Chapter 90 No. 18 <TOC> Chapter 92 Individual Actions
Translator: SumTLMan
Li Mei sheathed the blade manifested from the psychic energy atop her sword and slid it back into its scabbard.
“I have always been curious about how Shen Hongshi controls you and the other Origin Ores. With your sun-level holy relic, you should be able to easily eliminate those who are watching you.”
Sun-level holy relics typically refer to the power of an Olden Day Ruler, especially in the case of Shen Luoyan’s Divine Light, which, combined with her talent for shaping energy, makes her combat prowess extraordinary.
If she were a member of the Shen clan, there was no way they would allow such a powerful sun-level holy relic to run amok.
“You must know how terrifying it is after advancing to the third energy level,” said Shen Luoyan after taking a drag on her cigarette.
Holy relics are powers granted by Olden Day Rulers to their favored descenders. They allow humans to recklessly plunder the power of holy relics for their own gain, and naturally, there is a price to pay.
The power bestowed by Olden Day Rulers comes at a cost.
After advancing to the third energy level, all awakened beings will feel a pull from the heavens, which can only be resisted with their own will, and may even grow stronger as their power increases.
Along with the pull come bizarre illusions, eerie whispers, and screams, tormenting the awakened beings incessantly, wearing down their will.
As the awakened beings’ willpower gradually reaches its limit, they may first experience drastic changes in temperament, becoming cruel and murderous, and may even display symptoms of cannibalism.
Once the illusions become severe enough, the awakened beings’ bodies will mutate, sprouting abnormal tissues and transforming their appearance to resemble the Olden Day Ruler’s descenders that granted them their holy relic.
A considerable number of awakened beings may not even wait for their bodies to mutate before their willpower drops to a certain threshold. They will directly metamorphose into an indescribable mass of flesh.
The holy relic within their souls will then return directly to the body of the Olden Day Ruler.
“The relationship between Origin Ores and cultivate Ores is like that between awakened beings and Olden Day Rulers. Moreover, because half of the cultivate Ores’ bloodlines flow through the Origin Ores, the restrictions on the Origin Ores are even stronger,” Shen Luoyan exhaled a puff of smoke.
“Even if I were to kill myself now, the power of the Divine Light in this holy relic would follow the bloodline’s force and return to the hands of the cultivate Ore. He could even directly retrieve the holy relic, plunging me into utter madness and degenerating me into a mindless mass of flesh.”
Holy relics are not immutable; they are like seeds that will sprout and grow as long as they are nourished by source essence. The fifth level source essence is too scarce and can, at most, allow the seed to sprout a tiny bud.
If the holy relic is implanted at the fourth energy level, it is more akin to merely sowing a seed in barren land.
Only those strong at the third energy level can directly enter the Source Ocean, hunt the source essence aggregates within, and even ascend to extract the source essence from their bodies to cultivate their own holy relics.
If enough source essence is absorbed, an ordinary star-level holy relic has a significant probability of metamorphosing into a moon-level relic; even if it cannot, the relic’s abilities will be greatly enhanced.
Shen Hongshi’s act of reclaiming the holy relics of the Origin Ores is like cutting off the sprouted new branches of a seed and grafting them onto his own malformed tree.
Unconditionally accepting everything.
“In the past century, he has reclaimed countless Origin Ore relics. No one knows how powerful he is now. Perhaps many of his moon-level relics have already metamorphosed into sun-level relics,” said Shen Luoyan with a cold smile.
Li Mei’s face became solemn.
“What about the holy relics from the Shen family that have entered the market…”
“Of course, the same applies. However, because there is no bloodline power to guide them, the holy relics will only be reclaimed after the awakening person’s death,” Shen Luoyan explained. “Many federal awakeners are well aware of this, but they still eagerly seek them.”
“Because the holy relics extracted from the Origin Ores are usually very useful and powerful, and their prices are much cheaper than ordinary relics. As for the whereabouts of the relic owners after death, in this world, who cares about what happens after they die?”
She, who had inherited a sun-level relic from an Origin Ore, one in ten thousand, had gained a not insignificant position within the Shen family.
Shen Lian was waiting for her to reach the third energy level, nurturing the seed of the Solar Divine Light into maturity, and then reaping the fruits.
“This is my destiny.”
Shen Luoyan said somewhat indifferently. She had been suppressing her own strength, but she still advanced to the fourth energy level.
Li Mei took a deep breath.
“No matter how powerful an awakener is, they are just food for the Olden Day Rulers. After the failure of the Exile World plan, humanity’s only resistance against the Olden Day Rulers is this pervasive radioactive dust. Everyone’s fate is the same.”
She, too, had displayed unparalleled talent, enabling her to gain access to these hidden secrets that ordinary awakeners could not touch.
The further an awakener walks on the path of becoming stronger, the closer they get to the indescribable, incomprehensible, and imperceptible Olden Day Rulers.
The various states once sought to find a new path, with energy techniques emerging as a byproduct of this journey. Those with enhanced abilities, the awakened, attempted to use energy techniques to confront the affiliated clans without implanting the sacred contracts.
However, this path was only halfway traversed, as energy techniques demanded high innate talent, and even the human geniuses could barely contend with the affiliated clans.
If they were to implant one or two combat-oriented sacred contracts, they might effortlessly annihilate affiliated clans of the same power level.
“I’ll trust you for now,” Li Mei said with a tense face, “but I’ll keep an eye on you, and don’t think you can deceive me.”
She knew that men would struggle to maintain their composure in the presence of great beauties like Shen Luoyan.
The hovercraft grew quiet.
Suddenly, the sky darkened as Fei Lian arrived with two black cranes, each even larger than itself, and landed on the hovercraft.
Although birds were much lighter and more agile than other psychic creatures, the impact of these three colossal beings on the hovercraft caused it to dip sharply.
Fei Lian lowered its head, allowing Li Mei to retrieve the letter from its neck.
After scanning the letter, Li Mei’s expression turned solemn.
“The Soul Sect’s pursuers are targeting us. Li Mu advises us to leave on these two cranes,” she said, observing the two obviously psychic black cranes. They were tall and well-proportioned, with smooth, glossy feathers, resembling mythical creatures straight out of legends.
Shen Luoyan caught two common swamp deer to use as bait to distract the evil bloodsucking worms, then hid the hovercraft in a meadow.
The black cranes, capable of lifting prey weighing nearly 100 kilograms, easily carried Li Mei and her companion. As they rode on the cranes’ backs, the majestic black cranes took a few running steps before soaring into the sky.