Chapter 176 Breather

Another few months passed in a flash.

Since the battle at the Imperial Strait, the mages of the Celestial Plane had completely quieted down.

The magic camp at the plane passage in Zambra Iron Falls Province in southern Mafa had successively gathered a million troops, but no magic legion dared to leave the camp casually. They huddled near the plane passage, fortifying and expanding, adopting a strictly defensive posture.

The reason for this was that Suren's feat of controlling a puppet legion to defeat a million-strong magic army was too astonishing. It made the mages realize that the Alchemy Plane also had the ability to defeat a million troops. Moreover, they could fight and run, and could not be restrained without a God-level combat force. Therefore, they no longer dared to carry out any operations outside the camp with more than ten thousand troops, for fear of being ambushed.

Correspondingly, the United Empire also lacked the ability to attack the magic camp at the plane passage. The military could only send a large number of guerrillas to set traps everywhere in Mafa and ambush those small magic teams that came to explore. This was also in preparation for future wars.

The two sides fell into a stalemate.

This period of time gave the Alchemy Plane a rare opportunity to develop and breathe.

The opening of the plane passage, the raising of the law ceiling, and the adversity of war also became the driving force for the advancement of the practitioners. Moreover, because Suren and the others had provided a large batch of [Cosmic Origin Matter] to the Imperial government, more than ten veteran Rank 8 experts in the United Empire successively broke through to Rank 9. This also brought great encouragement to the Alchemy Plane.

Empress Yekaterina's new policies also brought continuous and visible effects to the Alchemic civilization. Although it was a time of crisis, the country was strong and the people were rich. The universal popularization of the Alchemy Academy led to an endless stream of geniuses, and various ten-thousand-man warlock groups gradually took shape. Mechanical war equipment was also mass-produced from factories...

Whether measured by the number of practitioners, combat power, or the number of top-level practitioners, the current United Empire was unprecedentedly strong, perhaps the strongest era in the Alchemy Plane in ten thousand years.

Newspapers also called this era the "Golden Age" belonging to the Alchemic civilization.

But the bad news was that intelligence personnel in Mafa observed that more than one God-level mage had descended from the three major magic empires of the Celestial Plane: the Ascendant Empire, the Golden Gryphon Empire, and the Holy Crown Empire.

The fuse for a full-scale war had already been quietly ignited.

...

On the other hand.

Without war for these past few months, the Dawn Mercenary Group entered a state of recuperation.

They collectively went to the Burial Grounds of the Gods.

This was once a place where gods had fallen. Although it had chaotic laws and some indescribable monsters, the cultivation conditions here were unparalleled. Although the laws in the distorted space were chaotic, the upper limit was very high, and there were many "treasures" left behind by ancient gods. As long as one could withstand the distortion and comprehend even a little, it would be of great benefit to any practitioner.

The Dawn Mercenary Group had turned this place into a training ground.

Hunting those terrifying distorted monsters was everyone's daily routine.

They had the best genetic potions and the best resources. Many people broke through during these months, and their overall strength increased by a large margin again.

On this day, near the black stone tablet in the second layer of the seal.

A large mechanical town that could accommodate tens of thousands of people had been built here.

Various steam boilers in the town were billowing white smoke, and mechanics were controlling mining vehicles to transport tons of ore from all over the blood sea into the smelting plant.

On closer inspection, the entire town was a super-large ore mining site.

During this period, they had been continuously mining the precious God-tier metal ore, [Living Silver].

With a steady supply of materials, Suren's small Void Realm, the War Workshop, continued to produce high-quality alchemic golems and the latest mechanical octopuses.

In the camp, the Eternal Night was docked in the port.

A super-large nine-pointed star alchemic array continuously lit up in the sky. In the center of the array was a red gemstone, the alchemic holy object [Philosopher's Stone].

This nine-pointed star alchemic array, blessed by the Philosopher's Stone, could continuously extract chaotic strands of rules from the space and refine [Cosmic Origin Matter]. At the same time, it filtered out the dangerous elements in the distorted space, allowing people to live in this large area near the Eternal Night for a long time.

At this moment, in the captain's room.

Sabina, wearing only a thin silk nightgown, poked her head out of the washroom and asked with a slightly playful expression, "Master, now that I've finished reporting my work, this servant is going back to Lyndon. I mean... if you allow it, can I stay for a few more days?"

Suren, who had rarely rested for a night on the messy bed, felt refreshed.

He understood the unspoken meaning in his succubus maid's words and replied, "The cultivation environment here is ten times better than the outside world. It's fine if you want to stay for a few more days. You've just advanced to Rank 8, and your rank is unstable, so it's good to stabilize it a bit."

Sabina had come all the way from Lyndon yesterday, saying that she was reporting on her work, but another reason was to ask Suren, her master, for credit, because she had advanced to Rank 8.

She could be considered a top-tier combat force in the entire Alchemy Plane.

Suren didn't expect Sabina to advance so quickly.

It was so fast that anyone would find it unbelievable.

Apart from her Second Awakening succubus talent, the most important reason for this outrageous advancement speed was Suren.

Sabina came this time not only to relieve her master's worries and fatigue but also to ask her master for some small rewards.

Having tasted the sweetness, she became increasingly greedy for that feeling of rapid advancement.

Suren thought it was good too.

Sabina's intelligence organization skills were obvious to all. Although she seemed extremely well-behaved in front of her master, she was once an extraordinary intelligence leader in the Umbrella organization. Being stronger would also be of great benefit to him.

Hearing her master's permission, Sabina's eyes were full of charm, and she smiled brilliantly, "Thank you, Master."

As soon as she finished speaking, her body dissipated into a cloud of pink mist. On closer inspection, she had teleported more than ten meters and was already clinging to Suren. "Master, may this servant help you dress?"

Although it was a question, she had already started carefully arranging his clothes.

Suren didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

Sabina was very smart. She was like a qualified maid, always thoughtfully considering everything, and she was very easy to get along with.

...

Not long after, Suren left the room and walked onto the deck of the Eternal Night.

The cultivation atmosphere on the ship was extremely good. These days, everyone was either cultivating or working hard at cultivating.

Everywhere on the deck were members sparring.

When the Dawn Mercenary Group saw him on the deck, they greeted him one after another, "Mr. Suren is here!"

The battle at the Imperial Strait, Suren's million-strong army left an indelible impression on everyone. Especially the new members, they regarded him as a god.

Abelke, who was in contact with the Thousand Machines, also greeted him respectfully when he saw his teacher coming over, "Teacher."

Suren nodded, "Mm."

At this moment, a figure flashed, and Lolota jumped down from the mast, landing lightly on the deck. She blinked and asked, "Mr. Suren, have you rested well?"

Although not many people knew about Sabina's arrival on the ship, Lolota, who often went to the captain's room, knew.

Suren understood the hint of playfulness in the girl's tone.

He was used to it.

He reached out and flicked her forehead, asking, "Where's your teacher?"

With this flick, Lolota instantly felt her head buzzing and clutched her forehead with a strange cry.

She puffed out her cheeks and said with a resentful expression, "Ah... I've already comprehended Haki, and bullets can't penetrate it. Why does it still hurt so much when Mr. Suren flicks me?"

Suren smiled, "Comprehending Haki is just the beginning. You'll know why when you stabilize your Sword Saint Realm."

A few years ago, at their first meeting in Blizzard City, the sword-wielding little girl had now grown into a big girl.

"Oh."

Lolota pouted, looking helpless.

She was clearly already very strong, but in Mr. Suren's eyes, she was always just a newbie who had just started.

She replied, "Teacher went to the island." "Mm."

Suren smiled.

On closer inspection, he had already disappeared from the deck.

...

Unnamed island, where Sir Isaac's black stone tablet was located.

The stone tablet contained some of the ultimate secrets of the alchemic origin, the Emerald Tablet.

However, the threshold for peeking into this secret was very high. Generally, at least a Rank 9 practitioner's level of cognition was required to be qualified to peek into it.

When Suren arrived, there were several people sitting in front of the stone tablet, meditating.

Mr. Mirror, Qian Tiao, Pandora, Pestoia, as well as Mr. Black and the old Sword God Bartolo, who had recently advanced to Rank 9.

Seeing Suren coming, they all opened their eyes from their focused meditation state.

Qian Tiao was as outspoken as ever, directly teasing, "Yo, Suren, how was the report from your succubus maid?"

The day-to-day boring cultivation was rare and fun, and everyone smiled knowingly as they listened.

None of those present were outsiders, and Suren wasn't embarrassed. He raised an eyebrow, "Pretty good."

The old man Mr. Black also rarely spoke and laughed, "Miss Sabina's ability to advance to Rank 8 so quickly really amazes me."

Half teasing, half genuine amazement.

Sabina's advancement speed, looking at the entire Alchemy Plane, except for Suren and Qian Tiao, who were two oddballs, was unique. It was a speed that even he, the old geezer, envied.

"..."

Suren was dumbfounded. Others might not know about the hidden talent ability of the Succubus Second Awakening, but Mr. Black, the knowledgeable scholar, must know.

A hint of a smile also rippled gently in Mr. Mirror's eyes, but he didn't talk about it anymore, and instead asked, "Suren, when are you planning to advance to Rank 9?"

"It'll be soon."

As Suren spoke, he sat cross-legged on the open space beside her and replied, "I've already felt the obstacles to understanding. If I don't advance to Rank 9, many things cannot be truly grasped."

"Oh?"

Hearing this, a flash of light appeared in the eyes of several people. They were also very much looking forward to how strong Suren would be after advancing to Rank 9.

After a few simple words, the group stopped talking and continued to observe the stone tablet and began to meditate, and soon they were immersed in cultivation.

And Suren himself also took out his alchemic notes, and his eyes focused on the vortex of knowledge on the stone tablet.

After reaching their realm, there were few things in the world that could shake their state of mind.

If there were outsiders here, they would see a few people sitting next to the stone tablet, but it seemed that they should have been there all along, blending in with the surrounding environment.

...

These days, Suren gradually became familiar with the exaggerated increase in abilities brought about by the [Blasphemer] implant, and became even more amazed at the magic of this implant.

With the blessing of the implant, he now possessed cognitive abilities far beyond the limits of humans, and almost godly.

This was an elevation similar to the level of life.

Looking at the original world again, it was like standing on a high place and looking far away, everything was different.

It was like a top-tier Rubik's Cube that was extremely complex for human thinking. In Suren's eyes now, he could just take a casual glance and instantly know the solution.

Suren estimated that the improvement in mental power alone was probably... ten thousand times.

Knowledge that originally required ten thousand years to digest, he could see through in one year.

Moreover, this implant would grow with cognition. This was the most amazing thing.

The obscure and difficult cosmic secrets on the stone tablet gradually became clear to him at this moment.

Although he could still only understand the part that he could understand.

But it was that part that made him feel that he had glimpsed the extreme of the power that humans could touch.

It seemed that as long as he had enough time, he could glimpse all the secrets of the universe and deduce a complete new universe.

And this cognitive ability was also highly compatible with the job-change material that Suren planned to integrate when he advanced to Rank 9.

Suren had always wanted to integrate that book, [Fatal: Land of the Underworld].

This was a super cursed object that he still could not fully understand with his current vision.

Because, there was a complete and unbelievable Land of the Underworld in the book, with a timeline, monsters, and the dead... everything.

At the beginning, Fujiwara Hayato, the great writer and great adventurer, put all kinds of treasures he had collected in his life into this book and created a Land of the Underworld in the book.

And among those treasures, there were [Void Stomach of the Empty Swimming Whale] in Suren's small Void Realm, and the Buddhist treasure [Bodhi Seed] that allowed Qian Tiao to unleash the Third Awakening of the Rakshasa.

That great writer must have been blessed with great luck to be able to go to the Land of the Underworld and not die.

God knows how many secret treasures he hid in the book.

Suren could have taken out the other treasures.

But he didn't do that.

Instead, he had been stuffing some in over the years.

Because he understood a part, the rules of the world in that book would become more perfect because of "feeding" some law treasures.

In recent years, Suren had raised it to almost the limit of the plane.

And this book currently required a very high level of world cognition to be integrated as an advancement material.

After integrating as an advancement material, one could comprehend [World].

Suren didn't understand what that was before, but now he realized that Fujiwara Hayato had described some of the original mysteries of the universe rules with his pen.

This was something he had determined after reading the stone tablet and deciphering the Emerald Tablet.

Suren was also amazed that the predecessors in the field of alchemy did indeed have many talented people. That was clearly a field that only gods could touch, and he didn't know how that great writer had come to know it. But he just understood it and recorded it.

From some perspectives, the significance of this book was no less than the alchemic manuscripts left by Sir Isaac.

...

A few days later, in the secret room of the Eternal Night.

In front of Suren was a black amber crystal and a book overflowing with black gas.

Advancing to Rank 9 required Cosmic Origin Matter to help practitioners obtain a shortcut to touching the mysteries of the rules. Suren had long prepared this [Cosmic Fourth Origin Matter: Death].

With the materials prepared, he chanted the alchemic incantation, "Following the law of equivalent exchange of all things, praising the glory of the original creator, using alchemy to witness the miracle of creation..."

For a time, the nine-pointed star alchemic array shone brightly.

The Cosmic Origin Matter gradually melted into the alchemic array and gradually merged into Suren's body.

On the other side, the [Land of the Underworld] was also opened page by page, and a magical world in the book seemed to open in Suren's eyes. In an instant, the Milky Way lingered, and his eyes were filled with endless depth.

In a trance, he had a feeling that he was like a god, creating a world and controlling everything.

As he had expected, the entire advancement process hardly encountered any unexpected situations and was exceptionally smooth.

On this day, Suren successfully entered the Rank 9 realm.