Lu Jun looked inward at his spiritual universe. Seeing the intertwined dual-colored spiral sigil, he could not help but let out a soft exclamation.
Among his eight Magic Elements, he had incorporated numerous Heaven Seed methods. Each Star Ocean contained a large number of neatly arranged sigils. Yet this was the only imprint that did not reside within any Elemental System itself, making it rather extraordinary.
Thus, Lu Jun carefully examined it and soon came to a realization.
So it was called the Blessing Curse Mark.
This ability originated from the Purple Linden Fruit and the Oath Fruit. It increased the base power of both White Magic and Black Magic by 50%, an effect that could only be described as formidable.
Take Curse Magic as an example.
With Eleventh Realm Spiritual Power and Heaven-Grade Curse Matter, its power had already skyrocketed toward nearly twenty times its normal strength. Multiplying that by the increase in base power resulted in more than thirty times its original might.
That was not much weaker than the thirty-sixfold amplification produced by combining a Water Element Heaven Seed with the Water-Avoiding Pearl.
Unfortunately, the Blessing Curse Mark only affected White Magic and Black Magic.
Only the Curse, Psychic, Life, and Death Elements could benefit from it.
His remaining Gold and Water Elemental Magic, as well as Summoning and Space-Time Dimensional Magic, received no enhancement.
"Isn't this basically the same as the Dark Spring blessing Mo Fan received from the Dark King?"
The thought seemed familiar to Lu Jun.
In the original timeline, Mo Fan had fought Su Lu, fallen into the Dark Plane, and defeated the Dark King in a game of chess before receiving that blessing.
The difference was that Dark Spring increased the power of all Magic Elements except White Magic by 50%.
However, now that Su Lu had already been dealt with, Lu Jun wondered whether Mo Fan would still have the opportunity to fall into the Dark Plane and obtain the Dark King's blessing.
To be honest, Lu Jun had always felt that kind of blessing was unreliable.
If the Dark King could grant it, then he could also take it back.
Perhaps Mo Fan not obtaining it was not necessarily a missed opportunity.
At this moment, Lu Jun organized his gains and felt delighted.
The Purple Linden Fruit and the Oath Fruit were truly extraordinary treasures.
In reality, with his cultivation, the Curse and Psychic Elements had already been on the verge of reaching Third-Level Super Level for a long time.
Under the constant nourishment of the White Tiger Pendant, they would have broken through eventually even without the aid of the two divine fruits.
His true harvest was the Blessing Curse Mark.
Just like Fusion Magic, it benefited multiple Magic Elements simultaneously.
By contrast, abilities such as Curse Matter Divine Ascension and the Summoning Element's Transcendent Power, the Ten Thousand Beast Pattern, ultimately belonged to only a single Magic Element.
Even after bringing both the Curse and Psychic Elements to perfection, Lu Jun did not become complacent.
He continued cultivating diligently.
The competition for the Qinling Feather Emperor and the acquisition of the Element Crystal Core from Dingcheng in Rock Capital were both being handled by others on his behalf.
There was no need for him to divide his attention.
For a time, he finally enjoyed some peace and could devote himself entirely to cultivation.
Of course, it was not as though he had no important matters to attend to.
For example, commanding the Undead Empire on an expedition against Egypt and slaying Khufu so that the Ancient King's Armor could truly advance into a Ruler Emperor artifact.
Or venturing deep into Kunlun to search for the Twelve Golden Men and the White Tiger Totem.
However, none of those objectives could be completed quickly.
They would have to wait until the next wave of the Pacific Empire's invasion had ended.
With his profound cultivation, Lu Jun could vaguely sense a vast calamity aura rising from the east.
The outbreak of war was not far away.
Driven by that sense of urgency, he placed the Triangular Dimensional Mirror above his head and wore the White Tiger Pendant around his neck.
Boundless nourishment continuously flowed into him, and his cultivation steadily increased.
In the blink of an eye, a month passed.
Boom!
A tremendous roar erupted within Lu Jun's mind.
The vast moon-white Star Ocean representing the Summoning Element surged violently and shattered through another barrier.
His Summoning Element had advanced to Super-tier Level 2!
His Spiritual Power improved significantly.
His consciousness wandered into the Summoning Plane, and in a daze, he connected to an endless valley.
Countless dragons roared in unison.
Innumerable majestic True Dragons soared across heaven and earth.
A primitive and noble aura rose into the sky, almost breaking through the barriers of time and space to impact his spirit directly.
The second-stage Ancient Magic Gate.
Dragon Valley.
Yet Lu Jun found himself largely uninterested.
With Zhulong already available, who would care about these Western dragons anymore?
Another month passed.
Lu Jun's progress remained astonishing.
The Space-Time Element shattered through its bottleneck and advanced to Super-tier Level 2.
A hazy immortal radiance enveloped his body.
The second-stage Space-Time Axis.
Temporal Singularity.
If Shifting Stars and Changing Constellations allowed Lu Jun to lock onto a target with absolute certainty, then Temporal Singularity possessed the most terrifying offensive power imaginable.
It could create a black hole that devoured all matter and even lifespan itself.
Like an indescribable entity, it would silently steal away the time of all things.
Only now did Lu Jun finally stop cultivating.
Counting the time he had spent within the Beast Graveyard, only four short months had passed, yet his strength had advanced by leaps and bounds.
Four Elements had each broken through one Super-tier rank, while two Elements had consecutively advanced three High-Tier stages.
This was equivalent to ten years of arduous cultivation for an ordinary Super-tier Mage.
It couldn't be helped.
After all, Lu Jun possessed a peak-grade Star Ocean Magic Tool.
He had continuously fed the White Tiger Pendant with a Supreme Monarch Essence and an Emperor Essence.
Take Mo Fan's Little Loach Pendant as an example.
It had only reached its current level after absorbing multiple portions of Earth Holy Spring Totem Power and devouring Zhan Kong's remnant soul.
Mo Fan's later Super-tier cultivation was even more outrageous.
Within a single year, he brought seven Elements to Super-tier Perfection, while both his Fire and Shadow Elements reached the Half-Forbidden Curse stage.
Compared to that, Lu Jun's current rate of growth, built upon accumulated foundations, was nothing extraordinary.
"The investment I poured into the White Tiger Pendant has finally paid for itself."
Lu Jun sighed emotionally.
He then examined the latest message he had received.
This was the real reason he had no choice but to leave seclusion.
The war had begun!
According to the urgent summons personally sent by Shao Zheng, the entire twenty-thousand-li coastline of China had simultaneously come under an unprecedented assault from the Pacific Empire.
The Bohai Sea region in the north, the central Yangtze River Delta coastline, and the Pearl River Delta in the south had all been attacked.
Supreme Monarchs leading more than a dozen Monarchs each launched all-out offensives.
Several first-tier coastal cities.
Magic City, Demon City, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Xiamen, and others all suffered terrifying attacks at the same time.
In Xiamen, the Calamity Twin Stars, two Great Monarchs, had appeared.
In Hangzhou, the Shark Chieftains advanced inland through the Yangtze estuary, accompanied by a Supreme Monarch.
In Magic City, the invincible Monarch Sea King Skeleton towered over the heavens.
In Demon City, the Lightning Eel Dragon wreaked havoc.
Fortunately, the underwater ocean-current passage beneath the Bohai Sea had not been destroyed.
After hearing Lu Jun's warning, Hua Zhanhong had specifically assigned people to guard it.
As a result, the Sea Demon Empire was unable to transport troops there on a large scale.
Combined with the strategic importance of the capital region, the situation was quickly suppressed.
The real difficulty lay in the East China Sea and the South China Sea.
The Supreme Monarchs themselves were not the problem.
The true issue was that behind each of them lurked an Emperor-level existence, waiting for humanity's Forbidden Curse Mages to make the first move before instantly striking them down.
Hua Zhanhong had to remain stationed in the Imperial Capital.
As humanity's strongest reserve force, he needed to be ready to teleport anywhere at a moment's notice.
Although Demon City and Magic City both possessed Forbidden Curse Mages, neither had a supreme powerhouse capable of matching the enemy Emperors.
Thus, Lu Jun was being transferred to Magic City.
At any moment, he might need to merge with the Sub-Emperor-level Mermaid Empress and confront an Emperor directly.
The reason he was not heading to Demon City was simple.
Based on Shao Zheng's analysis, the Pacific Empire's primary target this time was very likely Magic City.
There might even be more than one Emperor hidden there.
The reasoning was straightforward.
Drifting across the Pacific Ocean, the shortest direct route led straight to the East China Sea.
Combined with reports from recent days indicating that the White Shell Catastrophe had departed from Hawaii, everything perfectly matched the invasion route of the Sea Demon Empire.
"The Salamander Demon Emperor, the Extreme Shell Demon Lord, the Shark Nation Lord."
The names of these Emperors flashed through Lu Jun's mind.
He sighed deeply.
Shao Zheng's concerns were entirely justified.
When he looked at the intelligence reports, nearly half of China's territory was marked in red.
He could not help clicking his tongue.
Even the original timeline had not been this outrageous.
The Xiamen Twin Stars Campaign, the Magic City Sea King Skeleton Campaign, and the Demon City Lightning Eel Dragon Incident had all occurred separately, one after another.
Yet now, they had erupted simultaneously.
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