Chapter 2048 - 900: The First Quasi-King (2)
"Peibela and the Red Queen, they jointly obtained the [Infinite Holy Grail], which is the primordial god’s time source artifact. Their relationship is similar to Olivia and Dark Moon; one has the ability to revert their own time, the other can accelerate it. However, their soul source artifacts are severely damaged and may find it difficult to return to their peak."
"Tai Luo, the infinite Light Giant, is one of the Outer Gods. It has a special connection with the Light God and has appeared multiple times throughout ancient history. The Supreme Will also left weapons targeted at it, and it has already been shattered by malevolent thoughts, though it still exists above the spiritual mist. Most source laws of light are related to it, and the Holy King possesses one of its fragments... Luckily, for various reasons, Tai Luo inherited most of the fragments, and the infinite Light Giant was revived in his soul! This is yet another [Source Carrier]!"
...
Asa continuously extracted information from the Evil Thought Stele, restoring the strength of one powerful Life of Man after another, stepping into the sacrificical refining field of the quasi-kings, all of whom would become Rod’s future [True King Source Carriers].
What surprised Rod even more was that within the sacrificical refining field for the quasi-kings, the Life of Man practicing there also showed signs of breakthroughs. Some that initially weren’t given much hope, those severely damaged Lives of Man, surprisingly broke through their limits, reaching higher stages beyond expectations. At this rate, it won’t be long before the 25 [True King Source Carriers] are gathered, and perhaps even more will emerge.
As human strength surged, the consumption of resources increased at an unimaginable speed, especially the Divine Stone and Divine Source Materials. The Divine Stone was manageable, as the Source Stone Plate only required 100 Divinity to produce one, and after Rod’s last ascension, he still had over 400,000 Divinity. The conquest and ascension during this period also earned him countless Divinity, making the entire Trolian Kingdom a source of Divinity for him, easily meeting any demand for Divine Stones.
Divine Source Materials, however, were problematic. In today’s world, where the path to gods is severed, it’s impossible to manufacture more. Its essence is merely to alleviate the fortune bearing of Half Kings; with more Commanders and Sealed Monarchs, human fortune would grow stronger, allowing for more Half Kings.
Meanwhile, the number of Commanders and Sealed Monarchs in the Trolian region has significantly increased, with their daily growth rate still rising. As long as human fortune is robust enough, Divine Source Materials aren’t essential.
However, other resources are necessary, especially the four High Rank Elements and various Spiritual Potions.
The spiritual soil of Trolian is entirely insufficient; the planted Spirit Flowers and Spirit Grass can no longer meet the demand for potions. Fortunately, Rod possesses the Sea of Flowers. After the Dream Realm was restored, the Sea of Flowers expanded at least tenfold, and the transplanted Holy White Tree in the Dream Realm became immensely tall, with a rich life aura permeating the Dream Realm, drastically boosting the growth efficiency of spiritual plants in the Sea of Flowers by dozens of times.
Almost daily, the evil spirits driven to serve as Rod’s dream minions were able to harvest countless Spirit Flowers and Spirit Grass, providing an adequate supply of potions to meet consumption needs.
The spiritual materials generated by the Source Stone Plate, combined with the legacies collected by Rod, basically satisfied the requirements.
However, as humans further advanced, the pressure on the supply gradually increased, forcing Rod to dedicate more time to search for human legacies on the dark earth and gather more resources.
What Rod didn’t anticipate was that as more and more warriors returned to Trolian to ascend, the gap in frontline combat widened, and the defense pressure increased sharply. He couldn’t remain in Trolian indefinitely, and at the same time, the strength of the black tide was escalating. The frontline was already struggling to hold, but halting the ascension process was impossible, with the true black tide imminent. They couldn’t afford to waste even a second.
In this crisis, Rod suddenly thought of the Mechanical Research Institute and remembered Mina and their War Magic Statues.
Trolian needed more ascensions, and they offered a combat capability that didn’t require ascensions.
However, their War Magic Statues, with their Spiritual Power Weapons, though formidable, couldn’t replace the position of primordial strong beings and couldn’t support the war’s overall situation.
But Rod had a special technique.
[Truth]
After reignition, the [Gate of Truth] of this Star became even stronger, just as its description stated, [Open the indestructible iron gate of truth, pursue the ultimate mystery of knowledge]. If Mina could pursue the ultimate mystery of spiritual power technology, it would undoubtedly enhance Trolian’s combat strength.
More importantly, they also had the sacrificical refining field for the quasi-kings.
Under a 300-fold time acceleration, with the blessing of the [Gate of Truth], Rod believed that even a pig could comprehend the mysteries of knowledge.
"I’m not a pig, you are the pig!" Mina retorted in exasperation upon hearing Rod’s statement, but the sparkle in her eyes betrayed her true thoughts.
Once Rod established the [Gate of Truth] within the sacrificical refining field for the quasi-kings, Mina eagerly led a group of scholars inside, and the effect was almost immediate. In just half a day, numerous results emerged from within, with one improvement after another making the War Magic Statues and Spiritual Power Weapons significantly more powerful.
To accelerate their production, the entire Mechanical Research Institute was moved into the sacrificical refining field for the quasi-kings, including the production workshop. This decision displeased the Lives of Man training inside, who felt it disrupted them, but the critical state Trolian faced left them with no choice.
Thus, one War Magic Statue and Spiritual Power Weapon after another was dispatched from the sacrificical refining field for the quasi-kings, far exceeding previous strength levels, reaching a new height in overall warfare capability.
However, the issue of materials continued to trouble Mina and the scholars. Destructive attacks with immense power were rampant in battles above the Half Kings, and as the levels further escalated, the destructive power grew exponentially. Without sufficiently robust materials, the War Magic Statues couldn’t surpass their limits.
Rod initially thought this problem was unsolvable, that the Mechanical Research Institute had reached its limit, until Asa unexpectedly predicted a scene.
"Master, the Tower Spirit might be useful to them!"
Rod slightly furrowed his brow. The Tower Spirit was a spiritual creation summoned in the Long Tower, possessing a shield with supremely strong defensive capabilities. Could this shield be useful to them?
What he didn’t expect was that Asa’s prediction wasn’t even slightly off. Just half a day after the Tower Spirit entered, Mina discovered a solution to the problem—they found an ultra-strong substance on the Tower Spirit’s shield.
Strictly speaking, it’s not a substance. The shield of the Tower Spirit can be composed of any material, and even the most fragile object, once influenced by the Tower Spirit, becomes extremely sturdy.
Through research, Mina and the scholars discovered that the Tower Spirit could lock the basic structure of a material with spiritual energy, condensing it into a solid iron plate. This shield, based on the fundamental structural composition, possessed unimaginable strength. They quickly found a similar method to achieve the same effect.
"This is a miracle!"
In the communicated documents, Mina wrote in messy handwriting: "With just one Source Material, a special Spiritual Power Generator, and without any additional modification, we can enhance the armor strength of a War Magic Statue by nearly a hundredfold!"
Reading these words, Rod could hardly believe his eyes, further shocked that the reality matched her description without any deviation. With the new special structure installed, the strength of the War Magic Statues surged, enabling them to leap from only being able to battle in sub-Half-King battlefields to the front lines. Solos even praised it as stronger than his own soul defense.
The evolution of the Mechanical Research Institute was far from over, with increasingly powerful creations emerging one after another, significant advancements occurring daily, and no one knowing their limits.
Thus, the frontline battlefield stabilized once more, with the terrifying black tide temporarily hindered by the steel machinery, and Trolian’s combat strength continued to surge daily. Countless Commanders and Half Kings bore the Half Kings, and countless Half Kings carried the Primordials, rapidly expanding this pyramid of strength.
Finally, the first quasi-king in Trolian, aside from Rod, was born.
With a coarse curse, Viheler became the first quasi-king to walk out of the sacrificical refining field for the quasi-kings.
```