Chapter 696: Stimulated Permanent Body

Su Chen had the Bronze Sect backing him; if he truly advanced to the Morning Star Tier, he wouldn’t lack the materials to forge a Morning Star Artifact.

Although he couldn’t quite figure out Su Chen’s intentions, the Residual Spirit didn’t mind displaying his sincerity in such a harmless matter. “For your first request, the Spirit of Sun agreed. But if you want to continue asking for things, I’m afraid you’ll have to pay a price.”

“A price? What kind of price?” Su Chen could not help but ask.

The Residual Spirit replied, “Professional Spirituality favors the Power of Faith above all else. You can offer purified, pure Power of Faith in exchange for Morning Star Artifacts.”

“Pure Power of Faith?”

Su Chen recalled what had been given to the Spirit of Sun when the Residual Spirit deduced the acknowledged candidate last time. Was that the pure Power of Faith?

He only knew that Deceitful Gods could absorb the Power of Faith. He hadn’t expected Professional Spirituality to be capable of absorbing it as well.

After a brief moment of pondering, he asked, “What benefit does this Power of Faith bring to the Spirit of Sun?”

The Residual Spirit explained, “It can increase its Spiritual thickness—in other words, make it smarter.”

Su Chen looked thoughtful. “Then why are ordinary Morning Star Spirituality and Moonlight Spirituality unable to absorb it?”

If they could absorb it, he definitely would have known about it long ago.

“It’s not that they can’t absorb it, but rather that they lack a Spiritual main body,” the Residual Spirit explained. “Simply put, they don’t possess true sentience, so they naturally cannot absorb the Power of Faith to improve themselves.”

“True sentience…” Su Chen realized. It made sense; this Spirit of Sun was practically like a living creature, far stronger than the Spirituality of a Great Venerable.

Of course, this referred to External Spirituality, not the kind evolved by the interface panel.

“However…” the Residual Spirit added, “the Abyss Realm seems to have a method to forcibly infuse the Power of Faith into Morning Star and Moonlight Spirits to make them stronger.”

He seemed to have accepted his current situation. Not only did he explain things in extreme detail, but he would also provide additional information.

“What’s the use of the Spirituality becoming stronger?” Su Chen was quite puzzled by this. “Can it assist in combat?”

“Not for combat, but to provide more help to the acknowledged candidate.” The Residual Spirit explained meticulously. “Spirituality is the manifestation of a profession. The stronger the Spirituality, the greater the assistance it provides, such as bestowals, Spirit Attachment, and even reducing the difficulty of professional requirements…”

“I see…” Su Chen’s eyes flickered slightly. From this perspective, the various methods of the Abyss Realm were far more abundant than those of the Dust Star Sea.

“And where can one obtain the pure Power of Faith?” Su Chen hesitated briefly before asking.

In this place, there were still five Morning Star Tier items waiting for him to extract. Where would he ever find such an opportunity in the outside world?

“Deceitful Gods,” the Residual Spirit spat out the words. “Deceitful Gods possess a massive amount of the Power of Faith. After refinement, a Little Deceitful God can yield about twenty to thirty portions of Faith Essence, which is commonly known as the pure Power of Faith.”

“Faith Essence? A Little Deceitful God can only yield twenty to thirty portions?” Su Chen was astonished. A Little Deceitful God was comparable to the Morning Star Tier!

Last time, the Residual Spirit’s so-called ritual to enter the Flame Space cost ten portions of Faith Essence, which was equivalent to the amount extracted from half a Little Deceitful God.

The Residual Spirit seemed to smile. “Extracting twenty to thirty portions relies on the accumulation of rearing techniques developed over many years in the Abyss Realm. Over here in the Dust Star Sea, being able to squeeze ten to fifteen portions out of a Little Deceitful God is already considered pretty good.”

Su Chen fell silent for a moment before asking, “The Abyss Realm is rearing Deceitful Gods?”

The Residual Spirit replied, “Yes. The birth of Deceitful Gods leaves traceable signs. They are released and allowed to grow freely, and once they reach a certain level, they are harvested.

“After all, the Power of Faith is a crucial material for running many rituals, making it extremely important in the Abyss Realm as well.”

Release them? Harvest them? For some reason, Su Chen suddenly felt waves of an inexplicable chill invading his body.

But he quickly suppressed the feeling and asked, “How many portions of pure Power of Faith does it take to exchange for one Morning Star Artifact?”

“By my estimation, at least ten portions, and at most thirty.”

Su Chen’s eyelids twitched slightly. Even the minimum amount would require squeezing dry a Little Deceitful God. This Spirit of Sun had quite an appetite!

“Actually, there is another way,” the Residual Spirit hurried to say when he saw Su Chen’s silence.

“Oh? Let’s hear it.” Su Chen snapped back to reality.

The Residual Spirit’s voice drifted over. “The vast majority of the Origin Power I discarded is on the Hanhai Emperor. If I can get it back, I might have a way to deceive the Spirit of Sun and steal the Morning Star Artifacts.”

“The Origin Power you discarded…”

Su Chen’s eyes flickered slightly. That thing must be the Residual Spirit’s lifeblood. The only reason he had discarded it before was that he was absolutely certain he could seize Su Chen’s body. Now, he was taking this opportunity to suggest getting it back.

Although their exchange seemed very peaceful, Su Chen hadn’t relaxed his vigilance toward the Residual Spirit in the slightest. Hearing this, he simply replied, “I understand.”

Hearing Su Chen’s nonchalant response, the Residual Spirit felt somewhat uneasy, knowing this proposal was a bit risky.

However, for some unknown reason, Su Chen seemed incredibly eager to obtain those broken Morning Star Artifacts, which made this a rare opportunity.

Furthermore, the method to let those Ancient Kings out was Su Chen’s bargaining chip. The Residual Spirit didn’t explicitly mention this; if Su Chen wanted to pursue it, he would naturally realize this layer of connection.

“If you retrieve your Origin, can you make me the Chosen One?” Su Chen suddenly asked out of the blue.

The Residual Spirit froze. In his view, this question was the most sensitive territory between the two of them, and he hadn’t expected Su Chen to touch upon it so easily.

But before he could respond, Su Chen added, “Forget it, no need to answer. I was just asking.”

The Residual Spirit let out a sigh of relief.

Having once again deepened the Residual Spirit’s impression that he desperately wanted to become the Chosen One, Su Chen pondered inwardly. The risk of actually retrieving the Residual Spirit’s Origin was far too great.

If he were to inexplicably mention that cluster of flame, those old fools would definitely deduce something from it.

Moreover, he still needed to exchange for the Moonlight Treasure Bone. Its importance far outweighed the rest of those Morning Star Artifacts.

It was better to prioritize the Moonlight Treasure Bone. Su Chen didn’t agonize over it too much and simply tossed the thought to the back of his mind.

“As for right now, it is time to leave.”

There was no telling how long the Prison King’s verification would take, and he naturally couldn’t stay here forever.

The process of leaving was more or less the same as when he arrived; both involved being guided through this tower.

…

Outside the tower, inside a certain palace in the Nether Hall, the Profound Celestial Ancient King suddenly raised his head and said, “He is leaving.”

The others had also stepped out of the palace.

In the next moment, a heaven-spanning pillar of light erupted from the tower and shot into the sky above. Faintly, a cluster of fire could be seen within it.

“Leaving so soon? He only obtained one Morning Star Artifact,” the Holy Cauldron Ancient King remarked, tilting his head up.

The Profound Celestial Ancient King added, “He might just be clearing the path. After him, there could be more people coming.”

“Does he really have a way to let us leave this place?” the Star Dome Ancient King murmured.

“Rest assured,” the Bronze Ancient King said indifferently. “Whether he does or not, he will search for one. He wants us to leave more than anyone else present. After all, with us blocking his way, he can’t accomplish anything.”

“Actually, we don’t necessarily have to leave,” the Hanhai Emperor suddenly interjected, his expression grave. “We came here for the Spirit of Sun in the first place, and we have yet to gain anything.”

The Bronze Ancient King shook his head. “Whether we want to leave or not, we still need to grasp the method to do so.”

None of them cared about the departure of this fellow named “Taixuan Hong.”

The Spirit of Sun was right here—a bait sweeter than anything else. There was no way the other party would stay away for long; he would inevitably return.

Watching the pillar of light gradually shrink until it completely disappeared, the crowd finally retracted their gazes.

Yet in the very next moment, another faint pillar of light descended from the sky.

“Hmm?”

Everyone’s expressions instantly turned suspicious and uncertain. Unlike the situation when Taixuan Hong arrived, this pillar of light was faint, distorted, and intermittent. It looked as if it could be extinguished by the wind at any second.

“Is someone else coming?”

The group furrowed their brows, staring intently at the hazy, illusory pillar of light. However, in the end, it failed to connect to the tower.

“It seems to have failed.”

They exchanged glances with one another. The Zhenwu Ancient King’s eyes were cold and desolate as he spoke. “More and more people are getting involved.”

…

Opening his eyes, Su Chen found himself back in the Nether Tower. He looked down at the Fire-igniting Ash in his hand. It was limp and far duller than before, as if it had lost all its vitality.

His various actions inside had nearly drained it of all its Energy.