Chapter 2780 - 2774: Arcane Arts Ascension

An Jiao’s body had already improved slightly. Although his body was still deteriorating, that state of weakness where he couldn’t even walk was no longer continuous, but occurred from time to time. Sometimes the bouts of weakness lasted long, sometimes they were shorter.

So An Jiao was already able to get out of bed and walk. Thus, the first thing he did was get out of bed and move to the desk. Looking at the desk covered in blueprints and the notes covering an entire wall, An Jiao didn’t speak; he just stared at the drawings and notes in heavy silence.

After a long while, An Jiao’s gaze finally grew more and more resolute. Then he coughed twice, sat down by the chair at the desk, and began once again to study the Arrays of Life Arcane.

An Jiao glanced at his left leg. By now, he was even more certain of the existence of Life Arcane magic. His left leg was the best example. Currently, the healthiest part of An Jiao’s body—or rather, the relatively strongest part—was his left leg.

An Jiao touched the hard muscles there and said quietly, "You’re my only hope now. Since you’ve already recovered your health, I believe even more in the power of Life Arcane magic. I hope my research from here on can go a little more smoothly..."

"Hehe..." An Jiao gave a self-deprecating laugh, then shook his head and said bitterly, "Though I know that’s impossible."

After that, An Jiao no longer sighed, nor did he speak again, but instead poured his whole heart and soul into the research of Life Arcane.

...

On the other side, An Tian had already concealed his name and hidden his identity to arrive at the place where the Primordial Treasures were destined to appear. Although An Tian’s strength counted as upper-middle among the Clan of Darkness, he was not particularly skilled at traveling and rushing across distances. Coupled with the dangers along the way, it took him a full month to reach the vague location of the Primordial Treasures.

This was much later than An Tian had expected to arrive, but it still wasn’t too late. Even though a great number of desperadoes seeking to snatch treasures had already gathered here, An Tian was an experienced man in dealing with the world. With just a few simple moves, he first checked into an inn.

Although many people had come this time to fight for treasure, An Tian still felt he had a chance to get the Holy Spirit Fruit, mainly because when these Primordial Treasures appeared, they would be accompanied by many secondary Magical Treasures, and the Holy Spirit Fruit belonged to those secondary Magical Treasures.

Though the Holy Spirit Fruit’s power was also enormous and its effects extremely mysterious, in front of the main treasure of this Primordial Treasure event it was still somewhat lacking. Legend had it that that Magical Treasure belonged to a top-tier Nine Nether powerhouse of the Primordial era, who had once dominated the entire Nine Nether world with terrifying strength.

Although he eventually vanished, the secret treasures he left behind were anything but ordinary, enough to make many people instantly grow powerful upon obtaining them! This was what caused the number of people coming this time to seize treasures to be unusually large. An Tian even saw several familiar faces—old friends of his from the Clan of Darkness.

For secret treasures of this level, the Clan of Darkness would certainly not miss out; this much An Tian had already guessed. Although the people gathered here included some with relatively strong cultivation, most were just here to try their luck.

An Tian paid them no mind, because he had only one goal for this trip, and that was the Holy Spirit Fruit. As long as he obtained the Holy Spirit Fruit, he would immediately return home at the fastest speed and feed it to An Jiao.

An Tian settled down in an inconspicuous place, doing his best to make himself appear extremely low-key, then quietly closed his eyes to rest, waiting for the day the Primordial Treasures appeared.

...

More than two months passed quickly. There were only three days left until the deadline he’d agreed upon with his father, yet An Jiao’s body was getting worse and worse, even more frail than it had been three months ago.

Because he had been fully immersed in Arcane Arts research for a long time, and hadn’t received any effective treatment, An Jiao now fainted almost three days out of every day, and each time he collapsed onto the desk and came to on the floor.

And each time he woke, An Jiao’s body would be in excruciating pain, nearly enough to make him pass out again.

On the last day, just as An Jiao had initially estimated, after enduring for three months, his life finally reached its end.

That morning, An Jiao slowly woke from the desk, wanting to get up and go out for a walk, but suddenly his consciousness in his mind vanished, and he fell heavily to the floor.

His awareness in his brain was peeled away inch by inch. An Jiao felt like he wanted to just sleep, but in that extreme daze, he suddenly remembered the agreement he’d made with his father three months ago. He had promised his father he would hold on for three months, but now it seemed he was about to break that promise.

Just as An Jiao felt his life was about to end, he half-opened his eyes and saw the blueprint that had slipped under the desk. On it was the Ultimate Life Arcanum Array he himself had devised. But due to its excessive complexity, An Jiao had never experimented with it, and had no confidence at all that it could succeed.

If anything went even slightly wrong, it was very possible that An Jiao’s body, unable to withstand the heaven and earth power siphoned by the Life Arcane Array, would become like that wilted plant from back then—turning directly into a heap of residue and fragments.

This Ultimate Life Arcanum Array that An Jiao had researched during the last moments of his life—these three months—was his deepest understanding of Life Arcane so far.

If that first Array had only been usable on a human’s left leg, then this Array now could be used on the entirety of An Jiao’s body, or rather—