'This thing doesn't look like a scepter no matter how I look at it.'
Questioning glints continuously flashed in Chen Junting's eyes, but regardless, he tossed this minor issue to the back of his mind and turned to inspecting what function this "scepter" actually served.
Who would have thought that after standing there pondering for quite a while, flipping this "Scepter of Life" over and over, he still couldn't figure out what it could actually do.
"How strange..." he muttered with a tone mixed with doubt. "Could this so-called 'scepter' really just be a rod of wrought iron made from some unknown metal?"
Since it came to this, Chen Junting couldn't help but shift his gaze to the pillar of light above the altar. Clearly, this pillar of life hadn't dissipated with the pulling out of the "Scepter of Life"; instead, it still shot straight into the heavens, influencing this entire space.
"Teacher, I'll trouble you to study this stick for a bit."
Seeing that the "scepter" lacked the slightest resemblance to an actual scepter, Chen Junting simply resorted to calling the so-called "scepter" a stick.
As soon as he said this, streams of gray aura surged out from behind his head, forming the figure of Electrolux at Chen Junting's side. With a hint of helplessness, he took the stick that Chen Junting had handed to him, along with the expectant gaze that came with it.
"You... sigh, never mind, your teacher will take a look at it for you."
As the remnant soul of a powerhouse from another world who was strong enough to ascend to godhood, after the power of life had repaired his past "injuries," his restored insight and abilities naturally far surpassed Chen Junting's. Perhaps he could discern the clues behind this stick known as the "Scepter of Life."
While Electrolux was studying the "Scepter of Life," Chen Junting walked back to the sky-reaching pillar of life.
Originally, he had thought that the "Scepter of Life" was, to some extent, connected to the Altar of Life, and it was only through the "Scepter of Life" that such a heaven-piercing pillar of life energy could erupt.
However, to his surprise, he had guessed wrong. The source of this pillar of life seemed to come from the small hole on the altar, with a continuous stream of energy erupting from within it.
Thus, after a moment of thought, Chen Junting took a step and walked into it once again. He wanted to see exactly what was inside that small hole.
However, compared to when he pulled out the "Scepter of Life," the life energy this time was no longer as ferocious as a surging tsunami trying to burst him apart. Instead, it was like a gentle spring breeze brushing past, bringing only the ordinary gifts of life—nothing more.
"It still has this effect after being pulled out, but it's a bit of a pity..." Although the life energy of the pillar was still abundant and its quality remained exceedingly high, this non-"violent" energy made it difficult to "charge" the Life Gold within Chen Junting's Spiritual Sea.
Clearly, this thwarted a certain idea of Chen Junting's. After all, when the life energy wasn't "violent," wanting to "charge" the Life Gold was impossible. Aside from the fact that the life energy entering his body could be rapidly digested by his physical body, there were other reasons—reasons stemming from outside the chessboard.
Evidently, this was more like some sort of restriction. As if to prevent greed.
"I don't know if my guess is right or wrong." As he spoke, Chen Junting had already summoned his soul spirit, the Evil Emperor. At the same time, he stepped beside the small hole and looked down, allowing the life energy to wash over his eyes without altering his actions.
Yet no matter how he looked, it was just a sea of emerald green. It was just... "There seems to be a luster inside; looking at its appearance, could it be... jade?" Knowing full well that his hand couldn't possibly reach into the small hole, Chen Junting turned his gaze to the soul spirit Evil Emperor beside him.
"Evil Emperor."
The Evil Emperor, currently in his human form, blinked his single eye, revealing a pure and clear gaze. "Boss, what's up?"
"I need a favor." Saying this, Chen Junting pointed at the center of the pillar of light, at the glowing small hole. "Help me take out what's inside."
Hearing this, the Evil Emperor leaned in and took a glance at the small hole. The next second, he reverted to his soul beast form. Beside his massive eyeball, his eighty-one tentacles either hung down naturally or swayed in the breeze, looking like bared fangs and brandished claws.
Immediately after, one of the tentacles slowly extended and shrank in size, smoothly slithering into the small hole. However, no matter what the Evil Emperor tried, it seemingly had no effect whatsoever.
He retracted his tentacle, and his massive eyeball turned to look at Chen Junting. Shaking his head, he said, "Boss, I can't take it out."
"Can't take it out, huh..." Chen Junting looked at the small hole, his eyes lowered. Judging by his appearance, it was utterly impossible to tell what he was thinking.
"Don't even think about it, kid." At this moment, Electrolux's voice suddenly came from behind Chen Junting. When he and the Evil Emperor turned around together, they saw Electrolux unhurriedly walking over to Chen Junting's side while holding the "Scepter of Life." He then swept a glance at the small hole on the altar and directly saw through the "true nature" of the object inside.
"You cannot take away the object inside here." Electrolux pointed at the small hole, then turned to gesture at the surrounding world. "In truth, what is truly bound to this altar and this space isn't some 'scepter,' but rather the piece of jade within this hole. The two—or rather, the three of them—are already inextricably bound together."
"Is that so, that is quite a pity..." Another similar sigh escaped him as realization dawned on Chen Junting. Staring at the small hole, Chen Junting clicked his tongue inwardly.
He had originally wanted to directly pry out the "jade" from this small hole and take it back to strengthen his sect's foundation. He hadn't expected that this "jade stone" within the altar would be directly bound in place, making it impossible to take away.
He had originally wanted to bring this "jade stone" back to the sect and place it beneath the Golden Ancient Tree, allowing the two to complement and enhance each other. Clearly, Chen Junting was very greedy. He admitted this to himself; it was just that he didn't fully display it normally.
But since it wasn't possible, then so be it. He didn't dwell too much on this.
Subsequently, he redirected his gaze back to Electrolux. Only this time, he also looked at the "Scepter of Life."
"Teacher, did you figure anything out?"
"Actually, your own speculation wasn't wrong." Electrolux handed the "Scepter of Life" back to Chen Junting and said, "This stick is indeed more like wrought iron. Aside from the powerful life energy stored within it, it's virtually indistinguishable from ordinary metal. Well, other than the fact that you've already claimed it as its master with your blood when you pulled it out just now."
Tsk, tsk, tsk—
Chen Junting couldn't help but smack his lips. So this stick really was just wrought iron metal; he had originally thought it was some sort of divine artifact.
However... Looking at Chen Junting sizing up the "Scepter of Life," Electrolux remained silent. Seeing this, the Evil Emperor couldn't help but speak up. "Boss, if you don't need me for anything, I'll head back first."
These words instantly pulled Chen Junting's thoughts back to the present. "Alright, you head back first." The Evil Emperor instantly transformed into a stream of light, returning to the Spiritual Sea.
At this time, Chen Junting looked at Electrolux once again. "Teacher, since this stick is wrought iron, what is its quality like?" Although he knew the quality of this stick wouldn't be poor, he still asked the extra question just to get confirmation from his teacher.
"Not bad." Electrolux simply stated, "The quality of this stick is already quite extraordinary. In essence, it has surpassed the Ice Extreme Divine Crystal you developed back in the Myriad-Year Profound Ice Cave. If you leave it to this old man, I could easily forge it into a divine artifact."
That's a relief! Chen Junting stared at this stick, his gaze gradually turning fervent. The Ice Extreme Divine Crystal was already the most top-tier metal on the Douluo Plane, and very few things could surpass it. Let alone the fact that the stick before his eyes had also been "baptized" by the Goddess of Life, making it evidently even more extraordinary. Aside from this, there was also that stick on the Altar of Destruction. The quality of these two sticks was likely on par...
Calculating it like this, he would have two pieces of divine-level metal. Right at this moment, Chen Junting suddenly asked Electrolux an additional question, "Teacher, do you have any way to make the Ice Extreme Divine Crystal undergo a certain metamorphosis, allowing it to also become a divine-level metal?"
Electrolux pondered slightly, "Yes, but also no." Hearing this, Chen Junting immediately understood what Electrolux meant. At this moment, he couldn't help but recall the alloys from the Legend of the Dragon King era in the original timeline…
"What if two types of metals were fused together?"
As he spoke, he added another detail. "With the other being a death-attribute metal."
Clearly, Chen Junting's intentions were already half-revealed.
What did the fusion of Ice Extreme Divine Crystal and a death-attribute metal represent? It meant that this metal would be extremely suitable for the Immortal-Ending Sword Intent. Then what about these two sticks?
The "Scepter of Life" could somewhat be utilized for the Immortal-Trapping Sword Intent, and as for the "Scepter of Destruction"... it was extremely compatible with the Immortal-Slaying Sword Intent.
Using three—no, to be precise, four types of metal, he could realize his goal. It was just that this fourth type... he hadn't found it yet. Chen Junting's idea was no longer limited to letting the so-called Four Immortal-Slaying Swords remain as mere illusions of Sword Intent. Since he had the materials, he planned to physically forge all four swords.
Once paired with the Immortal-Slaying Sword Array... in the future, he could slay gods who blocked his way, and slay buddhas who stood in his path!
Right now, Electrolux had also roughly grasped Chen Junting's intentions. Raising his eyebrows slightly, he said, "It's feasible."
This single sentence made the corners of Chen Junting's mouth curl upward. "Then that's settled."
Subsequently, after trying and failing to store the "Scepter of Life" in his storage soul tool, Chen Junting set off once again. He decided to retrace his steps and pull out the stick on the Altar of Destruction as well.
Now that he possessed the stick of the "Scepter of Life," relying on the life energy stored within it, he presumed it would be no obstacle. Thereupon, Chen Junting immediately departed. This allowed this space within the Forest of Destruction to return to its former tranquility, with only the pillar of life still reaching into the sky, radiating vitality.
...
"Ughn—"
Chen Junting carried the "Scepter of Life" on his back, while both his hands tightly gripped the "Scepter of Destruction," forcefully pulling it upward.
Yet his entire body looked incomparably wretched. If it weren't for the "assistance" of the life energy contained within the "Scepter of Life," there probably wouldn't be a single piece of intact flesh left on Chen Junting's body; he might even be nothing but skeletal remains, or worse... In any case, he didn't believe he could have endured this all on his own.
But evidently, destruction was infinitely more savage than life. Just a moment ago, Chen Junting had made his way back through the Valley of Life and arrived at the Altar of Destruction, familiar with the route. He took out the "Scepter of Life," but because he needed both hands to pull out the "Scepter of Destruction," he had no choice but to carry the stick on his back.
Worried that conventional methods would cause the "Scepter of Life" to slip off, Chen Junting decided to go all out and used the power of the Snow Empress's soul bone to freeze the Scepter of Life directly onto his back. Whenever the destruction energy shattered the ice, he would simply freeze it again.
With this approach in mind, Chen Junting stepped directly onto the Altar of Destruction. Then, as effortlessly as drinking water, he strode right up to the pillar of destruction and, without an ounce of hesitation, took a step inside.
Instantly, that powerful destruction energy flooded Chen Junting's entire body. But this time, Chen Junting didn't linger at the outer perimeter of the pillar; instead, he took a few steps and entered the inner circle. In merely a moment's time, the increasingly terrifying destruction energy annihilated the clothes on his body, leaving his physical form a bloody, mangled mess.
Fortunately, the "Scepter of Life" emitted a soft emerald-green glow, repairing Chen Junting's injuries amidst the ravages of the destruction energy. Then the destruction energy would ravage again, and the life energy would repair again... This cycle repeated endlessly, reaching deep into his meridians and even his bone marrow.
The clash between the two forces didn't treat Chen Junting like a human being at all. Amidst such torment, Chen Junting had already arrived before the "Scepter of Destruction." With a grasp of both hands, he seized it directly.
Rumble—
In an instant, thunder boomed out of thin air!
Crack—
A bolt of lightning struck down in a flash, slamming ruthlessly onto Chen Junting's body. Compared to natural lightning, this bolt carried a profound aura of destruction; it was the "Divine Thunder of Destruction"!
In an instant, Chen Junting was reduced to a skeletal frame. Yet, under such wretched conditions, it instead provoked Chen Junting's own ferocious nature. Whether it was his martial soul, soul bones, soul rings, or the Immortal-Slaying Sword Array and the four great soul spirits... at this moment, Chen Junting was going all out, completely ignoring the Divine Thunder of Destruction as it rained down continuously.
Under these circumstances, destruction and life continuously intertwined, and Chen Junting's physical body underwent a rapid sublimation at this very moment. His blood essence power was like a surging flood, or even a tsunami, constantly roaring without end. Simultaneously, the flesh and blood shed by Chen Junting seeped into the altar and the "Scepter of Destruction," causing streaks of demonic patterns to manifest upon the staff's body.
Ultimately, as if reaching a critical point, an incomparably surging energy erupted, sweeping across the entire space almost in an instant. The altar at this moment appeared as if it had been ignited by a purplish-gold light.
At this moment, not only was the originally primitive and simple altar completely dyed in purplish-gold, but even the Scepter of Destruction was baptized by a layer of golden demonic patterns. A tyrannical aura erupted from its position, merging with the pillar of destruction and transforming into a surge of energy that shot up into the heavens.
Clang—
At this moment, unable to afford any distractions, Chen Junting let the "Scepter of Life" fall from his back, while he himself roared furiously at the sky!
"HAAH—"
This time, he had exerted too much force; coupled with the ravages of the destruction energy, the muscles on his back and arms nearly burst apart simultaneously. But at this very moment, the "Scepter of Destruction" had already loosened, and under his explosive power, it gradually detached from the altar.
Immediately after, a purplish-red fluctuation radiated outward, engulfing the entire Valley of Life. It seemed that for a brief moment, all the plants withered and drooped, but in the very next second, they all returned to their original state.
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