Chapter 792: Peering into the Floating City

Handsome and imposing Sheng Jili Si had golden long hair, casually draped over his shoulders; when he heard Lei En's words, a gentle smile appeared on his face. Even now, he only possessed a strong physical constitution, was not yet a transcendent, and had no transcendent powers.

But anyone who sees Sheng Jili Si would not treat him as an ordinary person.

This is Lei En's plan.

The luminous lord Sheng Jili Si does not exist, yet the mortal Sheng Jili Si must have a backup.

In the future, Sheng Jili Si will become his most important duplicate, wielding the artifact Saint Blood Amber, whose importance rivals Reslin's; massive resources and energy will be poured into cultivating him, far surpassing other Saint Blood Angels.

Reslin focuses on the path of the mage.

Meanwhile, Sheng Jili Si walks the path of Holy Light.

Both duplicates are prepared for the Ascension of Gods and also to scout for Lei En's true self. He already has some understanding of Ai Lun E Si's deities; the deities appear powerful and lofty, but they are limited by the number of believers, and the strength of faith determines the strength of divine power.

In Lei En's view, this does not constitute a true transcendence of all things, that conceptual "god".

So he himself is not preparing to ascend.

At least until Reslin and Sheng Jili Si achieve divinity and have sufficient understanding of the deities, Lei En will not rashly ascend, lest he become bound by believers.

If there is no solution, he would rather be an unrestrained mortal god.

Of course, all this is still early.

Ascension is the most difficult task for Ai Lun E Si; even though he already possesses a divine flame, he cannot claim certainty of success, and many, many things remain to be done. It is a long‑term plan, and Sheng Jili Si's birth is only the beginning, the first step of a ten‑thousand‑mile Long March.

"You try it."

Lei En handed the Blood Crystal Seed to Sheng Jili Si and several clones.

The Blood Crystal Seed looks like a gem, only thumb‑sized, crystal‑clear, its surface cut into a polyhedron, with a streak of crimson inside, like blood.

The All‑Seeing Eye sees through its essence; the Blood Crystal Seed is actually a condensation of a kind of mental energy, and the blood thread inside is Holy Light power. Yet, for unknown reasons—perhaps natural fate—this strand of Holy Light emits a faintly sinister aura, lacking the usual warmth of Holy Light, instead cold and terribly twisted.

Li Fulin has already handed over the Blood Knight's meditation method.

Lei En has also studied it once.

Simply fuse the Blood Crystal Seed into the soul as a medium for the meditation, fully absorb it, and one can grasp this strand of Holy Light power, becoming a Blood Knight.

But this also merges the mental power of the Blood Crystal Sacred Tree into the soul, bringing its chaotic memories and thoughts, just like a black Wizard plundering other casters' souls, extracting Elements, merging them into one's own soul, causing the same mental disarray.

However, the Blood Crystal Sacred Tree has low intelligence and few memories, so initially there are no obvious symptoms.

It takes the accumulation of problems before they truly manifest.

This is almost an unsolvable flaw.

At least for blood elves, it is hard to resolve; Grand Mage Bei Luo Wa has researched it for over three hundred years without result. In the past, Lei En also had no good solution, only using Sunlight Blood to ease headaches, but after obtaining the Saint Blood Amber, the problem was easily solved.

It only requires blessing the Blood Knights, letting them master the Holy Light Affinity Element.

The Saint Blood Amber's three constant Divine Techniques—"Dawn Light", "Morning Blessing", and "Morning Sanctity"—all have effects; the rare Element‑level Dawn Light only treats symptoms, while truly eradicating the headache flaw requires the superlative Element‑level Morning Blessing.

Lei En looked at the Saint Blood Amber; after promoting Li Fulin, the artifact's energy was already scarce.

It was enough for one Morning Blessing and several Dawn Lights.

A massive golden ray fell into Sheng Jili Si's soul, and the Morning Blessing became the first Element he received in his life.

The light continued to spread.

The other Saint Blood Angels also received blessings, being constanted with Dawn Light.

First mastering the Holy Light Affinity and then merging the Blood Crystal Seed eliminated the meditation flaw at its root. Moreover, this is only an initial blessing; later each Saint Blood Angel will obtain "Morning Sanctity", even multiple instances, and will master numerous Divine Techniques.

"Begin."

Sheng Jili Si and the Saint Blood Angels sat down, used a knife to cut a small wound at the center of their brows, letting blood flow, then pressed the Blood Crystal Seed onto the wound.

Instantly, the solid Blood Crystal Seed melted into energy and was injected into the brain in a flash.

Their bodies lit up with a blood‑red glow.

Lei En stood nearby watching, simultaneously feeling the Saint Blood Angels' meditation state; soon, the freshly bestowed Holy Light Affinity took effect, the blood‑colored Holy Light entering the body was neutralized, mixing with half golden, becoming a strangely colored Saint Blood power.

After a few minutes, Sheng Jili Si was the first to open his eyes.

He had already completed the meditation.

Without Lei En's command, Sheng Jili Si opened the phone interface, the soul pool showing over seven hundred units of charge, and immediately deployed it, rapidly amplifying his Saint Blood power.

In fact, without the MutatedPhone, the charge could be converted by the Saint Blood Amber into Holy Light power and then infused into Sheng Jili Si.

But this would waste twenty percent of the energy, the Saint Blood Amber would profit from the price difference.

Buzz—buzz—buzz…

Sheng Jili Si's body emitted a light that was both warm and cold, not overly dazzling, as if cloaking him in a sacred mantle, his form becoming more majestic and martial, like a deity descending.

As more charge was poured in, the Saint Blood power grew stronger.

Soon, Sheng Jili Si rose three levels in succession, entering a second soul metamorphosis. At this point, the other Saint Blood Angels also mastered the meditation, becoming Blood Knights, but lacking sufficient charge, Lei En only raised each of them by one level before stopping.

Within the next half hour, Sheng Jili Si surged nineteen levels, reaching Legendary Peak, one level higher than Lei En's true self.

This may be the fastest‑leveling transcendent Ai Lun E Si has ever seen.

However, Sheng Jili Si currently only possesses a powerful Saint Blood force commensurate with his level, but his combat ability is low, far weaker than Li Fulin before she advanced to Saint Rank.

Lei En lifted his hand in a feint, and the Saint Blood Amber fell into his palm.

"Here you go."

The Saint Blood Amber flew toward Sheng Jili Si, who caught the artifact without any resistance. Both being the same person, Sheng Jili Si could also control the artifact; with a thought, the Saint Blood Amber transformed into a beam of light that entered his eye, appearing in the soul space.

With the artifact, Sheng Jili Si's power surged a hundredfold!

As long as there is enough energy, Sheng Jili Si can wield all Divine Techniques within the artifact; combined with Lei En's combat experience, his overall strength can rival Saint Rank elites.

"Energy!"

"I need more charge!"

Lei En and Sheng Jili Si simultaneously thought this.

Dozens of Thundercast Celestial Soldiers swept the Aibolaken region day and night, eradicating undead tombs, expanding the safety zone by dozens of times; almost every hour they could kill some undead creatures and absorb souls, yet the charge was never sufficient.

Sheng Jilesi's promotion to Saint Rank requires at least four thousand units of power.

The other Holy Blood Angels are also waiting to level up.

The twelve mage avatars in the Obsidian Tower each consume power daily to construct spell models, which is also a huge amount.

Several legendary Blood Knights of the Holy Spear Knight Corps must first have their headaches solved, granting them the "Dawn Blessing," which costs at least a little over a thousand units of power.

There is also the creation of Thundercast Celestial Soldiers and brain‑split crystals, the manufacturing of Titan Engines and powered armor development, and so on.

Lei En discovers that every location requires power.

"I'll harvest a wave of souls and charge up properly!"

The only target currently within reach for harvesting power is the Nake Sasi Fu Kong Cheng, which houses hundreds of thousands of Undead Army, all elite undead—one can replace several ordinary undead creatures.

If the Nake Sasi Fu Kong Cheng can be breached…

Lei En, while pondering, sensed the three brain‑split crystals; the Floating City still drifts above the Dragonbone Wasteland. The Thundercast Celestial Soldiers that have been lurking in the canyon forest for nearly two months constantly monitor the city's movements, visible whenever one looks up.

But after covertly observing for so long, Lei En still hasn't found Korstted's Soul Box.

The brain‑split crystal attached to the Death Knight's armor patrolled the Floating City repeatedly, yet it never discovered the target.

He hasn't even seen Korstted's figure.

"This Death Knight hasn't reached legend status; its rank is too low to reach Korstted," Lei En thought, deciding to be more proactive.

So he prepared to activate another brain‑split crystal.

He waited for two days.

The brain‑split crystal disguised as a metal fragment can move within a small radius and sense surrounding movements. Finally, after two days, it rolled onto a main corridor inside the Floating City, timed its chance, and was stepped on by a Death Knight, adhering beneath its sole.

That Death Knight is a Saint Rank Apocalypse Knight!

The brain‑split crystal merged into the Apocalypse Knight's rune armor, climbing inch by inch from the sole, taking half a day to reach the front of the waist, where it fused perfectly with a belt forged from Saron Evil Iron, allowing it to "see" the entire surroundings of the Apocalypse Knight.

Only at this point did the brain‑split crystal detect the appearance of the Apocalypse Knight.

Lei En saw it simultaneously.

Unexpectedly, the Apocalypse Knight turned out to be a woman—in fact, it was female in life. Though cloaked entirely in black rune light armor, its figure was slender, the chest area of the armor showed subtle undulations, it wore no helmet but a dark‑red hood attached to its cloak.

Beneath the hood, its face was veiled by a grayish mist; behind the mist were two crimson eyes, a pair of pointed ears protruding from either side, and a few strands of silver hair at the neck.

Its weapon was not the usual Death Knight's rune sword, but a uniquely shaped longbow.

Blood Elf Ranger!

This Apocalypse Knight was transformed from a Blood Elf, which surprised Lei En at first, though on second thought it seemed perfectly normal.

Blood Elves have fought the Cataclysm Legion for so many years that Eternal Song City alone has been breached three times, each with countless casualties; surely some Blood Elves were turned into undead. A Blood Elf Ranger gaining the Death Lord's favor and being promoted to Apocalypse Knight is therefore understandable.

An Apocalypse Knight holds a very high status and can roam freely within the Floating City.

Wherever it goes, the undead step aside.

Lei En used this opportunity to scout many previously inaccessible areas, gaining intimate knowledge of the Floating City's internal structure and layout.

The Nake Sasi Fu Kong Cheng is roughly divided into upper, middle, and lower tiers.

The lowest tier is split into dozens of zones, each further divided into rooms of various sizes, centered on a spacious training ground surrounded by dormitory‑like chambers packed with undead. One zone can hold tens of thousands of the Undead Army; they neither eat, drink, nor relieve themselves, training in combat daily. Though they appear tireless, they periodically enter a dormant sleep to restore strength.

This tier is the Floating City's barracks, very uniform; altogether the zones contain several hundred thousand undead troops.

The middle tier is comparatively complex.

Its area is only about half that of the lower tier, housing rune furnaces to forge armor and weapons for the undead army. The main protective formation of the Floating City also resides on this tier, with high‑rank undead patrolling constantly.

Most legendary undead and Death Knights reside on this tier.

The topmost tier is the upper level of the Floating City, the smallest in area; the Death Knight previously attached to the brain‑split crystal could only operate on the middle tier and was not permitted to enter the upper tier.

Obviously, Korstted is on the upper tier.

The Floating City's control chamber must also be on the upper tier, housing the Iola Core; its defenses are inevitably the tightest, and Korstted would not leave lightly.

Lei En speculates that if Korstted placed his Soul Box in the Floating City, it must be hidden near the control chamber.

It could even be inside the control chamber, but there is no chance to confirm.

From then on, Lei En kept a constant watch on the Floating City. However, to his frustration, the Blood Elf Apocalypse Knights mostly operate on the middle tier; when they occasionally ascend to the upper tier, they practice archery in a high‑grade training ground there, never approaching the control chamber.

This situation persisted for nearly a month.

Lei En is very patient, but waiting indefinitely could cause him to miss a good opportunity; after much deliberation he still did not act.

Until the onset of autumn.

The weather on the New Continent began to cool, with the northern Karnod Icefield even colder; the Dragonbone Wasteland where the Floating City lies is completely covered in ice and snow, and in the canyon where the three Thundercast Celestial Soldiers hide, frost clings to the forest branches.

That day, the Blood Elf Apocalypse Knight, after its usual archery practice, returned to its room.

Lei En already knows it very well.

It does not eat; each day it only trains death power and archery, with no other activity, entering a half‑month slumber to relieve mental fatigue, each sleep lasting half a day. The brain‑split crystal has been attached to it for two months and has never heard it utter a word.

The Apocalypse Knight sits on the stone bed in the room, expression numb, eyes hollow.

Lei En has seen this many times; it remains motionless for a full half‑day until its next meditation on death power, after which it goes to practice archery.

He was about to shift his attention when a hoarse voice sounded.

The voice was deep and its tone very unfamiliar, as if it hadn't spoken for centuries; it could barely be identified as female, speaking in High Elf tongue: "Who are you? Why have you been spying on me? Where are you hiding?"

(End of Chapter)