Chapter 485: Impact Bracer

Two lights appeared above Caelus’s platform. One contained a dark silver bracelet, while a ball of golden energy floated inside the other.

[Ding! First-place rewards granted.]

[Artifact obtained: Impact Bracer.]

[Artifact Grade: Early Primordial.]

[Reward obtained: Primordial Cell Energy.]

Caelus reached for the bracelet first. As soon as his fingers touched it, the bracelet opened and wrapped around his wrist, adjusting its size until it fitted perfectly against his skin.

A description appeared in front of him.

[Impact Bracer: Absorb and store part of the force received from attacks.]

[Stored force can be released through a strike or formed into a protective shield.]

[Storage and protection are limited by the artifact’s grade.]

"Oh? Not bad."

Caelus examined the bracelet with interest. He already had plenty of offensive abilities, so an artifact that could reduce incoming damage while storing the absorbed force was quite useful.

He tapped the bracelet with two fingers to test it. A thin blue line appeared along its surface, growing slightly brighter when he tapped it again with more force.

"So it really does store the impact."

"Can you release it whenever you want?" Sylvia asked.

"According to the description, yeah. Let me try something."

Caelus raised his wrist and directed a little energy into the bracelet, causing a curved blue shield to appear in front of him.

He pressed his free hand against it and gradually increased the pressure. The shield resisted him at first, but the blue line along the bracelet began to shorten as the stored force was consumed.

Once the energy ran out, the shield disappeared.

"Hmm. So the shield uses whatever force I’ve stored. That’s pretty convenient."

"How much can it take?"

"Depends on the attack. It has a limit, so I doubt it’ll help much against someone ridiculously stronger than me."

Still, being able to reduce the damage of an incoming attack and use part of that force against his opponent was extremely useful.

And considering that the Impact Bracer was only an Early Primordial artifact, Caelus was quite satisfied with its abilities.

"Are you done testing it?" Sylvia asked.

"Almost. I wanted to try releasing the stored force through a punch."

"Do that after we leave. There are other people here."

"Right, I forgot about them."

Caelus lowered his hand and dismissed the artifact description before turning his attention to the second reward.

The golden sphere was still floating in front of him, and he was rather curious about what kind of benefits it would provide.

However, the moment his fingers touched it, his Primordial Core reacted.

Caelus felt a powerful suction coming from his World Cells, which had already begun absorbing the energy before he could even attempt to circulate it.

During his previous training, he had needed to guide Primordial Energy into his cells manually. This time, however, the energy was being absorbed automatically, and at a rate he had never experienced before.

"Wait, this is..."

Realizing what was happening, Caelus quickly sat down and focused on the changes taking place inside his body.

"Caelus? Is something wrong?" Sylvia asked.

"No, everything’s fine. My World Cells are absorbing the energy directly, so give me a moment."

Sylvia nodded and moved aside to give him some space.

Meanwhile, Caelus closed his eyes and concentrated on circulating the energy throughout his body.

The golden energy traveled up his arm before entering his Primordial Core, where it was distributed toward his World Cells.

Every cell absorbed the energy it received, including those that had barely shown any signs of development during his previous training.

Caelus could feel his muscles growing denser while his bones became stronger. Even the amount of energy circulating through his body was increasing.

More importantly, he wasn’t experiencing any of the resistance he had encountered while cultivating normally.

The energy seemed perfectly suited for developing World Cells.

[Ding! World Cell Development: 10%.]

Caelus was surprised by how quickly his development had increased.

He had only started absorbing the reward, yet he had already reached ten percent, and there was still plenty of energy remaining inside the sphere.

He continued circulating it throughout his body, making sure that every part received enough energy.

[Ding! World Cell Development: 20%.]

[Ding! World Cell Development: 30%.]

The notifications appeared one after another as his strength continued increasing.

Caelus had expected the reward to help with his cultivation, but he certainly hadn’t imagined that a single reward could provide this much progress.

By the time the remaining golden energy entered his body, his World Cells had absorbed every last bit of it.

[Ding! Primordial Cell Energy absorbed.]

[World Cell Development: 40%.]

[Power: 40.]

"Forty Power?"

Caelus opened his eyes and raised his hand, slowly clenching his fist as he examined the changes in his body.

He hadn’t even activated his Chaos Devil Dragon Transformation, yet his normal strength had already reached forty Power.

Considering that his transformation provided another fifty points, he could now reach ninety Power while using it.

And he had only just begun developing his World Cells.

"How much did you gain?" Sylvia asked.

"Forty Power. And apparently, it’s because of my High-Grade World Embryo."

Caelus examined the information that had appeared beneath his status.

According to the explanation, his High-Grade World Embryo allowed him to gain ten Power for every ten percent of World Cell Development.

In other words, his current forty percent development had provided him with forty Power.

And once he advanced to Middle Primordial, his High-Grade World Embryo would grant him another ten-point increase.

"No wonder everyone wants a high-grade embryo."

Caelus finally understood why so many powerful people were willing to fight over them.

A good World Embryo didn’t simply make cultivation easier. It also increased the benefits gained from each stage of development.

And considering how much a single point of Power represented in the Primordial World, the difference between someone with a low-grade embryo and someone with a high-grade one could become enormous.

Ten Power alone represented a terrifying amount of strength in this world.

However, as Caelus continued examining the information, he discovered something else.

Apparently, World Cell Development wasn’t the only way for an Early Primordial to increase their Power.

There were individuals who possessed more than a hundred Power despite still being at the Early Primordial stage.

Some had received special rewards from the Akashic Records, while others had acquired powerful artifacts that increased their strength.

"So it’s possible to have over a hundred Power without advancing to Middle Primordial?"

That was certainly worth remembering.

After all, his Chaos Devil Dragon Transformation already provided him with an additional fifty Power.

If he managed to obtain another ability or artifact that increased his Power, he could become considerably stronger without advancing his cultivation.

"I guess I shouldn’t judge someone’s strength based on their cultivation stage alone."

He glanced at the Impact Bracer on his wrist before dismissing the remaining information.

Most of the participants were still receiving their rewards.

Freya was sitting cross-legged on her platform, apparently absorbing something, while Himmel was examining the light floating in front of him.

Caelus watched them for a moment before remembering something he had wanted to do.

Since they were currently inside a place controlled by the Akashic Records, wouldn’t this be the perfect opportunity to contact it?

He had several questions concerning Axiom Origin, and after what happened with those strange creatures, he had even more reasons to seek answers.

"Hey, Akashic Records. Can you hear me?"

Caelus waited for a few seconds, but when nothing happened, he decided to try again.

"Hello? I have something important to discuss with you. It’s about Axiom Origin."

Sylvia turned toward him after hearing his words.

"Are you trying to speak to the Akashic Records?"

"Yeah. Axiom Origin helped create it, didn’t it? I figured it might know something about what’s going on."