Chapter 21: First Contact (3)

At the same time that the six Sea Beast Sovereigns fully appeared, a voice suddenly spoke clearly, “Go!”

The lower bodies of the Boundless Sect Disciples suddenly began to glow strangely as well.

This glow clearly came from those Origin Tools.

However, these Origin Tools were not your typical Origin Tools - they were closer to mirrors than weapons.

The Clarity Mirror.

The Clarity Mirror was only a Grade Six Origin Tool. Even so, each one of these was worth roughly three hundred thousand Origin Stones, so ten thousand of them was roughly worth three billion.

And all of these mirrors had been given to them by Su Chen.

Su Chen was probably the only one who could do something like this.

The reason he had given them to his disciples instead of having his disciples purchase their own Origin Tools was because this particular Origin Tool had a very particular use.

They were Origin Energy Amplifiers, but they could individually only amplify the Origin Energy of an attack by around fifteen percent.

For a Grade Six Origin Tool, that was pitiful.

However, this item could also be directly connected to the Origin Energy of an Origin Qi Scholar.

Origin Tools weren’t quite like Origin Qi Scholars. The strength of Origin Qi Scholars could be mixed with Origin Formations, but most Origin Tools would have a hard time synergizing. Each Origin Tool had its own own particular function, and typically only linked with its owner. Other people nearby would have a hard time using them. Actually, this was a necessity, because otherwise anyone could use anyone else’s Origin Tools.

The specialized nature of these Origin Tools made them difficult for others to use, but this also meant that they were difficult to use in a group setting.

The Clarity Mirrors, however, would be able to link energy without any interference. They would become one component of a larger group, making them incredibly useful to have in these larger-scale battles.

It was only natural that Su Chen had handed out these treasures to his followers as a group.

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

As soon as they brought out the Clarity Mirrors, the Origin Qi Scholars’ strength noticeably increased. The Beasts, which had finally begun to show some strength just moments ago, were suddenly suppressed yet again.

However, the stream of Beast Sovereigns emerging from the Abyss was unending.

Even after the six Sovereigns were suppressed, two more appeared.

The Boundless Sect’s disciples weren’t able to withstand this pressure.

Even Zhong Zhenjun couldn’t resist asking, “Shouldn’t you have them retreat now?”

Despite his jealousy and resentment, even he understood the importance of the situation.

The ten thousand Boundless Sect elites were critical to this operation’s success.

Su Chen, however, smiled. “I already said that they haven’t reached their limits yet.”

Haven’t reached their limits?

What strength would they be able to draw out?

What could they even do?

Obviously, it was to rely on external objects.

A moment later, Chu Yingwan issued a command. All of them immediately pulled out vials and poured a few pellets into their mouths.

Their bodies suddenly began to glow a deep blood-red color, and their strength surged yet again.

“This is?” Zhong Zhenjun cried out in shock.

“Medicine,” Su Chen replied.

Of course I know it’s medicine! But how could the medicinal effects be this powerful?

Actually, the medicine itself was not very powerful. The boost it provided was probably equivalent to your average Origin Tool. The latter’s power could not be multiplied, while the former’s power came so suddenly that it was hard to adapt to.

But the answer for Su Chen was very simple.

If it was hard for the body to adapt to, then you might as well eat them more often.

The more you ate it, the more your body would get used to it anyways.

Burning Sun Pills weren’t exactly cheap to purchase, but because they were useful in everyday applications, at the very least Su Chen didn’t need to spend much of his own money to make up for the deficit. All he needed to do was to lower their price in order to encourage consumption.

To the Boundless Sect, getting used to the medicine was not an issue. After all, these pills were even more effective than liquid medicine.

The eight Sovereigns were completely suppressed.

While everyone was expecting more Sovereigns to appear, however, none did.

The exit had been blocked.

The exit / entrance of the Abyss was not particularly narrow, but eight Sovereigns was the limit it could fit. The rest of the Sovereigns were being blocked behind these eight sovereigns, but no matter how they howled with rage, it was impossible for them to get out.

This terrain disadvantage was used to maximum effect by the Boundless Sect.

For just a moment, the fleet began to wonder whether they would be able to beat the Sea Beasts just like this.

But just as everyone’s spirits were being raised, Su Chen was preparing to call his disciples back. It was quite refreshing to be able to suppress these Beast Sovereigns, but the cost was extremely high. If they continued at this rate, they would actually end up dead once they ran out of energy.

The command to retreat had been given, but the Boundless Sect’s disciples weren’t in a hurry to retreat. Instead, they summoned their remaining energy and formed a massive net of Origin Energy that descended upon the heads of the Sea Beasts.

The eight Beast Sovereigns howled simultaneously, but despite how strong they were, they were actually unable to escape for some time.

The Boundless Sect’s disciples took advantage of the opportunity to fly out of range.

At the same time, the Origin Energy net was torn to shreds.

The eight Sovereigns charged out of the Abyss at the same time towards the fleet.

However, the fleet had left the Abyss a long time ago. The eight Sovereigns jerked abruptly to a stop when they came to the border of the region as if there was an invisible wall preventing them from going any further, and they even stopped attacking.

This was the effect of the Deep Sea Sorrow.

To ensure that the Deep Sea Sorrow would never be obtainable by the Oceanids, Corniga had prioritized its protection. He was okay with missing opportunities to deal blows to the Oceanids if it meant that the Deep Sea Sorrow would be able to continue operating.

The Deep Sea Sorrow’s control over the Beast Sovereigns was absolute. Even though their opponents were right in front of them, there was nothing they could do other than howl with rage.

And now that the opening to the Abyss was unclogged, the heads of these Beast Sovereigns began to emerge from beneath the surface of the waters. Quickly, hundreds of Beast Sovereigns could be seen thrashing on the surface of the ocean.

Even though a few hundred didn’t sound like much, their massive bodies quickly filled the surface of the ocean. There appeared to be no area of space unoccupied by these Sovereigns.

They howled and roared, churning up massive waves and causing the waters to grow turbulent.

The waters actually began to divide around them, and the Sovereigns were suddenly floating in the air. Even so, they were able to swim through the sky as they pleased, but they still were confined to the Abyss.

The Abyss and its border were basically absolute. Even the most powerful existences would be torn to shreds if they dared to try and enter.

On the other hand, the Beast Sovereigns had no way of leaving either. No matter how ferocious or untamed their behavior was, it had no effect.

Su Chen stared at the Beasts, with their enraged, bloodthirsty eyes and said softly, “They really are just impulsive, angry animals.”

“Yes, but there are still people who want to try and sneak in despite the pressure from them,” Zhong Zhenjun said calmly.

The leader of the Black Flame was not an idiot, but he obviously couldn’t live without provoking someone either. Even though he was completely stunned by the Boundless Sect’s show of force, he would still try and find a way to regain control of the situation.

Su Chen, however, didn’t appear to mind in the slightest. “That’s just the plan afterwards. Before we are completely prepared, we will stay put.”

Zhong Zhengjun immediately asked, “What kind of preparations will be necessary to reach that point?”

Su Chen, however, fell silent.

He had already displayed his greatest trump card to great effect.

But that didn’t mean he needed to lay out his entire hand on the table.

Su Chen had only displayed his trump card this early because it would’ve been hard to conceal its existence in the first place. If Su Chen had kept this force tucked away even in a big battle, the others probably would have scalped him.

However, there were other trump cards that could be hidden.

How to sneak into the Abyss and how to defend against the Sovereigns were both complicated questions.

It would be impossible without trump cards, and trump cards alone wouldn’t do the job.

Su Chen needed more time to gather strength.

But he knew that he would eventually succeed.

But he had no interest in explaining these things to Zhong Zhenjun.

Instead of answering him, Su Chen said, “Let’s discuss how we should split the benefits first.”

When Zhong Zhenjun heard this, his expression immediately sank.

His words had come back to haunt him, it seemed.

It really did feel like he had just slapped himself.

Frostpoint chuckled. “There’s nothing to really discuss. We should definitely split the benefits by strength. The Boundless Sect has 12,000 Light Shaking Realm cultivators. All of us combined have less than 2,000, and Sir Su yourself can probably be considered another six thousand. As such, the Boundless Sect should get ninety percent of the spoils.”

Jiang Xishui clapped his hands and laughed, “I agree completely.”

The Oceanids and the Subdued Sea branch weren’t here to make money, so they had no issues whatsoever with the way that the spoils would be split.

Zhong Zhenjun’s expression was incredibly ugly. The three parties would only receive ten percent?

If that was the case, wouldn’t they only get three percent of the spoils?

Wasn’t that a little too outrageous?

Zhong Zhenjun said coldly, “Only counting Light Shaking Realm cultivators is a bit unfair, isn’t it? Should I not count as a thousand Light Shaking Realm cultivators myself?”

Zhong Zhenjun was an Ultimate Emperor Realm cultivator and stood at the peak of the human cultivation system. Equating him with a thousand Light Shaking Realm cultivators wasn’t really an exaggeration either. Of course, the Boundless Sect’s disciples were typically more powerful than those at the same cultivation realm, and they also possessed different Aspects and had been given many different medicinal supplements. If Zhong Zhenjun were to really try and fight a thousand of the disciples at once, it was actually quite possible that he would lose.

Even so, the prestige of an Ultimate Emperor Realm cultivator still needed to be respected.

And Zhong Zhenjun did have the highest cultivation base out of anyone present.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have dared to speak to Su Chen in this way.

It was only natural that Zhong Zhenjun was unhappy given that Su Chen was counted as six thousand Light Shaking Realm cultivators but he wasn’t even considered one.

Frostpoint’s eyebrows jumped. “If you think it’s unfair, the Oceanids are willing to send two Sea Kings over, and they won’t be considered in this division of spoils either.”

These “Sea Kings” were the Oceanids’ equivalent of Ultimate Emperor Realm cultivators.

Apart from the Oceanid emperor, Greatcloud, the Oceanids had a total of fourteen Ultimate Emperor Realm cultivators. This was second only to the nineteen that the humans had.

The only reason that they weren’t here yet was not because they didn’t view this mission as important, but because they were waiting for the appropriate time to make an appearance. As long as there was a need on the front lines, however, the Sea Kings would arrive on scene shortly.

Frostpoint truly did have the power to make this kind of decision, because the fifteen Oceanid Ultimate Emperor Realm cultivators had all made preparations to fight.

They weren’t afraid of dying - they were just afraid of dying in vain.

Zhong Zhenjun was infuriated and silenced at the same time. For a long time, he was unable to come up with a rebuttal.

Jiang Xishui had technically been abandoned by Water Sheen, so it was impossible for him to request the aid of any Ultimate Emperor Realm cultivators. As such, he could only offer his verbal support: “The Subdued Sea branch agrees with this arrangement.”

Su Chen, however, spoke up. “Forget about it. Our fellow leader can count himself as a thousand, and if any of the Sea Kings do show up in the future, they will be accounted for as well. As for me, I will just count myself as a normal Spirit Burning Realm cultivator. There’s no need to equate me to six thousand Light Shaking Realm cultivators.”

Frostpoint was agitated. “How can that be allowed?”

Su Chen replied, “Combat strength is combat strength. We should calculate it as objectively as possible. As for the portion I should get because of my research, we can discuss that later. There are some things that are better to be as clear as possible about, and I might not necessarily be losing out anyways. Don’t you think so, leader?”

Zhong Zhenjun smiled slightly. “Yes, that’s true.”

However, when he saw Su Chen’s self-assured, confident expression, he suddenly had the feeling that Su Chen may not have been compromising at all - he was merely setting setting the stage for more robbery.