Chapter 694: Succeeded

The item was right in front of his eyes, yet he couldn’t take it back. “I miscalculated…” Su Chen sighed inwardly. After all, he had never dealt with anything like this before.

Suddenly, his vision darkened. The Spirit of Sun had reappeared. Seemingly noticing that he still hadn’t left, its nostrils flared, exhaling a rolling, explosive current of air.

Su Chen’s heart skipped a beat, thinking this thing was about to blow him away. Instead, his hand suddenly felt light. The dark green longsword was lifted effortlessly.

Looking closely, he realized its surface was now enveloped in a thin layer of purple flames. He looked up again and noticed a hint of disdain in the giant dragon eyes of the Spirit of Sun.

“Quite considerate, aren’t you?” Unbothered by its attitude, Su Chen watched the Spirit of Sun dissipate once more. He gripped the longsword and gave it a few swings. It didn’t cause any major stir; in fact, it felt no different from a wooden stick picked up by the roadside.

He turned around. Just as he reached the edge, his steps faltered. Down on the steps below stood six neat silhouettes, all looking right at him.

Su Chen’s chest tightened. He cursed inwardly, “Fuck, the moment there’s a little commotion, these guys show up faster than a fleeing rabbit.” After a pause, he added, “Except for Master, of course…”

The Profound Celestial Ancient King lowered his gaze, his eyes landing on the dark green longsword in Su Chen’s hand. With a mere reach of his hand, the weapon flew over uncontrollably.

The Profound Celestial Ancient King caught it. He gently ran his fingers down the blade and gave it a casual flick. A burst of dark green suddenly appeared, tearing rapidly through the void. At first, it was nothing but a Flowing Light as fine as a strand of hair, but within a breath, it expanded drastically, transforming into a massive curtain of sword energy that spanned heaven and earth.

It cascaded from the high heavens, its edges churning like boiling ink and murky breath. Even the purple flames in the sky seemed faintly torn apart by this imposing aura. Wherever the blade’s edge passed, faint azure veins spread densely like a spiderweb.

Su Chen’s heart clenched in awe. However, this sword curtain never fell. It was erased by the Profound Celestial Ancient King, prompted by the heavy sound of breathing from above.

The Profound Celestial Ancient King revealed a look of pity. “This is Beichen’s Morning Star Artifact. To think it has been reduced to this state.”

Venerable Beichen… A Morning Star of the Profound Celestial Sect, and also the owner of this sword. Su Chen feigned surprise and said, “You know the owner of this sword, sir?”

The Profound Celestial Ancient King neither confirmed nor denied it. He looked up and asked, “How did you get it?”

Su Chen wasn’t without an excuse. “I don’t know either. I was paying my respects today as usual when the Spirit of Sun suddenly appeared for some unknown reason and bestowed this upon me.”

“Bestowed a weapon upon you? And a Morning Star Artifact at that?” The Zhenwu Ancient King looked suspicious. “Why?”

“That, I do not know.” Su Chen shook his head. Seeing that the Profound Celestial Ancient King was still tightly gripping the sword, he realized that asking for it back might displease the sly old fox. After some thought, he decided to advance by retreating. “Since this item belongs to your old friend, I shall give it to you as an offering of remembrance.”

The Profound Celestial Ancient King seemed slightly surprised. He swept his gaze over Su Chen, a smile involuntarily appearing on his face. “Then I thank you, my young friend.”

He actually accepted it? Su Chen’s heart skipped a beat, but he had to keep up the act no matter what. The Fire-igniting Ash was still inside his projection’s body!

He waved his hand, about to speak, but the Profound Celestial Ancient King suddenly changed his tune. “However, since this was bestowed upon you by the Spirit of Sun, it must have been given as a reward for your days of devoted worship.

“Although it is an item of an old friend, keeping it would only spark painful nostalgia. It is best to return it to you.”

With a flick of his finger, the dark green longsword fell back into Su Chen’s hand.

“Could you not pause for breath in the middle of a sentence?” Su Chen thought speechlessly. He put on a hesitant expression and said, “Then I thank you for your kindness.”

Gripping the sword, he carefully made his way down the steps. The six pairs of eyes watching his back felt like needles pricking his skin.

“I fear he is hiding something,” the Hanhai Emperor suddenly remarked.

The Bronze Ancient King’s voice was flat. “Expected. But we still rely on his method to escape. Besides, it is merely a broken Morning Star Artifact. What does it matter if we let him have it?”

The Profound Celestial Ancient King shared this sentiment. “Indeed.” With its master fallen, the only valuable aspect of this Morning Star Artifact was its forging materials. To them, it was nothing of consequence.

The Star Dome Ancient King looked thoughtful. “In that case, his words hold some credibility. To think that after days of continuous worship, the Spirit of Sun would bestow such a reward.”

The Holy Cauldron Ancient King pondered, “I wonder how Zhen Yu is faring…”

The Hanhai Emperor shook his head. “Though we sent him out, I am afraid it will take some time before he can return to his body.”

Naturally, Su Chen was unaware of their conversation. He manipulated his projection to walk down step by step as usual, reaching the third floor, turning around… It wasn’t until he saw the projection walk in holding the dark green longsword that he finally acted.

Su Chen immediately extracted the Fire-igniting Ash from its body, letting the heavy stone in his heart finally drop. It had been a long time since he last felt his heart leap into his throat like that. Letting out a long exhale, Su Chen couldn’t help but shake his head. “Dealing with these guys requires being careful with every single move. Good thing I didn’t try to act like some big shot.”

Fortunately, this one and only risky endeavor was now over.

His gaze fell on the dark green longsword. He reached out and grasped it. Instantly, text appeared on his interface:

[Thousand Ink-Stained Peaks (Damaged): Forged with Mount Heng Iron Essence, Azure Flowing Flame Jade, Void Mithril, and other core materials, imbued with a portion of the Spirituality of the Great Venerable Moyuan Zhenyue.]

This was a Morning Star Artifact? Gripping it in his hand, Su Chen could hold it, but he could faintly sense a kind of rejection from the blade.

“A Morning Star Artifact can only be used by its master… As for extracting its Spirituality…” Su Chen muttered to himself. Just then, the interface suddenly reacted again.

[Holy Profession – Forging Celestial Mark has detected a damaged Morning Star Artifact. It is growing impatient and intends to forcefully extract its Spirituality.]

“Forging Celestial Mark can actually extract Spirituality on its own? Is this also the power of the Morning Fire embers?” Su Chen was pleasantly surprised, having assumed he would have to put in quite some effort. Whether it was imbuing Spirituality or extracting it, both were highly technical tasks.

Su Chen naturally consented. In an instant, he felt the Morning Star Artifact in his hand vibrate violently. A faint silhouette of dark green mountain peaks appeared over it, seemingly struggling in defiance.

Su Chen held it cautiously, afraid the thing might suddenly go berserk. But in the end, it was an ownerless object, and a damaged one at that. Ultimately, it was subdued by an Invisible Power. The Spirituality was extracted and gradually merged into his body.

On the interface, the sole class requirement needed to unlock Forging Celestial Mark had now shifted to a completed state. Meanwhile, the Thousand Ink-Stained Peaks in his hand seemed to have lost a certain luster, becoming far more ordinary.

“In that case, I’ll accept the profession.” Su Chen glanced at the interface and, without much hesitation, chose to take on the Holy Profession.

In an instant, Su Chen felt as if the back of his head had been struck by a heavy blow. His grip loosened, and the dark sword fell to the ground. A CLINK AND CLANK echoed in his ears as a massive influx of memories that didn’t belong to him was forcibly stuffed into his mind.

It felt like a dream, hazy yet agonizingly long. It began with identifying countless materials. Some were as fine as a strand of hair, pale as jade, yet heavy as a mountain, emitting a bone-piercing chill that numbed the fingertips. Others were shaped like giant mountains, their surfaces mottled, yet they weighed no more than a feather. Consuming them burned like swallowing hot coals.

How to forge weapons… How to control the heat… How to engrave runes…

What combination of materials could maintain flexibility while achieving high durability…

What materials could achieve the optimal Energy conduction efficiency…

A massive, overwhelming torrent of knowledge flooded his mind. In almost an instant, Su Chen transformed into a Forging Master capable of crafting Tier Eight weapons.

No… not just that. He surpassed a standard Forging Master. Accompanied by the accumulation of long years of experience, his muscles rippled constantly like water, and faint calluses began to form on his palms. These memories were even being etched into his muscle memory.

He didn’t know how long it took before the infusion finally stopped.

[Holy Profession – Forging Celestial Mark successfully integrated. Acquired ability: Soul Seal Forging Method. Drawing on years of Skilled Techniques, you may repeatedly simulate the forging process before actually crafting any weapon, greatly increasing the success rate.]

[Acquired ability: Hammer of Celestial Marks. You can extract Spirituality from a Morning Star Artifact to form a Celestial Mark. Consuming a Celestial Mark can temporarily elevate a Tier Nine Weapon to a Morning Star Artifact, which will not resist your usage.]

Su Chen didn’t even have the luxury of checking the interface immediately. With his eyes tightly shut, he digested the vast expanse of strange yet familiar information.

It wasn’t until a long time later that he slowly exhaled, clicking his tongue in silent amazement as he thought, “The sheer volume of this information download is no less intense than a drastic physical metamorphosis.”