Chapter 215: Chapter 106: Stealing the Jade Spirit Realm’s Resources
After fighting off another dozen or so waves of the Jade Gray Mist Waves.
The Sequence Level of the boss’s second form, which was at a Level 9 intensity, dropped to the very threshold of Level Nine.
Zorn gradually brought it under control using his Divine Kingdom.
Now that he had mastered the power of his Divine Kingdom, he could maintain his boss form for an extended period, as long as he avoided combat.
Zorn glanced at the increasingly porous barrier of the Steam Spirit Realm, sensing the time was right.
Taking advantage of a lull between the Jade Gray Mist Waves, he spoke to Lady Sun.
"Lady Sun, I used a powerful Secret Technique to boost my power level in the last battle."
"Now, I’m starting to suffer from the backlash."
"I need some time to rest."
Inside her Steam Tower, Lady Sun glanced at Zorn’s own modest Steam Ceremony Tower. After a moment of scrutiny, she replied in an even tone.
"You exhausted yourself in the last battle, so it’s only right that you rest."
"This conflict with the Steam Spirit Realm will last anywhere from three to five days to as long as a week."
"The fighting isn’t at its fiercest yet, so you should rest well for now."
"Alright."
Lady Sun had already received intelligence from multiple sources about the battle just outside Zorn’s Steam Magical Castle.
The terrifying Ancient God Curse had reappeared.
A Level 10 Forbidden Archbishop had fallen on the spot.
In addition, several other powerful Level 9 and Level 8 experts had also fallen in the vicinity.
The battle at the Steam Magical Castle had shattered Saintisman’s elite squad, causing them devastating losses.
Previously, numerous Transcendents from Saintisman had joined forces to hunt down the Tower Guardians.
Now, the situation had devolved into a free-for-all, a Saintisman-style battle royale.
Battles were erupting all over the Ancient Porcelain Holy City.
Although the city had grown somewhat chaotic,
the good news was that they, the Tower Guardians, were now completely safe.
Zorn had made an immense contribution.
Given that, they couldn’t possibly fault him, never mind just for resting—even if he claimed he’d used a Secret Technique and couldn’t continue.
「Inside the Steam Ceremony Tower.」
After slowly retracting his power,
Zorn’s Spiritual Realm rapidly achieved a state of perfect fusion with his "Holy Witch Spirit Body."
Zorn made a few fine adjustments to the Jade Gray Mist Ceremony he had prepared long ago, then activated it.
When a new wave of Jade Gray Mist billowed in,
the Jade Gray Mist Ceremony immediately began to draw it in.
Having figured out the properties of the Jade Gray Mist after fighting it for so long, Zorn plunged his hand into it.
Zorn’s Spirit Body rapidly absorbed the Jade Gray Mist, his entire form taking on its color.
One wave, two waves, three waves.
After absorbing the fourth, Zorn had taken on the appearance of a "Jade Grey Mist Spirit Body."
As the fifth of the Jade Gray Mist Waves rolled in,
Zorn seized the opportunity to merge into the Jade Gray Mist. As the massive wave poured through the cracks in the Steam Spirit Realm, he swam against the current, leaving the Steam Spirit Realm behind and entering the vast ocean of Jade Gray Mist outside.
He then shot forward, moving through it as swiftly as a fish.
As he traveled, Zorn’s eyes narrowed in concentration, savoring the perfectly smooth compatibility between himself and the Jade Gray Mist.
’The Static Sect Stream really is something else. It offers perfect stealth and the powerful ability to simulate and blend with various forms of Essence.’
’I can even blend perfectly with the Jade Gray Mist, the very thing we’re fighting.’
’The other two major branches of the Divine Kingdom Skills can’t achieve this.’
After a moment of careful observation to confirm no one had spotted him slipping into the Jade Gray Mist, Zorn headed toward the source of the Jade Gray Mist Waves: the Jade Steam Spirit Country.
Of course, Zorn wasn’t afraid of being discovered.
With his Resurrection Power, his margin for error was sky-high.
In a conflict between Spirit Realms,
factions who have only just begun to master this power are at a disadvantage.
Due to a combination of factors—a lack of materials, insufficient resources, and an underdeveloped foundation in the relevant fields of Extraordinary Studies—
the overall framework of these Steam Spirit Realms was quite crude.
This gave the Messengers from major powers an opening to exploit.
And for Zorn, it presented the perfect opportunity for a heist.
The best resource within a Spirit Realm was undoubtedly the Sacred Mark.
But while most Transcendents were desperate for Sacred Marks, Zorn currently had no shortage of them.
This time, as he snuck into the Jade Steam Spirit Country, the resources he intended to steal were Source Essence Spirit Fruits and Spirit Rune Stones.
Soon.
Zorn crossed a considerable distance within the Spirit Realm and arrived in the vicinity of the Jade Steam Spirit Country.
As far as the eye could see, the Jade Steam Spirit Country, protected by a thick Jade Spirit Realm Barrier, resembled a dense, ancient forest.
Countless Tree Nests of varying sizes hung from the colossal Jade Magic Ring Tree at its center.
Surrounding it were numerous towering Jade Tree Towers.
Though they had the shape of towers, they resembled trees, with colossal trunks and lush, leafy branches.
’Hmm... This Jade Magic Ring Tree is already this big.’
Zorn’s gaze fell upon the massive Jade Magic Ring Tree.
’If this Jade Magic Ring Tree were weaker, Saintisman would have collapsed within three to five years.’
’But it has actually grown to such an impressive size.’
’I’m afraid this battle won’t be over in three to five years. It’s destined to become a long, drawn-out war.’
’If that happens...’
Zorn rubbed his temples. The second World-level boss, Joe Moriff, would easily ascend to the Upper Rank Level.
Zorn rubbed his temples again, but this time he smiled.
’The course of this World is getting more and more interesting.’
He composed himself and approached the towering Jade Spirit Country Crystal Wall.
He then began trying to open the Spirit Country Crystal Wall using the Jade Ancient Secret Language.
The creators of the Spirit Realms from the Jade Realm usually left backdoors for themselves to open their creations.
This was to prevent the realms they’d nurtured from turning on them.
But now, these backdoors were all for Zorn to use.
On his third try, Zorn easily opened a secret gate adorned with Jade Runes.
Passing through the Jade Secret Gate, Zorn found himself inside the Jade Steam Spirit Country.
The Jade Gray Mist provided perfect cover.
Zorn strolled through the realm.
With a leisurely pace, he soon arrived at the foot of the Jade Magic Ring Tree.
He took a moment to sense the Tree of the Magic Ring—verdant, vibrant, and drawing nutrients from the World itself.
Five Jade Rune Secret Spells, the keys to the Jade Magic Ring Tree’s resource treasury, surfaced in Zorn’s mind one by one.
These were the respective Spells used by the five founders of the Jade Realm to access the Jade Magic Ring Tree.
Even across vast distances,
those terrifying beings could use these ancient Secret Spells to draw whatever resources they needed from their many Jade Magic Ring Trees.
Indeed, the resources in this treasury
were one of the primary reasons the Jade Realm planted a Tree of the Magic Ring in any given realm.
Apostle after Apostle would constantly seek out and visit worlds where tides of steam were rising, worlds on the cusp of an epic new Chapter.
There, they would plant a Magic Ring Seed, recruit Transcendents with the highest Talent, and bring them into their own great kingdom.
They would bestow titles and forge them into Legends.
Using a World as a ranch, they would herd its inhabitants for an entire Era Era.
Those powerful kingdoms had perfected the entire process.
Once the Tree of the Magic Ring had matured to a certain point,
they would completely transform the World, making it a part of the Jade Realm.
At that point!
Any Divine Spirit willing to submit would have to open their Divine Kingdom and be bound into servitude with a Divine Kingdom Seal.
As for the Divine Spirits who refused to submit,
they would simply initiate the Twilight of the Gods, bringing about the death and end of those Divine Spirits.
Then, they would seize the Divine Format and use the Divine Kingdom to forge their own Divine Artifacts.
Divine Spirits from a world like this, who ignite their Divine Fire using the Faith from a "Flesh and Blood Ranch,"
weren’t very powerful in Zorn’s opinion.
For someone like him at the Legendary realm, killing such weak Divine Spirits wasn’t difficult.
For Legendary-rank Players, God Slaying was practically a required course.
And for the ancient kingdoms that reigned over countless worlds, it was even less of a challenge.
A ’god’ was just a higher-level being born from a Flesh and Blood Ranch, nothing more!
The conflict between Divinity Ascension and the ancient kingdoms was a theme for a higher-level story arc in the future—the Divine Scroll Chapter.
It was also a path of open development that Players could choose to follow.
Of course, all of that was still a long way off for the current Zorn.
Focusing his mind, Zorn placed one hand on the Jade Magic Ring Tree.
He began to test the spells, one by one.
The very first Jade Rune Secret Spell he tried opened the door to the Jade Magic Ring Tree’s treasury.
’My luck is pretty good this time.’
Taking a deep breath, Zorn pushed open the door and stepped inside.
The interior space was structured like the inside of a hollowed-out tower within a tree.
He could see numerous glowing green Resource Fruits floating silently in the air.
The quantity of resources wasn’t massive, but it was by no means small.
Clearly, the cultivator of the Tree of the Magic Ring had been intentionally stockpiling resources here.
But now, it was all his for the taking.
With a single thought from Zorn,
a Golden Arm appeared next to every resource that glowed like a green lightbulb.
Regardless of whether they were fully mature or only half-so,
Zorn plucked them all without exception.
Leaving them behind would only benefit his enemies.
Not only would Zorn harvest the resources, but he would also record the Jade Magic Ring Tree’s coordinates in the Spirit Realm.
When the time was right, he could trade this information to certain clandestine entities.
After all, there were plenty of hidden beings who longed to devour a Jade Magic Ring Tree.
As Zorn plucked the vast resources from within the Jade Magic Ring Tree,
he funneled them all through his Spiritual Realm and deposited them into his Divine Kingdom.
This was the advantage of having established his Spiritual Realm in the Calamity Origin Land.
Not only could Zorn rapidly gather resources within the Spirit Realm,
he could also travel freely throughout it, possessing an extremely high level of authority.
After all, the Calamity Origin Land was no ordinary place.
After collecting the resources and recording the coordinates,
Zorn glanced around.
’They still haven’t found me?’
’Should I... initiate a Catastrophe Ceremony here?’
Zorn considered it for a moment, then shook his head.
’The Jade Magic Ring Tree would disperse the power of the Catastrophe Ceremony. It would be a waste of my ritual resources; not worth the cost.’
’Hmm... I’ll stick to the original plan, then.’
’I’ll carve a hidden Parasitic Rune.’
’With the passage of time, this towering Jade Realm will become my death nest, a place to cultivate terrifying, forbidden things.’
’I’ll also set up a few other preparations while I’m here.’
’They dared to venture deep into the Ancient Porcelain Holy City to hunt me down. This time, I’ll make them suffer.’
As his power grew, Zorn had a hundred ways to toy with and ultimately destroy a nascent Tree of the Magic Ring like this one from the Jade Realm.
And right now, he was choosing the path that would benefit him the most while simultaneously dealing a heavy blow to his enemies.
