Chapter 139 - 122: Fire Seed of the True Solar Flame

Chapter 139: Chapter 122: Fire Seed of the True Solar Flame

He examined the red gemstone that stored the True Solar Flame seed.

Zhang Ji gently probed it with his Spirit.

As his Spirit particles drew near, the wisp of True Solar Flame scorched them, feeding an unusual sensation of pain back to Zhang Ji and prompting him to rapidly pull them away.

Spirit particles capable of interacting with the physical world were inherently very resilient; ordinary matter couldn’t harm them.

This could only mean that what Guning Country had sent was the real deal.

"So polite and generous. It fits their national character," Zhang Ji remarked.

In the ’future versions’ he knew of, Guning Country was always quick and decisive in choosing its allies.

They had chosen to ally themselves with one of the Five Saint Kings, Giles Booker of Color Cluster Country.

Guning Country bordered Roman Country, so in theory, it should have fallen into the domain of Roman Country’s Saint King, Elaven. However, their choice allowed them to successfully avoid this fate.

Falling under Elaven’s rule would have been a disaster.

The ’Alchemy Frenzy’ Chapter of the future was almost single-handedly caused by Elaven.

During that time, Alchemy Technology was abused, transforming the entire Roman Country and all surrounding nations under Elaven’s rule into an Alchemy Purgatory.

Alchemical narcotics, far more addictive than any common drug, became rampant.

Once hooked, a person was enslaved for life.

There were all sorts of alchemical experiments that violated the very foundations of humanity: cross-species hybridization and even the creation of alchemical beings that transcended the known forms of life.

Morality and ethics were utterly trampled.

In New Fuerlos, not far from Guning Country, an entire city was born from the distortions of Alchemy Technology.

Meanwhile, Guning Country managed to barely maintain its original order.

It just went to show that choosing the right side was a skill in itself.

After a moment of reflection, Zhang Ji grew eager to begin cultivating the Sun Scripture.

He could skip all the preliminary, foundational steps.

He didn’t need to purify his bloodline bit by bit, nor did he have to increase his Spirit’s intensity to sense the flame.

His bloodline purity was already high enough, and his Spirit’s intensity was more than sufficient.

There was only one thing he needed to do: guide the True Solar Flame from the gemstone into his body, then cultivate it until it grew to a certain strength.

Zhang Ji had already read the entire Sun Scripture several times, committing every detail to memory. Now, he pressed the red gemstone directly against his forehead.

Guided by his Spirit, the flame within the gemstone began to resonate with the bloodline in his body.

In the next instant, the crimson-gold True Solar Flame inside the gemstone shot into Zhang Ji’s forehead and vanished.

At the same time, Zhang Ji faintly sensed a crimson-gold flame burning slowly within his consciousness.

It absorbed his Spirit energy, slowly growing stronger, and at the same time, forged a closer connection with him, transforming completely into something he could command at will.

Zhang Ji walked out onto the balcony, into the bright sunlight.

He turned his palm upward and made a reverent gesture toward the sun.

This was the Morning Sun Ritual.

It was a fighting technique extracted from the Sun Scripture, designed specifically for Gathering solar energy. Its primary purpose wasn’t to store that energy within the body, but to gather it to nourish the True Solar Flame.

As Zhang Ji’s Spirit resonated, vast amounts of sunlight were gathered and poured directly into his sea of consciousness.

This solar energy was converted into fuel for his True Solar Flame, causing the fiery seed to burn even more intensely.

In turn, the burning True Solar Flame tempered Zhang Ji’s Spirit particles, making them stronger, and further purified his bloodline.

It even had the ability to repair his physical body and Spirit particles.

If the flame was vast and powerful enough, even if Zhang Ji were on the brink of death, he could use the True Solar Flame to rapidly regenerate, healing all injuries in a short time and returning to a perfect physical state.

’The efficiency is average,’ Zhang Ji murmured to himself. ’It would be much faster at the Gathering Light Tower, but I estimate it would still take about twenty days to form one unit of essence. Full mastery would take around two hundred days. It’s not too slow, but not particularly fast either. I’ll focus on raising the level of my True Solar Flame after I’ve mastered the Five Elements Longevity Art...’

...

「September 10th.」

Atop the Gathering Light Tower at Gesite Lake, Zhang Ji sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, cultivating under the concentrated sunlight.

As he continued to cultivate the Five Elements Longevity Art, every aspect of his physical attributes continued to improve.

The Five Elements Longevity Art was an incredibly comprehensive martial art from the Primordial Qi Sect.

The Primordial Qi it cultivated could flow and transform between the five elemental attributes.

It could nourish the Spirit and strengthen the physique, as well as emulate the five elements to achieve different effects.

Although any single effect was only at the B-tier, its sheer comprehensiveness was its greatest strength.

By now, Zhang Ji had already formed six units of essence.

With the aid of various supplementary resources, he estimated he could fully master this martial art before September 18th.

That said, the Qilin meat was truly awful.

The meat was tough and hard to chew, stringy like wood, and didn’t take well to seasoning.

’No, wood would probably be easier to chew,’ Zhang Ji thought. ’This Qilin meat is just plain bad.’

However, the amount of vital energy it contained was quite substantial.

It was no worse than Giant Whale Flesh, and it also replenished Qi and Blood.

He had more than enough to last until he mastered the Five Elements Longevity Art.

The organs, on the other hand, were quite good. When combined with some plants, ground up, and rolled into medicinal pills, their nourishing effect was far greater than just gnawing on the meat.

Zhang Ji also shared some with Chen Anhe, Zhou Hao, Shen Han, and Gu Jie.

On a side note, thanks to the medicines Zhang Ji provided—which replenished Qi and Blood and accelerated Recovery—Chen Anhe’s injuries were healing quickly. She was expected to make a full Recovery by the end of October at the latest, rather than being bedridden for half a year to a year as initially projected.

-----------------

「Roman Country.」

Orlando had a rare audience with Elaven once more.

"My Lord, what brings you to Lanz?" Orlando asked, dropping to one knee in a formal salute.

"How is the task I assigned you progressing?"

Elaven nonchalantly sat in what had been Orlando’s seat. Valentina moved forward to sit in Elaven’s lap, offering him a passionate kiss.

"The venue for the Ultimate Fighting tournament is still under construction, and the invitations are still being delivered. We have extended invitations to every fighter in the world at the Transcendent Level or higher. Political leaders and major corporations from every nation have also been granted spectator access," Orlando reported.

"Too slow," Elaven said, pushing the eager Valentina away.

Originally, he hadn’t cared.

But after Zhang Ji’s little performance, he too had grown eager to make his debut on the world stage.

If a mere clown could conquer an entire nation, then it was only right and proper for him to dominate the entire planet and become the supreme ruler of human civilization.

"The scale of the project is immense, my Lord. And you’ve requested we deliver a vast number of invitations—many of the recipients may not even attend. We need some time to build hype for the tournament and ensure they take this matter seriously..." Orlando explained.

"I don’t want reasons. I want results, Orlando," Elaven said coolly.

Elaven’s tone was flat, but Orlando, still kneeling on the floor, felt his scalp crawl with dread.

He had a feeling that a single wrong word would be his death sentence.

"I will push Congress to allocate the funds. The Antarctica fighting arena will be completed by December at the latest," Orlando replied. "As for the invitations, we can increase the prize money. A five-hundred-billion-dollar prize pool is enough to attract most fighters. Even those at the Sublimation-tier will be tempted."

"December?" Elaven appeared to consider it for a moment, then finally said, "Acceptable."

Orlando breathed a sigh of relief.

He had passed this test, for now.

Elaven rose as if to leave.

Orlando suddenly seemed to recall something. "My Lord, there is a matter you should be aware of."

"Oh?" Elaven looked at Orlando. "And what is that?"

"In Color Cluster and Yis, Angelo and Michael seem to have encountered other fighters... like you," Orlando said.

"Like me? What do you mean by ’like me’?" Elaven retorted.

"I mean... they might also be ’Supremes’!" Orlando said slowly. "Perhaps you might want to learn more about them?"

"Are you worried I might lose?" Elaven asked.

"I wouldn’t dare." Orlando’s expression flickered as he lowered his head. "I merely think it would be better to be cautious..."

BANG!

CRASH!

Orlando’s body flew backward, slamming into the wall hard enough to leave a crater. Elaven had him by the head, the intense heat from his palm scorching Orlando’s cheeks.

"Have you forgotten your respect for me, Orlando?" Elaven said. "Are you questioning a god?"

"I... wouldn’t... dare..." Orlando forced out, enduring the searing pain.

"I am the strongest. Now, and always. Those false gods are not worthy of being compared to me."

As Elaven spoke, his fingers dug into Orlando’s head, effortlessly fracturing his skull.

Just as Orlando thought he was about to die, Elaven casually tossed him aside.

"Death will not come for you so easily. You will live in agony until I ascend my divine throne. Then you will understand the foolishness of your doubts, and only then will I grant you the gift of death!" Elaven sneered at the crumpled form of Orlando on the floor. "It seems the World Fighter Association needs a new leader."

"I hope I may have the honor of serving you, my Lord!" Valentina stepped forward, her expression seductive.

"You?"

Elaven stared at Valentina for a second, then abruptly threw a punch.

SPLAT!

Valentina’s head was instantly obliterated by the punch.

"You couldn’t even withstand a casual punch from me. And you think you’re worthy?"

Orlando lay on the ground, gazing at Valentina’s corpse as a wave of sorrow washed over him.

’I only offered him a reasonable reminder, and I was sentenced to death.’

’Valentina had been one of Elaven’s favored subordinates, yet she died just for volunteering herself.’

’How tragic it was, serving such a capricious god.’

Elaven kicked Valentina’s corpse aside and strode to the window.

He had a good candidate in mind.

That clown who had just caused such a stir around the world... he seemed rather satisfactory.

’That clown conquered a nation single-handedly. If I were to subjugate him, wouldn’t that be an even greater testament to my power?’

’Besides, a clown capable of making such a scene would surely generate even greater fanfare if he were to organize the Ultimate Fighting tournament for me.’

’More people could witness my own ascension to godhood.’

"I can’t wait," Elaven said with a savage grin.

He truly wanted to see the look on that clown’s face after being utterly defeated by him. What a spectacular scene that would be.