Chapter 604: Chapter 287: Ancient Altar (Part 2)
"Remember, you must tread the Path of Heroic Spirits before challenging the Heroic Spirit Trial."
Chu Xiu was puzzled: "What does that mean?"
"The trial can help break through bottlenecks, but it’s not the only way to do so."
"Following the rules of the Abyss will never allow you to defeat it."
"If you truly want to oppose the Abyss, strive to break free from its constraints. Although, even we, the Divine Kings, cannot fully achieve this."
After leaving these words, Meng Xuanshu completely vanished, leaving only Chu Xiu standing there, lost in thought.
To walk the Path of Heroic Spirits in advance and break free from the rules of the Abyss...
Various unknown pieces of information swirled in his mind, making him feel dizzy.
Chu Xiu thought of the Ascension Sequence he had revealed before; were those the Path of Heroic Spirits?
But what does it mean to break free from the rules of the Abyss? Does it mean he should not participate in trials and solely rely on his own cultivation in the future? That would be too difficult, right?
Even in the pre-destruction era of the Immortal Cultivation World, when there were abundant cultivation resources, breaking through bottlenecks was an extremely difficult task. The vast majority of cultivators, even those with extraordinary wisdom and perseverance, were trapped in their current realm, wasting away their lifespan until death.
With this thought, Chu Xiu felt even more troubled. The information Meng Xuanshu provided answered many doubts, but he still felt the path ahead was shrouded in thick fog.
"I’ll inquire more about it when I return to the Blue Planet."
Shaking his head, he pushed aside his inner unease and activated the disengagement.
Worrying unnecessarily is pointless; the only thing he can do now is continuously enhance his strength.
Having defeated such a formidable foe as Meng Xuanshu, Chu Xiu was eager to see what kind of reward he would receive!
Soon, as he returned to the Awakening Space, the settlement information appeared before Chu Xiu’s eyes.
[Trial completed, evaluating rewards...]
[Evaluation complete, task contribution points for the trial: 32,669]
[Overall Evaluation: Perfect Completion (+2000%)]
[Special Achievement Rewards: Revered by All (+100%), Military Industrialist (+150%), Reinforcement Expert (+250%), Blood Demon Slayer (+450%), Overthrowing the Giant God (+1550%), Suppressing the Prodigy (+3750%)]
[Extra task contribution points bonus: +3300%]
[Rescue Spark level: 96.4% (Perfect Completion, special reward quality increase)]
[Reward settlement in progress...]
[Reward Settlement Complete!]
[Items acquired: Cause and Effect Points *4,365,900]
[Obtained item exclusive to Retrospective Mode: Civilization Points *656.39]
[Acquired artifacts: Upgrade Spark *8 (Legendary), King Tier Legendary Hand of Deprivation *3, Leader Tier Old Remains Shadow *6, Legendary Equipment Blueprint *3, Mythical Equipment Blueprint *1, Independent Anchor Point *1]
[Acquired profession: War Fortress (S-Class)]
[Acquired equipment: Titan Giant Mechanism (Mythical), Celestial Punishment Divine Light (Mythical)]
[Acquired special reward: Ancient Altar (Taboo)]
[Acquired extra reward: Titan Giant Mechanism Upgrade Blueprint (Mythical), Celestial Punishment Divine Light Upgrade Blueprint (Mythical), Aurora’s Soul Fragment (Legendary)]
The abundant rewards before him momentarily dispelled Chu Xiu’s fears of the unknown, bringing a genuine smile to his face.
Meng Xuanshu was right. Defeating a Civilization Envoy from a tenth-level civilization is extremely challenging, but it also yields extraordinary rewards!
Starting right off with over 4.3 million Cause and Effect Points!
"With so many Cause and Effect Points, it’s not just about becoming a Heroic Demigod; even concerning those eight Celestial Kings, it’s a significant amount."
And next is the exclusive reward of Retrospective Mode: Civilization Points.
Nearly 700 Civilization Points; given the scale of his civilization now, it could be said to provide decades’ worth of accumulation at once!
Such a large number of Civilization Points could allow for a leap in civilization development within the Corpse Demon World, even greatly accelerating the progress of constructing the Two Realms Shuttle Gate.
If the Two Realms Shuttle Gate could be completed, then Chu Xiu would nearly guarantee victory in battles against the Blood Demon. With the entire Blue Planet as his resource base, he could swiftly achieve demigod status with the Blood Demon Incarnation!
However, the next artifacts are relatively conventional; the more precious acquisitions are another Independent Anchor Point and a piece of Mythical Equipment Blueprint. The latter needs no discussion, while the former is an essential artifact for those eager to trigger civilization wars, all capable of being sold at high prices.
"As for the other rewards, they seem to be based on what I encountered during the trial."
The profession granted was a War Fortress, one of the advanced branches of Mechanician, and also Aurora’s profession.
Being an S-Class profession makes it significantly more valuable than the Buddhist Elder given in the last trial.
As for the equipment and artifact rewards, they straightforwardly handed him the Titan Giant Mechanism and Celestial Punishment Divine Light.
Chu Xiu studied them and found some differences compared to the trial; the Abyssal Power had enhanced their foundational levels directly to Mythical Level.
This Titan Giant Mechanism is more than twice the size of the one near the base city, but it only has the basic system structure, with few artillery pieces installed. These require future construction by Chu Xiu himself.
This makes the initial combat power of this mythical equipment not particularly notable, but it possesses immense upgrade potential, and the Celestial Punishment Divine Light is the same.
Even more astonishing, Chu Xiu even acquired the subsequent upgrade blueprints for these two pieces of equipment.
They are currently King Tier, but according to the upgrade blueprints, they have the potential to advance to Heroic Spirit in the future! The Celestial Punishment Divine Light could even ascend to Demigod!
"A Heroic Spirit level Titan Giant Mechanism, paired with a demigod Celestial Punishment Divine Light..."
Chu Xiu could not even imagine the level of firepower they would synchronize to, likely able to completely obliterate that Blood Demon Giant God in a single second.
And most importantly, these two pieces of equipment are mobile.
According to the descriptions recorded for both, once the related space technology within the civilization is unlocked, long-range firepower support across space could be accomplished.
"That means I can deploy these two pieces of equipment near my civilization for protection, and when needed, open a space rift for long-range firepower attacks."
Of course, there are bound to be numerous limitations in doing so, but overall, Chu Xiu was quite satisfied.
The firepower of these two pieces of equipment is perfect for dealing with that gigantic ghost within the Hundred Ghosts Melting Furnace.
Lastly, there were two remaining artifacts.
One was Aurora’s Soul Fragment, which was something of a pleasant surprise.
"Could that girl really be revived?"
Chu Xiu’s expression turned somewhat strange; he initially thought the final words Meng Xuanshu spoke to Aurora were entirely deceptive, but now it seemed not that simple.
Chu Xiu sank his consciousness into it and discovered this artifact was a blurry shadow, and from the form, it was indeed Aurora.
After pondering for a while, he recalled another artifact.
Ancient Altar.
Every special reward for perfect completion is a priceless item that can’t be measured with money.
In the Warrior Tier, he obtained the Proof of the Old Days, and in the Fierce Tier Trial, it was the extremely precious Dawn Emperor Exploration Lamp and the Deep Diving Safety Rope.
This time, it was the Ancient Altar, surely a treasure of the same level.
He had an impression of that name.
Previously, he had gained many Old Remains Shadows, described in this artifact, that when infused into the Ancient Altar, could search for lost artifacts of the old days. However, Chu Xiu never understood what this Ancient Altar was, and unexpectedly, it has appeared this time.
Upon careful inspection, he realized that once this Ancient Altar is bound to a world, the Old Remains Shadow could be deployed to explore the past of that world.
The binding method is simple; first, locate a world lost in the Abyss, whether found through Deep Diving or a trial task.
Then, utilizing a Fixed Anchor Point to connect it to the Ancient Altar, exploration can commence.
Currently, it is automatically bound to the Corpse Demon World, enabling the search for all the equipment and artifacts that have appeared there in the past; but whether it can find other soul fragments of Aurora and reunite her soul for revival remains unclear to Chu Xiu.
After contemplating for a while, he decided to try it first.
With a thought, an ancient altar appeared amidst the chaotic mist of the Awakening Space.
Chu Xiu took out the Old Remains Shadow, a misty black fog that, upon being drawn out, seemed automatically attracted, drifting towards the altar. Once the black fog merged with the altar, a peculiar creature emerged from it.
