Chapter 693: Success

“How much of his words can we trust?” the Holy Cauldron Ancient King asked.

“The credibility is not low. For this person to be guided here by this tower, he is indeed out of the ordinary. Yet he is unwilling to show himself, which clearly means his strength is inferior to ours,” the Profound Celestial Ancient King couldn’t help but say. “Besides, we were going to send Prison King out anyway. It wouldn’t hurt to try his method. If he can truly establish contact with the outside world, it would indeed be of great help to us.”

After some thought, the group determined there were no drawbacks. Their eyes remained fixed on the projection below.

The gears in the Bronze Ancient King’s eyes turned. “This projection can ignore the high temperature here, and we can’t even detect its mental link. His methods are quite impressive…”

He had claimed he was going to perform a worship ritual, which they didn’t quite believe. However, they watched as the projection walked up to the highest level and stood at the edge, making no further advances.

It reached out and scattered a cluster of flames that flowed like molten iron. The flames eventually coalesced into a crimson square table over ten feet long and wide. On top of it, a small incense burner took shape, holding three sticks of incense.

The crowd saw the projection bow slightly in a salute before turning back to the stairs and returning to the palace.

“It really was just a worship ritual,” the Profound Celestial Ancient King said, somewhat surprised.

“Let’s just keep watching.”

The others remained noncommittal. “For now, let’s send Zhen Yu out first.”

In the Cultivation Residence, Su Chen couldn’t help but feel a bit of a headache as he watched the projection return. “Dealing with these guys is truly exhausting. As for right now, I should let them get desensitized to this first.”

Meanwhile, in Copper Heart.

In a quiet room, Qin Yun opened his eyes, which were filled with dissatisfaction and anger. Suppressing his voice, he asked deeply, “Did he really say that?”

Outside the door came Qin Lie’s respectful voice. “Yes, Father. That was Junior Martial Uncle’s response.”

After a brief pause, Qin Lie added hesitantly, “Junior Martial Uncle shouldn’t make things difficult for the Qin family anymore. I’ve seen him several times, and his attitude toward me has always been amiable. Why do you insist on meeting him?”

“I understand. You may leave.” Qin Yun tried his best to make his voice sound calm. After sending Qin Lie away, a cold glint flashed in his eyes, and his gaunt figure trembled slightly. “What exactly… are you planning to do?”

He had dealt with that Residual Spirit several times. Even if the other party didn’t intend to fulfill its promise, it couldn’t possibly be foolish enough to completely fall out with him right now. Even if it had seized Su Chen’s body, the entity was currently only a Tier Seven Professional and had not yet come into full power.

“Could there truly be some hidden agenda?”

“He won’t forget what he promised me… It had better be so.” Qin Yun repeated the words conveyed through Qin Lie. After some careful consideration, he decided to wait a little longer.

Leaving the Qin family was already a luxury for him at the moment. If he were to fall out with them, the price he would pay would inevitably be his own life. He still found it difficult to truly make up his mind. At the very least, he needed to determine what the Residual Spirit was actually thinking.

In the Flame Space, time passed, and five days flew by in the blink of an eye.

Every day at the exact same time, Su Chen would conjure a phantom projection and send it to the platform to put on a show of worship, using the exact rituals described by the Residual Spirit. Over these five days, he indeed faced no obstruction whatsoever.

“It’s about time,” Su Chen muttered, taking a deep breath. He watched the Fire-igniting Ash in his hand slowly float into the Flame Fire phantom before him.

The past few days didn’t matter; today was the real main event.

The importance of this Fire-igniting Ash went without saying. If any accidents occurred, even leaving this place would become a problem. However, he wasn’t acting recklessly. After the past few days, he already had a certain level of confidence.

First of all, this group of Ancient Kings didn’t recognize the Fire-igniting Ash, nor could they see through the phantom formed by the Sun Residual Fire. Secondly, they still had to rely on him if they wanted to get out. They would have some reservations and wouldn’t easily turn against him.

“There’s rarely a hundred percent certainty in anything anyway,” Su Chen thought to himself, adjusting his mindset as he watched the projection walk out.

Just like before, the projection stepped out of the palace doors, turned onto the main path, and climbed up step by step. Once again, it reached the edge of the top platform and scattered a sheet of flames, forming a long, crimson desk.

This time, however, Su Chen used the Fire-igniting Ash as a catalyst, condensing it into a single stick of pale golden incense. He placed it into the incense burner, and its smoke curled upward in twisting wisps.

He had repeated this set of actions many times, but this time, things were a bit different.

Suddenly, a ferocious dragon head materialized from the previously quiet and motionless palace. It was the Spirit of Sun, its giant pair of eyes staring intently at him. The smoke from the incense formed by the Fire-igniting Ash drifted gracefully upward, floating directly into its body.

“Please grant a Morning Star Artifact!”

Su Chen could clearly see a hint of reluctance flash across the Spirit of Sun’s eyes, but it still opened its mouth. With a loud CLANG, a slender, dark green longsword fell to the ground.

The blade was bent and full of notches, carved with a pattern that layered over itself like a continuous mountain range. Near the hilt, a dense ring of runes was etched in dark gold. A layer of dark green mist shrouded the blade. Su Chen could even smell a faint, fishy aquatic scent mixed with a trace of decaying vegetation.

The Spirit of Sun glared at him condescendingly, looking extremely displeased, before dissipating and vanishing once more.

“It really gave me one!”

Feeling reassured, Su Chen controlled the projection, carefully running forward to reach out and grab the dark green longsword.

However, the longsword trembled slightly. The dark mist swirled, forcefully repelling his hand.

Su Chen furrowed his brows. This projection wasn’t simple; it possessed seventy to eighty percent of his actual strength. He reached out again. This time, his hand wasn’t repelled, but the longsword felt as if it were welded to the ground. No matter how hard he pulled, he couldn’t lift it.

“This sword is resisting me…”

Su Chen’s heart sank. Because of their attached spirituality, Morning Star Artifacts could not be used by anyone other than their master. Although he had known this beforehand, he hadn’t expected the resistance to be this intense.