Chapter 544 - 238: Self-Destruction
After a long, stunned silence, Qin Fang could only let out a helpless sigh.
’Forget it. I’ll just take it one step at a time... First, I need to re-form the Nine-Layered Abyss Water Armor.’
Now that his True Essence had advanced to True Gang, its quality was so high that the current structure of the Nine-Layered Abyss Water Armor could no longer support all nine layers.
The structure needed to be replaced.
He did have the Secret Manual for the Third Layer of the Nine-Layered Abyss Water Armor, but unfortunately, without the necessary supplementary medicines, the Abyss Water Armor he formed would likely only have one or two layers...
...The way he’d resisted the suction force just now had been entirely due to the innate defensive power of his True Gang, not from using a Leaf Skill.
This just went to show how much more tyrannical True Gang was compared to True Essence.
And if he reconstructed the Nine-Layered Abyss Water Armor with True Gang... his defensive power would increase significantly yet again.
With a thought, Qin Fang descended from the air and landed on the surface of the Great Abyss once more.
He felt inside his robes and secretly sighed in relief...
...Fortunately, the Concentrating Iron Heart Jade didn’t take up any space, and it was also exceptionally precious. After his experience with the first meteor fall, Qin Fang had made sure to keep it on his person at all times.
The quality of the Infinite Star Armor was also superb; it had remained undamaged through the earlier Gang Wind, deep freeze, and incineration, so the Concentrating Iron Heart Jade was still intact.
...It had to be said, the material of the Infinite Star Armor was exceptionally strong.
...Although its strength was purely in its material, with no inherent defensive properties.
After scanning his surroundings again and confirming that everything was calm with no signs of trouble, Qin Fang closed his eyes and began to reconstruct his Abyss Water Armor.
「Day by day, time slipped away.」
The Divine Summoning Hourglass was lost, leaving Qin Fang completely unable to perceive the passage of time in this world. This was an extremely dangerous situation; losing one’s sense of time could easily lead to losing one’s sense of self.
The reconstruction of his Abyss Water Armor was a success. Now, his Water Armor was composed entirely of True Gang. Because he had completed the framework, all it would take was a single thought for True Gang to automatically fill it, causing his defensive power to skyrocket once again!
Unfortunately, his Third Layer Abyss Water Armor had only reached the Minor Achievement stage, so Qin Fang could only form a single layer of it.
His Physique wouldn’t be able to withstand any more layers.
Although his encounter with the great fish had been fraught with peril and he had nearly died, it also came with great benefits. Tempered by the interweaving Gang Wind, ice, and scorching heat, his Physique had not only recovered but had also become even more formidable.
Qin Fang estimated that his pure physical strength was now likely over four hundred thousand pounds!
...That was a terrifying amount of power.
But the moment he thought of the great fish, any trace of complacency vanished instantly.
’...The strength of that great fish... it probably had to be measured in the hundreds of millions of pounds, right?’
The great fish was so overwhelmingly powerful that a single breath from it could create a natural disaster!
It was truly inconceivable.
Which meant the Golden Light that had blown the great fish’s body apart... was, without a doubt, also supremely powerful.
And now, it was floating in his Sea of Consciousness.
Other than being able to change his True Gang Nature, it didn’t seem to do anything else.
’I have a Fifth Grade ’Eternal Freeze’ Nature, but I feel this Golden Light is far more profound than a simple Fifth Grade item... It’s just that because my own Nature is Fifth Grade, the Li Fire Nature it converts to is also Fifth Grade... I suspect that if I raise my Nature Attribute Level, the Level of the converted Li Fire Nature will increase as well...’
Qin Fang’s expression grew grave.
For now, the Golden Light seemed to pose no threat to him, offering only benefits.
But... who the hell knew?
Having such a mysterious and obviously terrifying object inside his body truly left Qin Fang feeling uneasy.
However...
’...Sigh. This godforsaken place. Can I ever even get out?’
Qin Fang looked up at the sea of stars, and even with his mental fortitude, he felt he was about to snap.
He didn’t know the exact date, but he felt that more than another half a year had passed.
In other words, he had been here for nearly four years!
...This far exceeded the longest time anyone from the Sect had ever spent in a Secret Realm!
This made him very uneasy.
’What if I really can’t leave... What would I do?’
He couldn’t imagine being trapped in this pitch-black world for the rest of his life!
’A great fish beneath the Great Abyss, meteors high in the sky... This world is by no means simple. If the force of expulsion never appears... then I’ll just have to find a way out myself!’
A look of determination appeared in Qin Fang’s eyes.
...In any case, he wouldn’t give up easily.
Even if he truly faced a hopeless situation, he would never stop struggling until the very moment he drew his last breath!
「In the blink of an eye, another indeterminate amount of time passed.」
In this world, time seemed to have lost all meaning.
Qin Fang had no follow-up Cultivation Technique, so he could only absorb Primordial Power to continuously refine his True Gang... The results were decent; his True Gang was now slightly stronger than when he had first formed it.
...After all, even after reaching Perfection, his Skill Points were still increasing.
He also gradually became more familiar with the workings of the Third Layer of Mirror Flower Water Moon... He could now merge his body with his True Gang, transform into ’Gang Light’, and his speed would increase explosively.
...Of course, there was still a huge gap between him, his master, and the others.
But he was countless times stronger than he had been in the Condensing Realm.
His Cultivation was progressing, but Qin Fang’s spirit grew more stifled with each passing day.
One day, he abruptly shot to his feet.
’No. If this goes on, I’m going to go mad... I have no other choice. I have to find a way to survive on my own!’
He clenched his jaw.
He had been able to endure before because he knew he would most likely be able to leave in about three years. He had hope.
Even when his spirit wavered in the endless darkness, that hope had always served as an ’anchor’.
But now... he didn’t know how much longer he had to stay, whether he could ever leave, or even how much time had passed...