Chapter 1699: Control the Soul Tower! Dual-Soul Equipment!

"So comfortable..."

Xu Jingming couldn't help closing his eyes.

He felt the wondrous sensation of that energy cleansing his soul.

The speed of his spiritual sense surged noticeably.

His thoughts became clearer, and even his insight into the essence of cosmic laws grew sharper.

"Vera, identify this."

"Got it!"

The succubus little girl floated beside the small tower, her large purple eyes flickering with streams of data.

She extended her small hand, gently touching the tower's surface, then closed her eyes to sense it.

After a moment, she opened her eyes, her face lit with delight:

"It's definitely a Heavy Treasure-level item!"

Judging from the lingering secret runes on it,

This tower is called the 'Nine-Story Soul Tower,' a beginner-level Heavy Treasure.

"But..."

She paused, shaking her head with regret:

"More than half of it is damaged.

Over half of the internal law runes have snapped, and the core runes are also cracked.

Its current power is roughly only thirty percent of its full capacity."

"Thirty percent?"

Xu Jingming raised an eyebrow: "So what specific functions does this little tower have?"

"Let me see..."

Vera closed her eyes again, sensing carefully:

"First, soul defense.

Even at only thirty percent power, it can block part of an Immortal-Class spiritual sense attack.

In full condition, it might even withstand a Dominator-Class soul assault.

Second, soul enhancement—it boosts the user's spiritual sense strength."

Hearing this, Xu Jingming's eyes instantly brightened.

"Soul defense and soul enhancement—no wonder it's a Heavy Treasure!"

He took the small tower, playing with it fondly:

"Even at thirty percent power, it far surpasses SSS-grade equipment."

"Of course."

Vera crossed her arms, smugly declaring:

"Heavy Treasures and SSS-grade equipment are on entirely different levels.

No matter how badly damaged,

as long as the core isn't utterly destroyed, its value still far exceeds SSS-grade equipment."

This little tower, even as a damaged item, is worth at least five million crystal credits!"

"Five million?!"

Xu Jingming sucked in a sharp breath.

He knew Heavy Treasures were valuable, but not this valuable.

A Heavy Treasure with over fifty percent damage could still sell for five million crystal credits?

How much would it be worth in full condition?

Tens of millions? Even a hundred million?

"Do you think that's why so many Immortal-Class beings are fighting over them?"

Vera rolled her eyes:

"Heavy Treasure-level equipment,

especially soul-based ones, are priceless across the universe.

Many invincible Immortals,

and even some poorer Dominators, still use only SSS-grade equipment.

You've obtained a soul-based Heavy Treasure while still at the Immortal-Class.

Even damaged, this is an unimaginable stroke of fortune.

In value, if this soul-based Heavy Treasure were fully repaired,

it would only be slightly inferior to your Peak Heavy Treasure-level Chaos Pearl."

"Soul-based Heavy Treasures are this valuable?"

Xu Jingming finally understood completely.

Then the question arose:

Why did Xuantong Shen help him?

It couldn't just be because she liked him, could it?

He'd only interacted with Xuantong Shen twice total.

"And her strength..."

Xu Jingming's gaze flickered slightly, "I originally thought she was merely a Title Immortal."

Now it was clear—this was the power of an Invincible Immortal Realm.

Her background might not be as simple as just being from the Star-Eye Clan.

"Why do you care so much?"

The succubus little girl Vera said indifferently:

"Anyway, this great treasure is already in your hands—the initiative is yours."

"True enough."

Xu Jingming smiled, not dwelling further:

"Let's start using this great treasure first."

Unlike ordinary equipment, great treasure-grade gear was incredibly complex.

It required matching its own secret runes to function properly.

The Chaos Pearl could be used directly because the Meteor Star Scripture already included its secret runes.

After he had invested points into the Scripture, he could activate the Chaos Pearl.

But the Nine-Layer Soul Tower was different—it required learning its runes anew.

"Among great treasures, soul-type great treasures have the most complex secret runes."

The succubus little girl Vera's soul form drifted nearby, speaking softly:

"Though this Nine-Layer Soul Tower is severely damaged.

Its core secret runes still exist, but more than half are broken.

If you want to fully use it,

You'll likely need to spend hundreds or even thousands of years studying it."

"Hundreds of years? Thousands of years?"

Xu Jingming raised his sword-like eyebrows, a faint smile curling at his lips.

"Is that so?"

He had once cracked countless secret runes through the Deep Blue System.

The secret runes of great treasures were still secret runes—the principle was the same.

Xu Jingming activated his mind, instantly summoning the system interface.

【Item】: Nine-Layer Soul Tower (Damaged)

【Type】: Soul-Type Great Treasure (Basic)

【Status】: Core secret runes fractured 53%, power remaining 31%

【Secret Rune Comprehension】: Not mastered (+)

Indeed,

The system interface displayed the Nine-Layer Soul Tower's information, and the final item was precisely Secret Rune Comprehension.

Without hesitation, Xu Jingming clicked the plus sign.

-100 Essence Points!

Hum—!!!

In an instant, countless arcane and complex secret rune data flooded into his mind!

Those runes came alive.

They automatically assembled, arranged, and evolved within his consciousness.

Each line of rune contained the method to use the Nine-Layer Soul Tower—profound and obscure.

For an ordinary Immortal, even one at the Invincible Immortal level,

Fully comprehending these runes would require countless years.

But with the system's enhancement,

Xu Jingming mastered all the runes in merely three breaths!

"Done."

Xu Jingming opened his eyes, a flash of silver soul-light passing through his gaze.

He activated his mind, channeling his spiritual sense into the Nine-Layer Soul Tower according to the runes.

In an instant—

Hum!!!

The Nine-Layer Soul Tower suddenly blazed with brilliant silver light!

Inside the tower, though the runes remained incomplete, they now functioned!

Each level of the tower lit up in sequence.

From the first to the ninth level, silver light flowed like nine layers of star-rivers!

"This… this is impossible?!"

The succubus little girl Vera stared, dumbfounded.

Her small mouth slightly open, expression as if she'd seen a ghost.

"Y-You've already mastered it?!"

"No way, are you cheating?!"

Her tone was filled with disbelief:

"You mastered the runes of this great treasure in the blink of an eye?!

Even if I were to control it myself, I couldn't do it this fast!"

"Is there a problem?"

Xu Jingming took this as a matter of course.

"This is a huge problem!"

Vera, the little succubus, scratched at her purple hair, her small face filled with frustration:

"This isn't scientific at all!"

"No matter how prodigious a genius, it's impossible to advance this fast!"

"Those are fake geniuses—I'm the real one."

"You've never seen one before, so it's normal you don't understand."

"Now you get it, right? Only someone like me counts as a real genius."

Xu Jingming said seriously.

"Fake genius? Real genius? What a load of bullshit!"

The little succubus Vera was utterly driven to frenzy.

"It seems you still can't understand."

"It's fine—once you see more of it later, you'll get it."

Xu Jingming shrugged and said no more.

He shifted his intent, attempting to draw the Nine-Layer Soul Tower into his consciousness sea.

Hum—

The Nine-Layer Soul Tower turned into a streak of silver light and vanished into his brow.

"Wait!"

Only then did Vera realize what had happened and hurried to speak:

"Your consciousness sea already has an SSS1-level 'Crown of Ice Heart' inside!"

"If you add another soul item, the other one will be expelled!"

"Huh? What did you say?"

Xu Jingming froze, turning his gaze inward to his consciousness sea.

There, floating as before, was a crown of pure ice-blue, inlaid with countless gems—

The SSS1-level soul item, the Crown of Ice Heart, given to him by the Frost Crown Dominator!

Yet after the Nine-Layer Soul Tower entered,

it did not expel the Crown of Ice Heart, as Vera had claimed.

The two soul items—one silver, one blue—

hung quietly in his consciousness sea, not interfering with each other at all.

Instead, they seemed to subtly complement and enhance one another.