High-Level Martial Era - Chapter 649

Chapter 649: Chapter 356: Nine Yellow Dragons! Liu Bing Breakthrough
 

“A Divine Artifact that guards the soul?” Li Yuan’s eyes lit up, a treasured relic indeed!

Typical Pseudo-God Artifacts, like knives, spears, swords and the like, can be exchanged for a mere dozen or so Fangshen Crystals.

But a Secret Treasure that guards the soul, made of materials extremely difficult to find, can hardly be nurtured by the ordinary heaven and earth.

According to the Divine Realm data given by Qiu Bingzun, to create a soul-class Divine Artifact, firstly, the materials are hard to find, and secondly, the artifact refining technique requires utmost precision, which also renders this type of treasure extremely valuable.

A soul-class Pseudo-God Artifact costs at least several hundred Fangshen Crystals, if not over a thousand.

“In my father’s expectations, his direct disciple should only be able to get through the third challenge after stepping into the Flying Heaven Realm and cultivating for dozens of years,” the girl sighed. “He certainly didn’t expect that you would be able to easily pass through so soon after your breakthrough.”

Li Yuan couldn’t help but laugh.

“However, you accumulated considerable depth during your Prime Warrior stage,” Gu You said. “The might of the Thousand Heart Lotus Platform that can be unleashed is mainly related to your own Soul Will.”

“Soul Will?” Li Yuan pondered.

“If you only had the spiritual power and willpower of a Flying Heaven Peak,” Gu You said, “then this Thousand Heart Lotus Platform would only be able to unleash a very small part of its might, enough to let you face a Semi-Demigod without fear of their attacks.”

Li Yuan pondered.

Just like a great hammer, which would exhibit vastly different might in the hands of an ordinary person compared to a master of the Hammer Technique.

“But your soul is now strong, almost like a Pseudo-God’s.”

“Your willpower is estimated to be comparable to the peak of Semi-Divine,” Gu You said. “Therefore, once you refine the Thousand Heart Lotus Platform, it will be enough to let you easily withstand the soul attacks of ordinary Pseudo-Gods.”

“In the early stages of cultivation, most do not delve deep into soul research, and their souls are not strong enough, making it difficult to shake the enemy’s body and soul combination,” Gu You said. “For instance, in the Mortal Domain, Semi-Demigods generally cannot soul-annihilate Flying Heaven Warriors.”

Li Yuan nodded, feeling a profound connection.

His Semi-Divine Peak level soul, despite practicing many secret techniques, could not soul-annihilate a Flying Heaven Warrior.

“But as one progresses further, especially after ascending to godhood, divinities have stronger souls and deeper research into souls, resulting in more and more experts proficient in soul attacks,” Gu You said. “For example, the Heavenly Gods, even when widely separated by time and space, can easily soul-annihilate True Gods.”

“Even among those of the same rank, some super-existences skilled in soul attacks have the potential to annihilate their enemies.”

“For instance, there’s a highly renowned Heavenly Divine in the Divine Realm, known as ‘Lu Ming,’ the contemporary City Lord of a Starry Sky Ancient City called Falling Star City,” Gu You spoke with a trace of reminiscence in his eyes. “Back in the day, my father witnessed Lu Ming, with the Falling Star Bow, an Inheritance Divine Artifact of the ancient city, annihilate a Heavenly Divine from billions of miles away with a soul attack.”

Li Yuan listened, holding his breath.

Lu Ming, a Heavenly Divine? Starry Sky Ancient City? A soul attack that annihilated a Heavenly Divine?

Indeed sounds formidable!

“Current City Lord?” Li Yuan was curious.

“In the Divine Realm, there are many Starry Sky Ancient Cities, each with a long legacy and profound heritage,” Gu You said with a smile. “Heavenly Divines can only live for three hundred thousand years… naturally, there is a change of city lords every few eras.”

“This Lu Ming, his rise was also filled with hardships… He likes to make friends with heroes from all sides, so in the future, if you go to the Divine Realm, there is a chance you might meet him,” Gu You said.

Li Yuan silently noted it down.

The Divine Realm is vast, and some things in it still seem a bit distant to him.

“Anyway.”

“The further you go, the more you need to pay attention to soul defense,” Gu You said. “This Thousand Heart Lotus Platform is one of the most important treasures your father left for you.”

“After all.”

“Even my father only had one True God Instrument for soul defense back in the day, which he used himself and didn’t place in the Ancient Divine Palace,” Gu You said.

Li Yuan nodded slightly.

Back when the True Phoenix Divine escaped with the treasures after Nirvana, the Ancient Torch Divine had not yet fallen, so naturally, he wouldn’t have placed his personal treasured relics in the Ancient Divine Palace… The Ancient Divine Palace was just one of Ancient Torch Divine’s contingency plans.

“This Thousand Heart Lotus Platform, you’ll have to nurture and refine it yourself over time,” Gu You said. “Put it away.”

“Yes.” With a thought from Li Yuan, an invisible wave of soul power pulled the nearly illusory platform directly into his own Spiritual World.

He quickly imprinted his spiritual mark and succeeded in taking ownership.

Whew!

The majority of his soul consciousness immediately gathered and formed a seated figure on the platform.

“If the past was like my soul consciousness was a refugee, resisting enemy attacks only with itself,” Li Yuan thought to himself. “Now with this Thousand Heart Lotus Platform, it’s as if I’ve entered a fortress, and my soul defense has dramatically increased.”

No wonder Gu You placed so much importance on it.

“The second artifact is a Divine Artifact Battle Armor,” Gu You waved his hand again, and light flickered in the void, slowly descending before finally landing in front of Li Yuan.

This was a set of black Battle Armor that could perfectly cover the whole body, emanating a powerful aura. Merely suspended there, it exuded an unshakable presence.

Solid as a mountain!

“This battle armor?” Li Yuan’s eyes brightened; though he had never seen a Divine Artifact, he had seen similar descriptions in Divine Realm data, and even some patterns… But Li Yuan had the strange impression that this Divine Artifact Battle Armor was different from those ordinary Divine Artifact Battle Armor worth twenty Fangshen Crystals.

“Do you perceive it?” Gu You revealed a smile. “Refine it first, and once you succeed, you will naturally come to know.”

“Alright.”

Li Yuan’s mind stirred, as he channeled Origin Power into the Combat Armor, attempting to claim it as his own, but immediately met with a fierce resistance.

“Pseudo-God Artifact, it normally takes someone at the mid-stage of Semi-Divine to have a hope of refining it,” Gu You said. “This Combat Armor is an Earth Divine Instrument, and your comprehension of the Law of Earth is not yet deep… It’ll probably take some time.”

“Mm,” Li Yuan nodded. According to common sense, after overcoming the third inheritance, one should have already crossed the Threshold of the Law of Earth… He had managed to pass through easily with his superior Star Technique.

Time passed by.

After a full hour, Li Yuan managed to subdue the Spiritual Nature of the Combat Armor with his strong Soul Power and finally, with difficulty, made a tenuous claim of ownership by deploying the ‘All Things Divine Body.’

Boom!

A torrent of information contained within the Combat Armor surged into Li Yuan like a tide, all concerning the various aspects of the Combat Armor.

“Nine Dragons Xuan Armor? This is an amazing Divine Artifact!” A flicker of surprise crossed Li Yuan’s eyes as he fully understood the impressiveness of this artifact.

The Nine Dragons Xuan Armor, if judged solely on Defense, was just a mid-standard of Fifth Rank, a rather common level among Pseudo-God Artifacts.

However, its uniqueness lay in the fact that its outer layer held nine ‘Souls of the Yellow Dragon.’

The Yellow Dragon, a Divine Beast of the Earth System in the Divine Realm, is innately Divine, existing at the same level as the True Phoenix and Heaven Snake.

The Nine Dragons Xuan Armor contains nine Yellow Dragon essences, which are actually just parts of the Yellow Dragon’s bloodline, infused by an Artifact Refiner who extracted the ‘Soul Spirits’ of nine Semi-Divine beings and merged them into the Combat Armor.

“Activate!” With a thought from Li Yuan, the Nine Dragons Xuan Armor instantly covered his entire body.

Roar~ Roar~ Roar~

Nine Yellow Dragons roared forth from the Combat Armor, stretching out like nine mighty rivers, raging within a hundred meters of Li Yuan… This was him holding back; if he were to fully unleash it, the attack range of the Yellow Dragons would encompass more than ten kilometers.

The nine Yellow Dragons spread out to attack multiple targets.

Together, their Might was even greater.

“This is almost like a First Layer Domain Secret Technique,” Li Yuan couldn’t help but remark.

The key was that the nine Yellow Dragons from the Nine Dragons Xuan Armor could perfectly synergize with Li Yuan’s Domain Star Technique ‘Heaven and Earth River,’ with the nine Yellow Dragons roaming and attacking within it, greatly increasing their Might.

“Such Combat Armor is worth at least 500 Fangshen Crystals,” Li Yuan said, unable to contain himself.

“My father left several Inheritance Divine Artifacts of Pseudo-God Battle Armor,” said Gu You. “Each has its own merits, I saw that you’ve cultivated a Domain Star Technique, and thought this Nine Dragons Xuan Armor would be a perfect fit for you; the Yellow Dragon combined with your Domain can provide you with an additional life-saving measure on top of your Battle Armor’s defenses.”

Li Yuan understood.

Although Gu You couldn’t provide him with more Divine Artifacts, he managed to select the ones most suitable for him.

Whirring~

With a sweep of his hand, Gu You revealed a black Crystal Stone in his palm, which emitted a rather sinister aura.

Li Yuan held his breath, feeling a deadly presence from the black Crystal Stone.

“This is the life-saving Secret Treasure that can vanquish nine out of ten Semi-Divine beings,” Gu You said. “But remember, until you’ve crossed the Threshold of the Law of Earth, it’s best not to use it.”

“Why?” asked Li Yuan, puzzled.

“These types of treasures are single-use, very unstable internally; they can easily injure you as much as your enemies. Your Origin Power is not strong enough, and without high Law Comprehension, it’s very difficult to control perfectly,” Gu You explained earnestly. “However, once controlled, even a Pseudo-God must be careful or risk injury.”

Li Yuan immediately understood.

This Slaughter Treasure, if perfectly controlled and unleashed, would certainly lead to the death of a Semi-Divine by conventional logic… The ninety-nine percent probability must account for invincible Semi-Divine beings like the Alliance Hierarch.

“Alright, put them away,” Gu You said, looking at Li Yuan. “When you were a Prime Warrior, you were mostly within the civilization, facing mostly weaker foes; once you become a Semi-Divine, your own Strength will be formidable, and within the Mortal Domain, there will be very few threats… It’s only during the Flying Heaven Stage, when the Strength isn’t as great, yet one has the capability to venture into all kinds of dangerous places, that one is likely to encounter formidable Semi-Divines or even Pseudo-Gods.”

“Soul Defense Treasures, material Defense Divine Artifacts, Slaughter Treasures… all these are for protection.”

“The Ancient Divine Palace can also save your life at critical moments.”

“Hopefully, you can smoothly get through this stage,” Gu You sighed lightly.

A warmth filled Li Yuan’s heart.

Gu You was indeed always considering his best interests.

“Go now,” said Gu You. “When it’s time for you to venture to the Nine Leaves World or engage in life-and-death battles with Semi-Divines, send me a message.”

“Alright.”

…

Having obtained the Divine Artifacts and Secret Treasures, as well as 100 Fangshen Crystals, Li Yuan felt in high spirits.

Nothing within the Seven Star Civilization warranted Li Yuan’s action, so he continued to practice in an orderly manner.

In the blink of an eye, several months had passed, and it was now June 2051.

Inside Heavenly Snake Hall.

“Xiao Bing, congratulations on the breakthrough,” the phantom of Li Yuan’s Divine Sense said, looking at Liu Bing, whose life aura had distinctly strengthened by a large margin, smiling, “Just over a month after the breakthrough, and you’ve already reached level 33.”

Half a year after Li Yuan entered the Flying Heaven Realm, Liu Bing had finally made her breakthrough.