Chapter 228: Nine Tripods Map: Exquisite Quality

An hour passed in the blink of an eye, and Guo Ming’s Nine Tripods Map successfully upgraded to Exquisite quality.

He had intended to continue improving its quality, but the Paradise issued a warning.

【Note: Continuing to upgrade to ??? quality may trigger unknown effects such as insufficient equipment requirements or Dragon Vein backlash—consequences borne by user.】

Guo Ming immediately stopped.

He had no control over the Dragon Vein.

It seemed the quality tiers in Xu Kequan’s system represented not just equipment quality, but also the stages a Disciple could safely handle.

After upgrading to Exquisite quality, Guo Ming could now select one additional Dragon Son as a permanent effect.

After brief consideration, he directly chose Fu Xi, the Dragon Son.

He had experienced the effect of Pu Lao, but its restrictions were too severe—he’d wait until next time.

【Nine Tripods Map】

【Type: Equipment·Scroll】

【Quality: Exquisite】

【Durability: 100/100】

【Charisma +19】

【Luck +6】

【Dragon Vein Power (Active): Consume 19% of maximum mana to boost all summoned creatures’ stats by 30% for 30 minutes, cooldown 1 hour】

【Dragon Son of Stability (Passive): Two Dragon Sons fight permanently for you; each minute consumes 200 HP to maintain; 24-hour cooldown after switching Dragon Sons; Dragon Son costs borne by Disciple】

（Ba Xia: Adds 1% of maximum HP as a shield per second, stacking up to 110 layers）

（Fu Xi: Reduces skill cost of allied summoned creatures by 21%）

【All Dragon Forms Manifest (Passive): Charisma +20】

【Hidden Dragon in the Abyss (Passive): Damage reduction 10%】

【Bell and Cauldron Feast (Passive): Consume nine Dragon Pearls, Dragon Crystals, or Dragon Essence as nourishment to upgrade Nine Tripods Map to next quality tier (Progress: 0/9, Evolution count: 1）】

（Note: This upgrade requires Dragon Pearls, Dragon Crystals, or Dragon Essence of Exquisite quality only）

【Equipment Requirement: Dragon Vein recognition, possessor of the complete Nine Tripods Map, Charisma 30, six Lv.1 Summoning Mastery skills】

Honestly, glad he didn’t push further—equipping it would’ve been a hassle otherwise.

If his Mastery levels were insufficient, he might truly have been unable to suppress the Dragon Vein.

Charisma bonus reached 39, but Luck only increased by 1 point.

It seemed increasing Luck was no easy task.

But for Guo Ming, the real gain was gaining another Dragon Son, with its effect enhanced.

The Nine Tripods Map likely couldn’t grow infinitely—it was merely a product of a low-level martial world.

It probably maxed out at nine upgrades, once all nine Dragon Sons were permanently active, the Dragon Vein would be nearly restored.

Further upgrades would require finding other methods.

And even nine upgrades were just Guo Ming’s guess—it might be fewer.

Its base was only Fine quality; even the highest limit was finite.

The Su Nu Sword was probably similar, but the Guo family had power and influence, prioritizing spiritual potential.

Guo Ming was different—he had no money, no skills, so he had to take it one step at a time.

“Consumption dropped another two-tenths.” Guo Ming immediately sensed the change after Fu Xi appeared.

A 21% reduction was instantly noticeable.

"Yes, unfortunately it can't stack—it must be calculated separately," Guo Ming said with deep regret.

But if it did stack, everyone would collapse under such exponential power growth.

He himself might die from it.

After all, these bonuses weren’t just numbers—they were real power.

Only the Paradise had rendered them visible as data; treating them as mere numbers would lead to catastrophic consequences.

Guo Ming understood this well, so he merely accepted it as normal.

“By the way, can consumption ever reach zero?” Guo Ming asked.

“I don’t know about you—I can’t make it zero,” Guo Ming said bluntly.

The Domination skill had already told him that.

As the two chatted back and forth, they began expanding the waterway, preparing for what came next.

As for the Dragon Bone Scripture, they’d deal with it after leaving underground.

Guo Ming hadn’t yet decided whether to use it.

Mainly because his permanent summons were already saturated.

His path was a common one in Summoning—focus on self-improvement, then amplify the summons.

Thus, he invested little in permanent summons.

Those who prioritized permanent summons leaned toward Beast Tamer paths.

Neither was better—just that self-first, summon-amplifying suited Guo Ming better.

After all, his true mainstays were allies and equipment-summoned creatures.

Da Bao and Da Bai were long-term investments—profitable, but not yielding big returns yet.

Why had they grown so fast without heavy resource investment?

There was a reason—they hadn’t been starved of resources, just not with material ones.

The more knowledge Guo Ming had in Summoning, the better their cultivation.

So resources weren’t absent—just not the primary kind.

Training another permanent summon made Guo Ming hesitate.

The hesitation came from the Dragon Bone Scripture’s Exquisite quality and its ability to choose summon type.

For example, completing the basic trio: tank, mage, healer.

Da Bao was a warrior, Da Bai a healer—missing only a mage.

He wasn’t short on damage output—right now, both the Son of Heaven and the Ghost Mother could serve as DPS.

But their potential was still inferior.

Or he could choose a permanent summon for scouting or perception to fill the gap.

It wasn’t unnecessary—he was just too poor.

Of course, this also proved Guo Ming’s strength—after all, he’d spent his Paradise points wisely, and growing stronger was inevitable.

The Paradise was fair in this regard—you got returns for your investment.

Even if your direction was wrong, the Paradise still granted corresponding rewards.

“Phew~ Finally done.” Guo Ming exhaled, staring at the blocked waterway.

Once Guo Ming dismantled the formation, the Huanglong River would instantly flood back, triggering chain collapses around.

Thanks to precise calculations, they’d been given time to escape.

Actually, no need to worry—Guo Ming could easily carry Guo Ming and Da Bao to safety.

As for Yue Lan Wu Ying, if it died, it could be summoned again.

On the other side, Wu Zhen’s refining of the Ziwei Jade Seal was nearing completion.

The final sliver of imperial purple qi sank into the Ziwei Jade Seal, and the Dragon-Skinning Altar instantly collapsed into ruins.

Wu Zhen’s soul drifted over and handed the Ziwei Jade Seal to Guo Ming.

Upon contact, his talent quest completed and triggered its final stage.

【Chain Quest Stage 4: Preserve the Ziwei Jade Seal until return】

【Trial Difficulty: F-rank (Extremely Easy）】

【Trial Reward: None】

【Trial Failure: Terminate this Talent Awakening quest】

The final stage’s difficulty plummeted from S-rank nightmare to F-rank ease.

This was the Paradise’s comprehensive assessment—Guo Ming’s trial quest was already complete.

All he needed was to store the Ziwei Jade Seal in his inventory, survive, and return to the Paradise.

But if he chose to kill himself, the Paradise couldn’t help.

Guo Ming instantly stored it in his inventory, without even checking its stats—Wu Zhen spoke.

“Let’s go, or we won’t make it.” No sooner had Wu Zhen spoken than a torrent of yin energy erupted from the ruins of the Dragon-Skinning Altar.

Thick and visible, terrifyingly dense.

Wu Zhen showed no fear, only turned to face the ruins, silently staring—no one knew what he thought.

But he wouldn’t need to think anymore—his soul had become completely transparent, meaning his spirit had fully scattered.

Refining the Ziwei Jade Seal had already drained Wu Zhen’s soul—he’d merely held on to his last breath to hand over the seal and give one final instruction.

Before Guo Ming could react, Guo Ming immediately seized him and Da Bao and fled on his sword.

Simultaneously, he unsealed the blocked waterway—the river surged back instantly, forming a terrifying flood.

The flood triggered geological collapse immediately.

The yin energy had barely begun to leak when it was violently suppressed.

Guo Ming rushed into Yuanping King’s tomb, but the collapse accelerated rapidly—the entire tomb cracked open, and the fissures spread wider.

Seeing this, Guo Ming did not dare to pause for a moment.

“The area is too vast—it may affect this stretch of Huanglong River, and the surrounding tombs might be damaged too,” Chu Danqing said as Guo Ming carried him away on a sword.

If these tombs were not pressed deeper but instead pulled up to the surface, it would mean a great evil entity was about to emerge.

“Brother Chu, rest assured—I anticipated this,” Guo Ming replied; he had not failed to see the long row of tombs beneath the Huanglong River.

When they departed from Yuanping Wang’s tomb and entered the Huanglong River, the collapse underground and the backflow of river water caused numerous tombs to crack open.

Fortunately, there was some good news: the tombs, carried by tectonic movement, began sinking downward.

Not being dragged to the surface was already a blessing; avoiding burial even deeper was a luxury, let alone escaping destruction from ground collapse during the process.

They surged from the bottom of the Huanglong River onto land, then swiftly distanced themselves from the riverbank until no further disturbances could be felt.

Guo Ming was still shaken—if they had not prepared in advance and moved fast enough, it would have been disastrous.

If they had failed to escape, being buried underground would have been the least of their worries—the true horror was being dragged into the Netherworld.

“I hope the Yinming opening, once buried, won’t cause further trouble,” Chu Danqing said.

Guo Ming replied: “Brother Chu, just stay far away—the rest has nothing to do with us.”

(End of Chapter)