Chapter 448: As Imminent as a Visit, Pressing and Urgent

Looking at this piece of Two-Forms Causality Stone, it was not hard for Du En to imagine what a heavyweight the exotic object that radiated influence upon it must be.

——Exotic objects are strange and varied, containing all sorts of mysterious properties; they cannot be simply categorized by rank. Generally, one only looks at their weight and completeness to distinguish the level of their value, as well as the extent of their external influence.

"Just use divine fire to burn it. After all, it is divine fire. For materials below the seventh rank, aside from those exotic objects, one can basically easily smelt out the essence and retain the inherent peculiarities."

It was not that Meng Changqing had intentionally peeked at the scene on Du En's side, but upon delivering the materials, he felt the heat of the divine fire lingering in the room and immediately knew that they were already using divine fire to refine artifacts here.

"And it's not even Solar Divine Fire..."

Meng Changqing couldn't help but mutter in his heart. He basically took it for granted that this side would know this technique, because he only felt it was a matter of course; it would be the strange thing if they didn't.

Therefore, he thought that once he finished handling Jiang Ying's matter, he would have to continue deep seclusion to quickly remove the "quasi-" from "Quasi-True Monarch," otherwise, he reckoned it wouldn't be long before Du En could call out "True Monarch Du," and strictly speaking, he would even be the Immortal Gate's reserve True Monarch! Is it appropriate for the leader and the subordinate to be roughly on the same level? Especially when the subordinate is brought in and advances by leaps and bounds, while the leader is stuck at the "quasi-" stage, dawdling and making no progress; if that got out, I'm afraid some people would start whispering!

Besides, that woman Huiqing would definitely use this to mock me! Meng Changqing wasn't worried about any "rebellion against heaven," he just cared more about the taunts of his adversaries, as it would make it seem like he was shirking responsibility.

But there really was no other way now; he could only let the growing Du En run around for him, going through water and fire—"climbing a mountain of blades and descending into a sea of flames" couldn't even describe those dangers.

It is just as the saying goes: plans cannot keep up with changes.

A few days later, with Du En using two types of divine fire in tandem, he did indeed successfully refine the sixth-rank treasure, the Dark Crow Mirror, just as planned. It was a bit strenuous to activate, but its power was naturally incomparable to ordinary magical artifacts.

And then, matters came one after another.

Just as True Monarch Chengru arrived at the Fifth Peak with hurried steps after a mere day.

"Why have you come here so suddenly?!"

Facing his uninvited Senior Brother, Meng Changqing had always held the greatest wariness and apprehension, especially right now, when Jiang Ying's matter had only just reached a critical point, which made it impossible not to feel suspicious.

"There is no time left; we must act immediately!"

True Monarch Chengru's expression was grave at this moment; there was no lightness, only a deep-voiced, direct statement.

Meng Changqing could not help but frown deeply.

In fact, the cooperation, or rather the exchange of benefits, between the two sides had already been reached in secret, but the various dealings and trade-offs had not yet been completed. So, seeing True Monarch Chengru suddenly run over to say there was no time and that they must act immediately, he subconsciously had the thought that this fellow wanted to welch on the remaining debt.

But he quickly denied it himself, because the person opposite was clearly being rarely serious.

In other words, it was truly their master, that Supreme Luoyu, whose schemes had reached a certain critical point, and their side's actions had also become imminent!

——The reason Meng Changqing had ultimately nodded and given the Ink Square Lock when True Monarch Chengru requested it earlier was precisely because of this reason! "Tsk, why so fast? Can't it be delayed a bit longer?"

Meng Changqing's gaze flickered as he spoke thus.

Hearing this, True Monarch Chengru shook his head slightly and said, "The window of opportunity to intervene at the lowest cost is very short. At the same time, you must understand that although Master doesn't mind what little tricks we play, if he were to choose to intervene directly, it would only be counterproductive and lead to greater changes. So, for now, we can only let them take the risk; that is the most suitable interval... Half a day, then. Seeing that you are quite busy here, you do indeed need a few hours to tidy up the loose ends."

As he said this, Meng Changqing's expression changed.

It wasn't that he cared about the other side seeing that they were each busy, but rather that he couldn't go to stop it himself.

That's right, he had originally intended to drag it out as long as possible; after all, his own pace of breaking through to the Integration stage had accelerated, and who knew, he might have been able to drag it out until he could take the field himself.

That was a Supreme's scheme, not at all a True Monarch's petty squabble. He himself had no confidence in being able to resolve it, and now letting Du En and these "juniors" take the field was truly pushing people into a fire pit.

But things had reached this point, and it was clear there was no other choice.

"Alright then, I'll ask first. If it really doesn't work, it seems the only thing left is..."

Meng Changqing's words were vague, his mood appearing very heavy and conflicted. True Monarch Chengru only shook his head after seeing this, then left in a hurry.

This side also did not stop; he immediately summoned Du En and An Shen to explain the general situation.

"The Supreme of the world is plotting something untoward, the spiritual veins of the Ten Thousand Stars are being severed for his sake, converging in one place amidst those heavens full of stars, with a true black curtain covering that area, and now, a gap has appeared to enter and cause destruction?"

An Shen appeared eager to try regarding this matter, an indescribable light dancing in his eyes.

Empathy, personal pain, hatred, and loathing... This god defied the nature of heaven and broke free from the control of the Dao precisely to save the stars and living beings, precisely to pierce through the black curtain of the star dome.

Naturally, he would not fear or retreat, because this was the path he had chosen! As for Du En, he was as calm as ever, only reaching out to touch his chin, his eyes slightly narrowed at this moment: "A Supreme's scheme, regarding the existence of the Grudge-Blight, it seems I will be able to see it more clearly this time."

He also felt no fear; rather, there was nothing that could shake his heart. The path was beneath his feet, and he would only walk straight ahead.

And regarding the matter of the Grudge-Blight, it had always been a knot in his heart. Recalling the experience at the Nanmo Border City, he still felt confused and concerned, but his usual emotions were very stable and tranquil, so it seemed as if he didn't care.

Watching their performance, Meng Changqing felt as if he had been given wings, feeling that there were many companions, and the worry in his heart dissipated slightly. He then handed a special storage bag to Du En.

"This is what I extorted from that fellow Chengru according to your previous requirements; it's all inside now. It's just a pity that things are too urgent now, and he still has some outstanding debt he's welching on, and I can't properly transfer it in this short half-day..."

This was referring to the matter of the fifth-rank spirit beasts.

Du En probed his divine sense into the bag and, after counting, found that there were still about two hundred missing.

Consequently, he couldn't help but mutter calmly: "Clearly, whenever True Monarch Buyi does something, it's a whole bunch; why is it that it can't be gathered here after so long?"

To tell the truth, he had previously wanted to increase the depth of his divine ability by burying those who were afflicted with the disease, because he had felt the severity of the situation at that time and had long thought that he would expose this trump card of his if necessary.

But in fact, that was something he simply could not do.

It might be because the Fluorspar Disease actually stemmed from a single source, or perhaps because the Holy God occupied and controlled the source of the stars' life, and in order to ensure that it could be completely cleared in the end, the causal source of the afflicted was gathered in one place and devoured into the body. Therefore, no matter how many Du En personally killed here, there was no strong causal or fatalistic connection between them.

So burying them was useless; that land of death simply wouldn't accept them.

"Because I don't have a large enough family business, I really am sorry about this..."

Hearing this mutter, Meng Changqing felt only deep regret. Combined with the current situation, it was even more so.

An Shen was quite interested in the vague conversation on this side, because he had always been concerned that after his own original body was destroyed and died by the Holy God, some other key situation must have occurred, which was why the situation had progressed to the current state.

However, Du En had only given a rough account of this before, which had left him unable to figure out the specific developments, and he was truly quite curious and concerned in his heart.

Of course, now was not the time to probe into this.

One god and one human looked at each other, and with great tacit understanding, they began to speak one after another.

"Although the road ahead is long, we will not retreat."

"But we will not go to our deaths knowing it is impossible."

"Do not praise sacrifice, and do not belittle life."

"Every drop of blood must be shed with corresponding value."

"So, stop singing in harmony and just say it directly: are you trying to get me to take the opportunity to extort my Senior Brother, who is rich as oil, again? Heh, as it happens, I have the same thought. Truly, great minds think alike!"

The corners of Meng Changqing's mouth twitched, and then he revealed a smile of tacit understanding.

Next was the small interval they had prepared for each other.

The current state of An Shen is actually not suitable for taking action, so Meng Changqing still has to strengthen him; furthermore, this Quasi-True Monarch's main principle is to treat everyone equally, so since he openly gave Du En so many good things, he naturally has to show something here as well.

As for Du En, it was time to bury the corpses.

He personally killed the Tier 5 spirit beasts that were naturally eliminated for being old, sick, foolish, or stupid, established a strong causal relationship and a strong connection of fate, and then buried them into the land of death.

Du En, returning to his old trade, was still very efficient at his work; he even specifically transformed a reinforced version of the magical treasure, the Azure Madder Hoe, and finished this task in less than half an hour.

【Divine Ability: Burying Death, Flourishing Life (Mastery 280/300)】

"Only the last bit is left. When I go to the target star realm this time, should I complete it along the way so that this card can become even stronger?"

Since this involves the schemes of a Supreme, there will surely be many enemies at the Deity Transformation stage, so if he really wanted to do it, it would be quite possible to achieve; thus, Du En couldn't help but consider it.

But he immediately shook his head.

"Forget it. After all, it is that Luoyu Supreme, who can even mix sand into the Four Spirits True Method. If I bury the living beings of that star realm into my divine ability, I don't know what hidden dangers might arise then, so it's better to forget it."

Even with the panel, it is not omnipotent.

Or rather, it should be said that precisely because the panel is highly likely to be able to solve this problem, that is why he cannot do it!

The divine ability is a small matter, but the panel is a big matter. If the clues were discovered, to be honest, Du En does not believe at all that the True Monarchs could stop Luoyu Supreme if he were to suddenly launch an attack specifically targeting a small Deity Transformation junior like himself!

As for whether the Supremes would care about things like face, one should really not have any expectations at all; if those five unbenevolent and unrighteous people truly cared about such minor details, they wouldn't have caused so many things that incite the wrath of heaven and resentment of men! Therefore, Du En quickly dismissed the risky course of action.

Even if possible, once he reaches the new star realm, he won't even inhale a single breath of spiritual Qi into his body; his main principle is to be as foolproof as possible.

Then, he checked the various jade slips in his bag again.

Four Mysterious-grade Dao techniques, and two secret techniques.

"I didn't mention the matter of the Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils, so am I really not going to blackmail them?"

Du En looked at the quantity and muttered to himself like this.

He had already fully mastered the secret technique of the Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils, and the reason he hadn't mentioned it before was actually because there was no need.

Because the Undying Saint Origin Body could be said to come with an ocular technique, which he named the Saint Pupil of Seeing Origins, and coupled with the Dark Crow Mirror that he had previously prepared to refine and had now already refined, it also possessed the ability to break through illusions.

With the three superimposed, he could naturally obtain a higher and deeper field of vision, and he could also try to derive a Heaven-grade Dao technique from them later on.

One cannot count on Meng Changqing, that poor landlord, forever, so he should try to ponder it himself.

Furthermore, although he could blackmail True Monarch Cheng Ru this time, he couldn't reveal all his cards to the other party; he still had to keep something in reserve.

In fact, the connecting secret technique for the Earth-Wood Saint Refining secret technique was not obtained from True Monarch Cheng Ru, but was further pushed and created by Meng Changqing with some preparation.

"Five Elements Saint Refining... so it is still a secret technique, and cannot be confirmed as a Heaven-grade Dao technique."

Even for Meng Changqing, with his current realm, he could not determine whether the secret technique he deduced could truly be confirmed at the Heaven-grade, the highest level in the mortal world, so in that jade slip, rather than saying it recorded a spell, it was more like it was expounding on his deduction process.

It involved a profound artifact-refining method, the Five Elements Secret Refining Method, which is a superior method to the Four Prohibitions Refining Method that Du En currently masters, capable of fully controlling objects of the five elements and creating five-fold prohibitions.

If practiced to the deepest level, it can be like the five elements generating and overcoming each other, thereby deriving all phenomena in the world, shaking off the various defects and limitations of fixed-number prohibitions; it is truly a top-tier artifact-refining method in the world!

"This is not something that can be comprehended in a short time. Later, I should first find an opportunity to cultivate and switch to the Mysterious-grade Dao techniques..."

Du En put away this five-colored jade slip, viewed and memorized the other jade slips one by one, then placed them all into Kongsang Mountain, and then sat cross-legged, summoned the Dark Crow Mirror he had stored in his body, and continued to refine this precious mirror.

As a Tier 6 precious artifact, he already had obvious difficulty in driving it and had not fully mastered it, but yesterday he thought of a method, which was to use a special refining method to circumvent the insufficiency in his cultivation, thereby achieving full control and full manifestation of its power.

Simply put, it was to let the changes currently brewing in his natal magical treasure, those phantom-like petal glimmers, cling onto the precious artifact, and then connect and permeate it, turning it into his pseudo-natal magical treasure.

This was actually the basic operation of his natal magical treasure; every time it changes, it goes through the process of light as a pivot and fire-illusion clinging, and previously, the Phoenix Blood Spear, that half-natal magical treasure, also had the behavior of secret technique true flame transforming into prohibitions and clinging to bind, so it is very normal for him to have pondered this refining method; it is the result of being of the same lineage.

A short half-day passed quickly; refining a precious artifact cannot be done easily, but he had already finished seven or eight tenths of it. Next, as long as he keeps it in his body and silently warms it for a few days, he will basically be able to finish it.

The journey to the new star realm is about to begin, and I hope everyone will continue to support me! (End of this chapter)