Chapter 217: Chapter 108: [Forbidden World Factory]
Chapter 108: The Steam Empire is Born!
RUMBLE...
A destructive tidal wave mercilessly swept over the Steam Spirit Realm.
Everyone clenched their teeth, desperately pouring their Energy into the Steam Ceremony Tower to keep it standing.
Zorn, Lady Sun, and the Level 9 Rift Mage were holding up relatively well.
But for the other Tower Guardians, the Steam Ceremony Tower they supported seemed to be teetering on the verge of collapse.
After a long time, the destructive tidal wave finally began to recede slowly.
The few who had barely survived the towering wave all let out long sighs of relief, their hearts still pounding with fear.
The Spirit Bodies of several Tower Guardians had shrunk and faded considerably.
If they hadn’t held on, the tower would have been destroyed and they would have died with it.
They had almost died in that terrifying tidal wave just moments ago.
"Look..."
someone in the group exclaimed.
Everyone looked over and saw that the massive, shattered and mottled Jade Magic Ring Tree was slowly dissipating.
The jade-green tidal waves that had been surging one after another had vanished.
Even the Jade Ocean outside the Steam Spirit Realm had now grown calm.
"This..."
"We... we held on?"
"Finally... we made it through."
The faces of the Tower Guardians, whose Spirit Bodies were now withered and stiff from defending the tower, lit up with ecstatic joy.
Although they were Middle Rank Transcendents, the continuous days of casting, fighting, and resisting had taken a huge toll.
Not to mention, every single shockwave had battered their Spirit Bodies.
Their Spirit Bodies were nowhere near as powerful as Zorn’s, Lady Sun’s, or the Level 9 Rift Mage’s.
That last wave of impact had made them feel the Reaper’s scythe resting on their necks.
But fortunately, they had finally made it through.
Overcome with joy, several of the Tower Guardians began to weep.
"Phew..."
Looking at the now-calm Spirit Realm Layer Realm, Zorn also let out a long sigh of relief.
He had previously siphoned off its resources, which had prompted the Apostles of the Jade Realm to unleash the full power of the Jade Magic Ring Tree in an attempt to completely annihilate the Steam Spirit Realm.
If they had been allowed to complete their full-scale assault, the entire Steam Spirit Realm would have suffered devastating losses, even if it had managed to hold on.
If those Jade Apostles had continued their attack within the Spirit Realm Layer Realm, even those who had barely survived might not have made it out alive.
Zorn had used his Player "Pseudo-Prophet" trait to secretly infiltrate the Jade Magic Ring Tree earlier. This hidden move proved to be decisive at the critical moment.
Not only did it cripple the Jade Magic Ring Tree, but it also dealt a heavy blow to the Jade Apostles.
This left the Jade Apostles without the power to continue their assault with the jade-green tidal waves.
The jade-grey, misty ocean receded as quickly as the tide.
Zorn relaxed his mind and extended his senses in all directions.
After several days of brutal conflict, the ordinary "Steam Sacred Marks" within the epic tapestry of the Northern Border Region—with the Ancient Porcelain Holy City at its core—began to slowly transform into the Immortal Steam Sacred Mark.
The Steam Empire had perfectly etched its own Immortal Sacred Mark onto the epic tapestry of the Northern Border Region!
Once the transformation into the Immortal Steam Sacred Mark was complete, the Spirit Realm would be completely stabilized.
Then, it would be much more difficult for the Jade Steam Spirit Country to attack again.
WOOOOOO...
From the many steam-powered structures extending from the Steam Spirit Realm, the deep, melodious blasts of steam whistles began to rise and ignite, like kindling catching fire.
Before long, the entire Steam Spirit Realm was completely submerged in a roaring ocean of steam.
Vast amounts of steam gathered, restoring the battered Steam Spirit Realm. The Steam Empire was finally born.
And the Steam Spirit Realm, its core, began to nourish Zorn and the other Tower Guardians.
After a brief exchange, the many Tower Guardians focused their minds and began to absorb the nourishing power of the Steam Spirit Realm.
As Tower Guardians of the Steam Spirit Realm, the benefits were naturally numerous.
Not only could they harvest a large amount of Sequence Essence, but they could also use this power to advance their Levels, improve their Skills and Witchcraft, and more.
In just under half a day, Zorn sensed two Level 8 Transcendents break through and advance to Level 9.
Another half a day passed, and Lady Sun also completed her advancement to Level 8.
The other members of the Garrison each experienced significant improvements as well.
Zorn, however, quietly focused on raising his Skill Levels.
Compared to raising his own Sequence Level, using the nourishing power of the Steam Spirit Realm in this way was more effective for Zorn.
Before he knew it, a week had passed.
And under the nourishment of the Steam Spirit Realm, Zorn had made substantial progress in all areas.
...
[Star Trace Fighter]
Level: 7 (5%)
[Talent]
Gangyi Iron Bone (SS-Level)
[Skills]
Shattering Spirit·Skull-Splitting Fist: Level 3 (44%)
Vigorous Qi Mastery (Passive): Level 2 (29%)
Thousand Streams·Gale Step: Level 2 (31%)
Star Trace·Holy Armor: Level 1 (74%)
Gang Dragon Hand: Level 1 (46%)
Power of the Golden Giant Dragon: Level 0 (2%)
...
[Evil Spirit Wizard] (World-level BOSS)
Level: 7 (5%)
Evil Witch Spirituality: Feeds on spirits.
Immortal Divinity: Recovering.
[Talents]
Mortality and Rebirth (SSS-level): Resurrection (5/5).
Evil Spirit Authority (SSS-level): Controls Spiritual power.
[Skills]
Life Absorption: Level 2 (94%)
Forbidden Weaving: Level 1 (56%)
Double-Ringed · Destruction Magic Ball: Level 3 (66%)
Scythe of the End (Forbidden Technique): Level 2 (62%)
Eternal Calamity Whip (Forbidden Technique): Level 2 (46%)
Upper Rank: Ringed Snake’s Eye (Exclusive Forbidden Technique): Level 1 (84%)
Tarktos’ Hand (Ancient God Forbidden Technique): Level 2 (25%)
Witch Spirit·Fast Casting: Level 2 (87%).
Divine Concealment·Witch Spirit Calm Source (Divine Kingdom·Exclusive Curse): Level 0 (19%).
Holy Judgment: Arrow of Concealed Sin (Divine Kingdom·Forbidden Curse): Level 1 (8%)
...
Many of his Witchcraft skills were already approaching Level 3.
This was already excellent progress.
As he mused, Zorn’s gaze fell upon Power of the Golden Giant Dragon.
During this period, Zorn had used the combination of the Ancient God’s Hand and Power of the Golden Giant Dragon quite frequently.
But its Experience had only increased by 2%, a very slow rate of improvement.
’This type of bloodline Ability needs to be trained in conjunction with the power of a bloodline to be effective.’
’I remember...’
Zorn rubbed the bridge of his nose.
’Deep within the Sea of Mists, there are also a few islands where the Dragon Race lives.’
’If it’s on the way, a little Dragon Slaying wouldn’t be out of the question.’
’Also... deep in the Star Realm, I know the locations of a few ancient Forbidden Ancestral Dragons.’
’If I could contact some of the factions within the Star Realm... working together to steal the blood of these terrifying Forbidden Giant Dragons would be much more effective.’
Within the Star Realm, there were not only powerful Divine Kingdoms, but also factions that spanned across many worlds.
Although they weren’t as mighty as those powerful Divine Kingdoms, they all possessed their own Trees of the Magic Ring, clusters of Divine Kingdoms, and ancient Legendary Powerhouses.
Within their own spheres of influence, they held absolute authority.
These powers were forces to be reckoned with in the vast Star Realm.
Many Players on their journeys through the Star Realm would choose to join these factions to grow, develop, and become stronger.
As he thought, Zorn looked toward the Jade Steam Spirit Country.
The silhouette of the Jade Magic Ring Tree could be faintly seen, having manifested once again.
Although the Jade Magic Ring Tree had been damaged by Zorn’s explosion, a Tree of the Magic Ring was a peculiar existence that couldn’t be destroyed by ordinary means.
’Currently, the trajectory of the Holy Relic World is very intense, which can be seen from that Jade Magic Ring Tree.’
’In that case... the invasion of the world’s Catastrophe Power will come even faster.’
’A Demon invasion of the World?’
’Or will a projection of the Jade Realm be reflected in the sky?’
’Or perhaps the vigorous blossoming of the High Mountain Witches’ Witch·Magic Ring Tree?’
The World’s future trajectory was complex.
But Zorn had a calm and steady way of dealing with it.
That was to steadily improve his own strength and continuously grow stronger.
When the major powers gradually discovered what was different about the Holy Relic World, and discovered those peculiar BOSSes who possessed incredible power, they would begin to dispatch powerful forces into the Holy Relic World.
They would come to capture those strange Sequences.
According to the current trajectory of this Chapter in the story, when the World entered the "Third Act," it would trigger the great BOSS escape event of the Saint-level Worlds.
It wouldn’t just be Zorn.
World-level bosses like Joe Moriff and Nightmare Angel would have to flee—if they weren’t dead by then.
Even minor BOSSes like the Golem Witch and Alvin, as well as those powerful Transcendents, would find it difficult to escape the intervention of extra-worldly forces.
If they didn’t want to be captured and used as test subjects, they had to escape.
Even if everyone fled the current World, once they reached the worlds beyond, terrifying wanted posters would still circulate throughout the Star Realm.
There would be astonishing rewards for capturing major BOSSes like Zorn.
And as the new wave surged, the major powers that had discovered this world’s secret would continuously invest resources to turn the entire Holy Relic World into a perfect breeding ground for BOSSes.
A breeding ground that would use Flesh and Blood Ranches as nutrients to cultivate World BOSSes.
Those major powers would pour in a steady stream of special resources.
They would use the Holy Relic World as a matrix to nurture and cultivate their own World-level BOSSes.
Those cultivated World-level BOSSes would be even more powerful than Zorn, the first of his kind.
The "World’s Dirge" would be the core of the Third Act!
When the gears of fate continued to turn, their trajectories overlapping and interlocking, even if Zorn escaped his home world, as time went on, he would eventually be discovered by other World-level BOSSes.
And then, the fate of Death would await him.
Normally, the "Zorn Corick" who died early on would never have been qualified to experience the world’s story in its later versions.
But the Players had long since experienced the tragic war of the original BOSS’s downfall through the original plot.
Zorn, knowing full well how deep the waters ran, also knew his only way out was to keep getting stronger.
Until he could stand shoulder to shoulder with those terrifying, ancient kingdoms of the Star Realm.
This path was destined to be arduous. One day, Zorn might even have to witness the world that gave birth to him be conquered by others.
He would be a wretched fugitive, defeated and forced into exile, becoming a lonely traveler of the Star Realm.
He would have to live a meager existence, constantly hiding from the powerful experts hunting him down.
But for Zorn, this was the only path to survival for the World-level BOSS "Zorn Corick."
If Zorn Corick hadn’t chosen the path of a World-level BOSS back then, as a mere SS-Level Fighting Master, his death would have been even more miserable.
He wouldn’t even have been qualified to confront the terrifying, world-class disasters of the future.
This time, the steam war in the Northern Border Region had achieved a critical victory.
And so... this bought Zorn more time to develop in peace.
If he could crush the Saintisman Steam Empire and eliminate the Jade Apostles supporting them, then the world that birthed Zorn, this special world, its inhabitants, and the surging tide of Transcendents would all enjoy more time in peace and freedom.
Buying more time would also allow more Transcendents to earn the qualification to leave the World, rather than being captured and imprisoned outright.
But no matter how long they delayed, once the World entered the Third Act, the special nature of the Holy Relic World was bound to be discovered.
At that time, an unspeakably terrifying power would envelop the World, bringing with it bloodshed and cruelty.
The Forbidden World Factory—which used the World as its breeding ground and all inhabitants of the Holy Relic World for its Flesh and Blood Ranch—would be activated.
