us pooling some resources together."

The group settled the matter. However, since they were still in the Nether Fog, they couldn’t issue any commands. They could only wait until they got out to make preparations.

"These are the materials you requested, and here is the Tier Seven weapon you requisitioned—the Heaven-Rending Hammer," Ding Fan said.

Ding Fan instructed his subordinates to unload the boxes. The amount of materials consumed to evolve a Tier Six Secret Artifact to Tier Seven was enormous. His subordinates brought out no less than a dozen boxes. The last one was a three-meter-long metal crate, carried by two people in the front and two in the back. They barely managed to lift it down.

Upon opening it, a massive dark brown hammer lay inside, exuding a heavy and overwhelming sense of power.

To maximize his strength buffs, he naturally needed to wield a heavy weapon. Su Chen thanked him as usual.

Ding Fan waved his hands repeatedly and said in a low voice, "The materials you asked me to collect a few days ago will probably take some time. Those things aren’t easy to find."

"No worries, there’s no rush," Su Chen said. He had anticipated this, as those materials sounded far from simple.

After saying this, Ding Fan bowed again before leading his men away.

An Invisible Power guided the boxes to trail behind him as he left. On his way, he visited the Nether Tower to take a look. The Fire-igniting Ash had already regained its translucency and stopped its Absorption of Energy from the Nether Realm.

He calculated, "It has been about a month and a half since I came out of the Flame Space. This is the energy required just for the return trip.

"If I add the consumption for going in... a round trip will require a cooldown of about three months. That isn’t too long."

It was worth mentioning that during this time, his position at the top of the preliminary selection had finally been overtaken. The one who did it was a guy named Shen Jiqing, a Tier Seven who had already formed a Melting Holy Profession. Rumor had it that there was an underground betting pool in the Dust Star Sea wagering on how long Su Chen would stay in first place. This person had secretly placed a massive bet before brazenly making a move to knock Su Chen down.

Furthermore, he had intentionally worn a suit of Tier Seven Armor. Combined with his own defenses, he had forcefully withstood Su Chen’s attacks without exposing too much of his own strength. This shameless behavior had incited widespread dissatisfaction and a barrage of curses.

Su Chen thought, "I will only truly enter the Tier Seven state once I upgrade all my Secret Artifacts to Tier Seven. By then, I will re-enter the Flame Fire to see exactly what is inside the palace on top of that tower."

Su Chen put away the Fire-igniting Ash. Just as he was preparing to return to the training room, his expression suddenly shifted. He looked up and saw a stream of cyan wind descending from the sky, landing in his Floating Island Port.

"Old Qing is back..."

The iron boxes surrounding Su Chen crashed to the ground as he went to greet the arrival. However, he saw that Qing Cang looked rather solemn and grim.

"Senior Brother," he called out.

Qing Cang seemed to finally snap back to his senses. The moment his gaze swept over, his face showed faint surprise. "Hmm... You, you’ve advanced to Tier Seven?"

He had noticed the change in Su Chen’s Life Level at a glance.

"Just recently..." Su Chen nodded.

"You..." Qing Cang felt that he was already immune to Su Chen’s terrifying advancement speed, yet his eyelids couldn’t help but twitch violently.

Changing the subject, Su Chen asked, "I saw that you looked very solemn just now. Did something happen?"

"Mm..." Thinking of the news he had received not long ago, Qing Cang’s expression shifted. "Master and the others just came out of the Nether Fog. They are currently hurrying toward our Sect."

"Did things not go smoothly for Master?" Su Chen couldn’t help but ask.

"I wouldn’t say it didn’t go smoothly, it’s just..." Qing Cang rubbed his temples and let out a sigh, looking deeply worried. "They found a person inside the Flame Fire."

Su Chen’s expression froze slightly.