Chapter 243: Chapter 127: Half a Year of Secluded Cultivation, The Unique Item
Winter, 1646.
The Upper Rankers of Saintisman became lost in the Star Realm on Saint Nuoya, the Golden Island deep in the ocean.
Pirate Gangs and trailblazers from Exotic Realms joined forces to attack Saint Nuoya’s Golden Island.
A series of bombshells—that Demon Creatures had occupied Saint Nuoya’s Golden Island—swept through the entire Holy Relic World.
It threw the whole world into turmoil.
This explosive news was undoubtedly a heavy blow to Saintisman.
The entire Saintisman Empire was left reeling.
Rumor had it that during a high-level meeting in the Saintisman Empire, the powerful experts nearly came to blows with one another.
Furthermore, the experts of Saintisman harbored considerable resentment toward the "Jade Envoys."
But for the Northern Border Region and the Imperial Alliance to the south, it was undoubtedly tremendous news.
The boost to their morale was unprecedented.
As a result, for the entire following winter,
the once-aggressive Saintisman Empire found itself unable to expand the scale of the war.
The three warring parties thus fell into a stalemate.
Zorn was quite pleased to see this battlefield stalemate.
Such a standoff would preserve the current trajectory of the era’s tide.
This, in turn, would create more time for him to develop peacefully.
Compared to the ever-advancing timeline of the Holy Relic World,
Zorn’s own plans were undoubtedly more important.
Time passed unknowingly, and soon it was early autumn of 1647.
......
Deep within the vast, majestic desert, a fierce battle drew to a close.
A Level 10 Ancient Desert Golem’s life finally came to an end under the repeated attacks of Zorn’s Magic Spells and his Golden Gang Dragon Hand.
As the Golden Gang Dragon Hand—a golden claw covered in scales—struck down,
RUMBLE...
the Ancient Desert Golem crumbled with a deafening roar, turning to sand and debris before melting into the sea of dunes below.
Zorn then turned his calm gaze to a spot not far away.
There, in the depths of the undulating sea of sand,
another Ancient Desert Golem, this one a full ten meters tall and suffused with the heavy power of a "Desert Realm," slowly revealed itself at the peak of the highest dune.
’It’s taken the better part of a year to kill all the normal Ancient Desert Golems.’
’This final golem, the "Master of the Desert," has finally shown itself.’
After taking out a bottle of azure Source Energy Recovery Potion and drinking it,
Zorn reflected on the changes from his half-year of secluded training as he walked across the sand, a hand made of sand pulling him forward toward the final boss.
Zorn had joined forces with numerous pirates and trailblazers from the Exotic Realms to shatter Saint Nuoya’s Golden Island.
Yet Saintisman, relying on its deep reserves, still managed to withstand the pincer attack from the north and south.
Zorn knew that a World-level war like this couldn’t be won overnight.
Once the continuous confrontation between both sides reached a tipping point, the collapse of Saintisman would be faster than anyone could imagine.
During the battle for Saint Nuoya’s Golden Island,
the pirates and trailblazers from the Exotic Realms were soundly defeated, hunted by the Demons for half a month.
The Demons became the ultimate victors of the entire sea region.
Countless islands were slaughtered.
Those that weren’t were turned into prisons where the Demons kept their "flesh-and-blood delicacies."
The maritime routes and resource islands established by Saintisman in the Deep Sea Territory were all torn to shreds by these powerful Demons, who could fly freely over the ocean.
After Zorn’s Level 8 Evil Spirit Calamity had raged on Saint Nuoya’s Golden Island for half a month,
it perfectly carved the Immortal Calamity Sacred Mark, creating the "Calamity Boundary Land."
This move by Zorn infuriated the Demon Creatures.
Although the ongoing "Evil Spirit Calamity" ritual could be destroyed,
the "Calamity Boundary Land" it formed could not be so easily undone.
What’s more, this was a "Calamity Boundary Land" backed by a Divine Kingdom and a Tree of the Magic Ring.
The Demon Creatures would likely have to sacrifice the very roots of their own kingdom’s Tree of the Magic Ring to have any hope of destroying Zorn’s "Calamity Boundary Land."
But they were clearly unwilling to pay such a steep price.
The sea region for thousands of kilometers around Saint Nuoya’s Golden Island fell completely under the Demons’ rule.
The Demon invasion of the Holy Relic World had become an established fact.
During this period of Zorn’s secluded training,
he continuously obtained Dragon Blood Potions, and the growth of his Power of the Giant Dragon became more astonishing by the day.
But what pleased Zorn most was Isaac.
He had hunted down two more powerful Evil Spirits, contributing two pieces of Egunus’s flesh to Zorn.
One was the flesh remains of an "Evil Spirit Walker."
After devouring these remains, Zorn’s long-distance travel capabilities and mobility increased by a whole level.
Even his use of abilities like the Shadow Boots and the Fighting Master’s Thousand Streams·Gale Step underwent a qualitative change.
The other was the flesh remains of an "Evil Spirit Berserker."
This gave Zorn’s close-combat abilities a considerable boost.
The "Evil Spirit Berserker" wasn’t much help to his Evil Spirit Wizard class, but it was a great boon for his Fighting Master class.
Collecting the flesh remains of Egunus was like putting together a puzzle.
He constantly absorbed the characteristics of other Sequences, eventually piecing together an increasingly powerful Sequence blueprint.
This would allow him to achieve the full bloom of a final, powerful Sequence.
Generally speaking, the original "Zorn Corick" from the established timeline would never have had this ability.
But the current Zorn not only could do it, he could do it even better.
As the various pieces of flesh continued to converge and fuse,
Zorn could already feel the will of "Egunus" gradually stirring within his body and flesh.
If he were to eliminate the will of "Egunus" too early, it would affect the awakening of his Divinity.
After all, Divinity was the key to breaking through to Level 25.
But if he allowed the flesh of "Egunus" to grow unchecked, then just as Zorn had taken over this body,
Egunus would, in turn, replace the current Zorn.
Naturally, Zorn would not allow that to happen.
He needed to let Egunus’s flesh grow, but he couldn’t let its will become too strong.
This required him to have sufficiently strong control over his own Sequence and the flesh of Egunus.
In fact, Zorn had prepared for this long ago.
Whether it was the Sun King’s Golden Throne constructed from the Sun King’s Golden Skeleton,
or the "Tree of Calamity Magic Ring" he was currently establishing, both were effective means of suppressing and wearing down the will of Egunus.
Absorbing these two pieces of Egunus’s flesh further strengthened Zorn’s Evil Spirit Wizard Sequence, but it also forced him to confront the crisis of Egunus’s reviving will.
Meanwhile, Isaac was hunting the last important Evil Spirit Sequence: the "Evil Spirit Shepherd."
The returns Zorn was now getting from Isaac, an investment he had made back in the first "arc," left him more than satisfied.
If Zorn had to do the hunting himself, he might not have even been able to find those with Evil Spirit Sequences.
But for a "God Hunter,"
this was his specialty.
The more evil the enemy, the more he relished such hunts.
Even if he obtained this final piece of Egunus’s flesh, Zorn didn’t plan to devour and absorb it right away.
Only after he had secured methods powerful enough to counter the latent will of Egunus would Zorn consume the final piece of the puzzle.
In the past half-year, the outside world had undergone significant changes.
Zorn’s own cultivation had also progressed substantially.
............
[Star Trace Fighter]
Level: 8 (57%)
[Talent]
Gangyi Iron Bone (SS-Level)
[Skills]
Shattering Spirit·Skull-Splitting Fist: LV3 (99%)
Vigorous Qi Mastery (Passive): LV3 (78%)
Thousand Streams·Gale Step: LV3 (66%)
Star Trace·Holy Armor: LV3 (72%)
Golden Gang Dragon Hand: LV3 (75%)
Power of the Golden Giant Dragon: LV3 (11%)
...
[Evil Spirit Wizard] (World-level BOSS)
Level: 8 (57%)
Evil Witch Spirituality: Feeds on spirits.
Immortal Divinity: Awakening.
[Talents]
Mortality and Rebirth (SSS-level): Resurrection (5/5).
Evil Spirit Authority (SSS-level): Controls spirituality.
...
[Skills]
Life Absorption: LV3 (99%)
Forbidden Weaving: LV2 (27%)
Double-Ringed · Destruction Magic Ball: LV3 (99%)
Scythe of the End (Forbidden Technique): LV3 (99%)
Eternal Calamity Whip (Forbidden Technique): LV3 (99%)
Upper Rank: Ringed Snake’s Eye (Exclusive Forbidden Technique): LV3 (78%)
Tarktos’ Hand (Ancient God Forbidden Technique): LV3 (99%)
Witch Spirit·Fast Casting: LV3 (99%).
Divine Concealment·Witch Spirit Calm Source (Divine Kingdom·Exclusive Curse): LV2 (69%).
Holy Judgment: Arrow of Concealed Sin (Divine Kingdom·Forbidden Curse): LV3 (78%)
Source Energy Resonance: LV2 (44%)
......
With powerful, high-level meat shields like the Level 10 top-tier Lords to grind his skills on,
Zorn’s level progression had improved significantly.
Over the past half-year, his Skills and Witchcraft had all been trained to Level 3, with some even reaching maximum experience.
During this time, Zorn had been using his Tree of the Magic Ring to try and upgrade his Ancient God Curse, "Tarktos’ Hand," to Level 4.
This was proving to be quite difficult for him.
The main difficulty was that his Tree of the Magic Ring was still relatively weak; if it had the foundation of a tree that was even three to five years old,
Zorn could have easily pushed "Tarktos’ Hand" to Level 4.
Once it reached Level 4, the Ancient God Curse would undergo a critical transformation.
Many of his skills had already reached their limits.
Facing the Master of the Desert, who also controlled a Sequence Domain,
his two powerful Sequences engaged in a fierce duel upon the flowing sea of sand.
The deafening roars and massive sandstorms they kicked up would have horrified even Level 10 Transcendents if they were in the outside world.
However, they were inside a sealed Ancient Ruin, completely imperceptible to the outside world.
Zorn was well aware of the Master of the Desert’s unique quality, stemming from its control of a Domain.
The creature was buffed by this world.
It wouldn’t take much damage from any single clash.
Therefore, single, powerful strikes were not very effective.
It would take multiple, rapid-fire attacks to inflict significant damage.
Thus, Zorn didn’t use the immensely powerful Ancient God’s Hand to bombard his opponent.
Instead, he used the faster-attacking Double-Ringed · Destruction Magic Ball to hammer it relentlessly.
He also mixed in constant slashes from the Scythe of the End.
Of course, the close-quarters combat of a Fighting Master was also a must.
With Gang Qi suffusing the air, the Power of the Giant Dragon erupted, channeled through the might of the Golden Gang Dragon Hand.
Zorn was even able to beat back the ten-meter-tall Master of the Desert, forcing it into a steady retreat.
The weakness of the "Fighting Master" class was its short range.
But against a Lord that also specialized in close combat,
Zorn’s "Fighting Master" wasn’t the least bit afraid.
Not only was the Golden Gang Dragon Hand immensely powerful,
but even Zorn’s "Shattering Spirit·Skull-Splitting Fist," empowered by the Power of the Giant Dragon and his Golden Arm, was shockingly potent.
An hour passed, and the two continued their fierce battle on the sea of sand.
Two hours passed, and they were still locked in their brutal fight.
Three hours.
Five hours.
It wasn’t until the eighth hour.
Finally!
The ancient golem from the Ancient Desert, the "Master of the Desert," reached the end of its life.
Keep in mind, during this entire time, Zorn had been constantly absorbing his opponent’s life force to heal himself.
The fact that it could endure for so long showed that its Life Tenacity was astonishingly high.
Moreover, Zorn had been attacking with the combined methods of a Fighting Master and a Wizard.
As the Master of the Desert dissolved into rustling streams of sand and merged with the dunes below,
"Hooo..."
Zorn let out a long breath and looked toward the peak of a distant, rolling dune.
Faintly, he could see an earth-yellow altar in the shape of an Aztec Pyramid slowly materializing on top of it.
[Cosmic Altar]
The unique key item that would determine the future trajectory of the world.
It slowly revealed itself before Zorn’s very eyes.
Taking a deep breath, Zorn steadied his mind and began walking toward the top of the dune, one steady step at a time.
