Chapter 487 - 352: Demons and Monsters, Take This Spear
Jiangzhou City, in Wei Song’s private Cultivation Room.
Ian sat cross-legged in the center of the room. A layer of grayish-white powder was scattered across the alloy floor in front of him.
It was the residue left after Source Crystals were completely absorbed.
Three months, one hundred and thirty-two Rifts, and not a single Source Crystal Vein had been generated. The panel had devoured the World Origin from every Purification.
This World Origin, along with the Source Crystals Wei Song had simultaneously accumulated, had now all transformed into a brilliant light within Ian’s Sea of Spirit.
He slowly opened his eyes. The Star Orbits deep within his pupils were several times more solid than they were three months ago.
The innermost Gravity Orbit was silver-gray, interlaced with fine crimson patterns, like molten stars flowing slowly.
Its progress had reached 63%, just as he had hoped.
The second circle, the Thermal Energy Orbit, was as crimson as blood. A Miniature Star could be faintly seen pulsating within it, and its progress had also reached 61%.
The third circle, the Purification Orbit, glowed with a gentle yet firm, pale gold light. Its progress was at 52%.
These three Rules formed Ian’s most powerful techniques.
As for the outermost Time Orbit and Earth Orbit, they remained relatively dim but had still reached 15% and 20% respectively.
𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦
The five Star Orbits intertwined and resonated with one another, outlining the nascent form of an even clearer and more blazing "Star Core" in the center of his Sea of Spirit.
Every slight tremor of the Star Core caused ripples in space.
"Hooo..." Ian let out a long breath.
His breath carried a scorching heat, gently scattering the powder on the ground.
He clenched his fist, and a five-colored light flashed across the surface of his skin before vanishing.
Power. An unprecedented Power was surging through his body.
It wasn’t a simple accumulation of Energy, but a "qualitative change" at the level of Rules.
The fusion of Gravity and Thermal Energy had deepened; the two were on the verge of becoming one within the framework of the "Blazing Star Core."
After the Purification Rule broke the 50% threshold, its suppression of the Abyss’s corruption reached a new height.
Although the Time Rule had the slowest progress, it could already affect the area within a hundred-meter radius, causing Time to accelerate or decelerate by at least 30%.
The Earth Rule, on the other hand, had significantly enhanced his physical strength, defense, and recovery.
The current strength of this Order Divine Body was... at least five times greater than it was three months ago.
’I can’t believe I can still have such a terrifying increase in power, even as a Level Three Wizard!’
"How do you feel?" Wei Song’s voice came from the doorway.
He was leaning against the doorframe, the Miniature Star in his chest slowly rotating and emitting the same terrifying thermal radiation.
Although he was just a projection of Ian and couldn’t afford the luxury of absorbing large amounts of Source Crystals to advance like Ian could, the Rule Perception shared through their Soul Link had also made his "Thermonuclear Core" more solid and blazing, causing his strength to rise accordingly.
"Great. Better than I expected."
Ian stood up and stretched his neck, his bones letting out a faint cracking sound.
"Good enough." Wei Song walked into the room, closing the door behind him. "You’ve heard the whispers outside, haven’t you?"
Ian walked to the window and looked down at the street below.
"The Red-Bladed Spear... The Ashbringer... The heroes of Great Yan!"
"But they’ve purified so many Rifts, why haven’t they left a single Source Crystal behind?"
"They should spare a thought for the lower-level Superpower Users!"
"I heard the higher-ups are already investigating..."
The voices were low, filled with resentment.
With Ian’s current Perception, he could detect any disturbance within a radius of dozens of kilometers.
These quiet discussions were no different from someone shouting right in his ear.
"Hmph." Wei Song scoffed, walking over to Ian’s side and also looking out the window.
"A bunch of idiots. They don’t have the ability to purify Rifts themselves, but they still want Source Crystals."
"They don’t even stop to think that without us, those Rifts would still be spewing out Mutants right now."
Ian didn’t respond. He just listened quietly, his gaze as calm as a deep pool.
These past three months, they had averaged 1.5 Rifts a day. Such efficiency would have been completely unimaginable before.
In two hundred years, Great Yan had only purified a little over three hundred Rifts in total.
In three months, the two of them had done half the work a major nation had accomplished in two centuries.
The public cheered, the higher-ups were wary, and those in the shadows were green with envy. These were all normal reactions.
"What did Li Yan have to say?" Ian asked.
Wei Song shrugged. "What else could he say?"
"On one hand, he’s placating us, saying it’s all just rumors and we shouldn’t take it to heart."
"On the other hand, he’s hinting that he hopes we’ll ’slow down the pace a bit’ and ’save some face’ for the other Legends."
"Save face for them?"
Ian’s lips curled into a sneer. "Are they worthy?"
According to the information Wei Song gathered from high-level insiders, the strongest individuals on Profound Yellow Star, at least publicly, were three Late Stage Legends.
Great Yan had two, both of whom were stationed in the Capital City and rarely made public appearances.
The White-headed Alliance, far across the ocean, had one, but he basically stayed out of things.
Most of the remaining Legends were at the Initial Stage; even Middle Stage ones were extremely rare.
Someone like Wei Song, who had just broken through, would rank among the top thirty in the world on paper, but his true strength was definitely not that low.
Not to mention Ian’s own power. How could such weaklings earn his respect?
Wei Song suddenly remembered something, his expression turning excited.
"Li Yan also mentioned something else. Several neighboring smaller nations have reached out through diplomatic channels."
"They’re willing to pay a high price to hire us to purify the Rifts in their countries. The offer is very tempting."
"How tempting?"
"For purifying one Level Four Rift, ten whole Source Crystals. For a Level Five Rift, at least one hundred."
Wei Song stated the numbers, a fiery glint in his eyes. "And, they’ll pay half upfront."
Ian’s pupils contracted slightly.
’One hundred whole Source Crystals for a single Level Five Rift. If we did that a few more times...’