Chapter 648 - 352: Perfect-Level Deceitful God Source Power and Cultivation Residence

Su Chen grew more agitated the more he thought about it. Forcing down his surging emotions, he took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, gradually calming himself. "Forget it. Given my current situation, overthinking is useless.

"In other words, I can at least confirm that this Residual Spirit has many methods at its disposal. Perhaps there really is a way to let me directly see the Professional requirements. I’ll take it one step at a time."

Su Chen could only console himself this way. Since the Residual Spirit was in the hands of several Ancient Kings, this hidden danger could not be eliminated in the short term. Gathering his thoughts, he began to upgrade the Secret Artifacts under his control.

Upgrading from Tier Six to Tier Seven consumed a significant amount of materials and Spiritual Power, and he had six Secret Artifacts to enhance. Even though he could extract Physical Strength to convert into Spiritual Power without worrying about exhaustion, it still took over ten days of effort to completely transform all the Secret Artifacts to Tier Seven, bringing even the sledgehammer fully under his control.

"Only now am I truly in a Tier Seven state."

Su Chen experienced the basic state of Secret Artifact integration. These past ten days had also helped him think clearly; excessive worry was of no use.

"Being acknowledged is not the same as being chosen. It won’t necessarily make the whole world my enemy."

For now, he would proceed according to his original plan. Stepping out of the training room and into the Nether Tower, Su Chen took out the Fire-igniting Ash and gripped it in his hand. With a thought, the Residual Fire surged out of his body, enveloping him.

After some time, nearly two months since his last visit, he once again set foot in the Flame Space. It looked no different from when he was last here. This time, the Spirit of Sun didn’t react at all. Su Chen glanced at the top of the pyramid.

Scanning his surroundings, a thought crossed his mind. "If my identity is exposed, could I hide in here?"

He pondered for a moment before shaking his head. "No. Other people just temporarily can’t enter this place. Besides, it isn’t very large. If an Ancient King comes in and sweeps the area, there will be nowhere to hide.

"Moreover, this place is incredibly hot, making it impossible to advance my Professional progress. Simply hiding here is just a waste of time. It’s useless."

Turning these thoughts over in his mind, Su Chen made his way to where the Prison King was located.

"Your Excellency." Seeing his arrival, the Prison King hurriedly revealed his figure, secretly wondering why he was back so soon.

It was difficult to perceive the passage of time here. The Prison King could only roughly estimate that not much time had passed since the other party supposedly left.

"Have you thought it through?" Su Chen’s voice was indifferent.

The Prison King offered a bitter smile. "Your Excellency, you must be from the Abyss Realm, aren’t you?"

Su Chen didn’t answer the question, his tone remaining indifferent. "I am asking you."

The Prison King hesitated to speak, finally sighing in resignation. "I can only say that I am not a Professional of the Abyss Realm.

"Could you tell me how you typically respond when you discover regions outside the Abyss Realm?"

"Are you afraid?" Su Chen countered. "If I told you, would you believe me?"

The Prison King remained silent.

Su Chen shook his head, knowing the man hadn’t yet made up his mind. Without wasting any more words, he turned and left, feeling somewhat impressed. Even in this state, he still wanted to avoid exposing the Royal Court as much as possible. His upbringing had been quite successful.

Walking up the steps along the pyramid’s main path, Su Chen went straight to the third level. His current opportunities were limited, and he had already used one on the scattered palaces below. This time, he planned to directly challenge the highest difficulty. Placing his hands flat against the palace, he pushed the doors open and walked right in.

The environment was different from last time. The ground beneath his feet was solid—a cyan metallic floor that stretched into the distance. It was a corridor. Not far away was a flight of silver stairs that didn’t look particularly high. He stood still for a moment, but no attackers appeared.

"Unlike the last trial, this isn’t a battle." Su Chen narrowed his eyes, his gaze landing on the nearby stairs. He wondered if it was asking him to climb to the top floor.

Su Chen pondered for a moment before stepping up to the metallic stairs. The entire staircase was forged from a silvery-white metal without any visible seams. Following the steps upward, he looked ahead.

He did a rough count; there were exactly 130 steps.

"I wonder what this is all about," he mused, tentatively setting foot on the first step.

Instantly, Su Chen felt his body grow heavy as an invisible gravitational force enveloped him. The gravity multiplier was not low—it far exceeded what he used for assistance during his usual training, although it couldn’t affect him for the time being. What startled him, however, was that this was only the first step, yet the intensity was already significant.

Stepping onto the second step, his shoulders sank before he straightened them again. Su Chen couldn’t help but look up. There were over a hundred steps left, leaving him somewhat astounded. This difficulty was likely no lower than purifying the Fog Ashes.

Taking a deep breath, he held his focus and climbed several steps in succession. The gravitational force on his body continuously increased. By the time he reached the tenth step, he was already panting slightly.

Taking another step, Su Chen’s expression shifted. White frost spread beneath his feet like a living creature, devouring the ground inch by inch as a chill rushed from the soles of his feet straight to his vital organs. The wind was no longer an ordinary current of air. It transformed into countless ice blades, carrying frost and coldness, whistling as it pressed in from all directions and making his eardrums buzz.

This step was no more than fifty centimeters wide, yet it felt like a small world of its own. Ice knives and frost swords slammed into him, hacking at his body and leaving white marks.

As a Tier advanced, the gap between each Tier also widened. When Su Chen first advanced to Tier Six, his past accumulation had already given him strength comparable to a Tier Seven Professional. But having just advanced to Tier Seven, his current physical strength would likely be hard-pressed to match a Tier Eight Professional—especially those Double Eighth Tier Professionals who possessed Top Level foundations.