Chapter 412 - 14: Curiosity

Just as Elias was about to send a message, preparing to warn Su Zhou that the Water God Believers had already begun to move...

Su Zhou was in the Underground Maze, testing the results of his recent Cultivation.

「Underground Maze, Seventh Floor, Hurricane Cliff」

Hurricane Cliff earned its name because this level of the Maze was periodically swept by incredibly destructive and exceptionally fierce gales.

The wind eroded the rock formations, leaving this level of the Maze almost entirely composed of steep, wind-carved cliffs. Flat ground was scarce, and any that existed served as the lairs of powerful Magical Beasts.

And now, on a flat mountain ledge that was clearly the nest of some powerful Magical Beast, a young, black-haired man stood calmly at its center. He gestured for the giant, moth-like Magical Beast opposite him to attack.

The young man was dressed in a simple, short-sleeved shirt and a pair of shorts perfect for easy movement, making him look like a tourist on a summer beach. However, a grayish-white, lustrous light shimmered in layers across his exposed skin.

"Hurry up!"

The Moth Demon Beast, whose nest had been usurped, didn’t dare to utter a single complaint. It had been reluctant to attack him, but at Su Zhou’s slightly impatient urging, it let out a sorrowful cry and began to vibrate its wings. It drew with all its might on the Magic Power in the surrounding atmosphere, condensing it into its wings. The power then converged into the Rainbow Light Pearl on its forehead before finally erupting as an incomparably brilliant beam of light.

HUMMM. The attack, which contained all the Moth Demon Beast’s energy, made the very atmosphere vibrate. The prelude alone tore vacuum waves through the air. Once the Torrent of Magic Power—a fusion of multiple Elements—was fired, it caused various Anomalies to appear in its wake: sudden dryness, humidity, and electric shocks. A single glance was enough to tell that its power was extraordinary.

But Su Zhou, facing an attack powerful enough to pierce solid bedrock, simply raised his left hand and held it steady in front of him.

BOOM! The instant the dazzling Elemental Torrent touched the center of Su Zhou’s palm, layers of grayish-white, shimmering Dragon Scales emerged from his skin. These scales, though they appeared quite fragile, acted like a dam, firmly blocking the entire elemental impact while sustaining almost no damage themselves.

In fact, if an Extraordinary High-tier Cultivator had been present, they would have seen the grayish-white scales begin to change color rapidly upon contact with the Elemental Torrent. They were swiftly converting the incoming Element into other types. Each scale was fixed to convert a specific Element; some converted water, others fire. Furthermore, the types converted by adjacent scales were almost always different.

After being converted by the scales, these streams of Elemental Power began to clash and neutralize each other. Some even transformed into pure kinetic force, which was then vented out through grooves on Su Zhou’s arm that followed the contours of his muscles.

A long, white shockwave could be seen blasting backward from his elbow. The forward thrust it generated was roughly equal to the backward thrust from the Elemental Torrent. Su Zhou didn’t even need to use his own strength—as long as he held his arm at the correct angle, he could block the attack almost perfectly!

Soon, the Moth Demon Beast’s all-out attack concluded. The Elemental Torrent grew thinner and smaller, like a river running dry, until it vanished completely. The beast had performed far beyond its usual level; an ordinary Extraordinary Low Rank Magical Beast would have stood no chance against that blow.

"Not bad!"

Despite the powerful blast, Su Zhou was completely unharmed. He clapped his hands, dispersing the wisp of smoke rising from his palm. The young man then raised his hand again, gazing joyfully at the scales. This time, the newly modified scales hadn’t been charred by the frequent elemental conversions, nor had they cracked and bled from the overload.

’They’re still stable, holding their normal form!’

Without a doubt, this proved that compared to the dozens of previous experiments, this revised version of the scales had sustained far less damage. They were much closer to completion.

"Your power already exceeds the standard for the Extraordinary Tier."

Yara’s voice could be heard, offering a fair assessment. "That Extraordinary Low Rank Elemental Moth’s Talent Magic Ability is strong enough to let it challenge foes above its station. If an ordinary Extraordinary Middle Stage Magical Beast with insufficient Defense Power were hit in a vital spot by that Elemental Beam, it might very well be killed instantly. But your defense can already ignore attacks of this level, rendering its all-out effort completely useless."

"Of course. It’s me we’re talking about," Su Zhou replied matter-of-factly. "If I couldn’t even manage this, what would be the point of all my recent bitter Cultivation!"

He clenched his fist, causing the scales on his palm to recede back into his skin. The young man nodded in satisfaction. "Looks like the material for my True Body’s Scale Armor is finalized. With the muscle structure already confirmed, I can soon start formally stockpiling body mass and begin the Cultivation and transformation for my True Body."

The scales that had appeared on his palm were a lesser Extraordinary Organ, a degraded version Su Zhou had engineered based on the Peacock Divine Bird’s ’Five Spirits Colorful Feathers’.

The original Five Spirits Colorful Feathers could rapidly and freely convert Spiritual Power between various Attributes, allowing a single portion of Spiritual Power to exhibit multiple properties. It was an extremely efficient Spiritual Qi converter and storage device.