Chapter 688: The Power of Sealing Combined, Fifteen Thousand Today!

“But a genius is always a genius,” Enrak sighed. “Alex truly did it! He brought his brother back to life! To achieve that, he even experimented on his own body! A completely new species was born—the Undead, just like that!”

“Alex successfully transformed himself into an Undead… perhaps…” Enrak gave a self-deprecating laugh. “Alex had this concept long before anyone proposed the idea of Bloodline Power. You could say Alex was the true originator of the Bloodline Power theory—it was through his indirect influence that the other two proposed it back then.”

“Beings like deities, immortal and indestructible! That’s what everyone desires.” Enrak looked at Qian Jin. “If we weren't in the Endless World, I would have died too. I would have long since withered away from old age; no one can escape time under the Stellar Laws. But people don't want to die, and Alex certainly didn't want to… so he continuously researched how to achieve godhood, only his research direction differed greatly from everyone else’s.”

“The Undead is the unique entity he devised,” Enrak smiled faintly. “Actually, if the Undead were merely an immortal existence, I suspect we would all have become Undead by now. But the Undead are not immortal; they only extend a certain lifespan, and furthermore…”

Enrak let out a sigh. “The Undead have numerous problems. Their very existence alters the environment—turning forests into deserts… driving species to extinction… Moreover… they lose most of their emotions and all sense of touch… they know no pain, no sourness, no bitterness, and certainly not love…”

“Such an existence… can it truly still be considered alive?” Enrak seemed to be asking Qian Jin, yet also asking himself. “Some, in pursuit of longer life, willingly underwent Alex’s Undead reorganization. Even though the success rate was less than one in ten, many still pleaded to become those nearly immortal beings.”

“Still, others refused to do so, refusing to let their loved ones turn into such monsters,” Enrak’s aura of sorrow deepened. “But Alex kept researching, hoping to create the perfect Undead, and simultaneously achieve his own perfect immortality. At the same time! His brother, being the first Undead, had many physical flaws and had begun showing signs of death. For his brother’s sake, he had no choice but to continue. Many living beings he took a liking to did not wish to become Undead, forcing him to resort to forcibly seizing them.”

“Seizing one… seizing two… ten… a hundred… a thousand…” Enrak unconsciously sat upright. “Alex descended into madness. He needed more test subjects, but as a result, more families were torn apart. Many fanatics even used the transformation into an Undead as an excuse to attack old enemies, carry out revenge killings, and wipe out entire clans.”

“The situation escalated until it reached a point where no one could control it,” Enrak looked deeply at Qian Jin and said, “And so, war erupted between the two sides.”

Qian Jin slowly nodded; war was inevitable under those circumstances.

“The war was devastating. All known powers the living beings could wield were unleashed,” Enrak slowly shook his head. “You cannot imagine the grandeur of that conflict; the stars themselves seemed entirely stained red with blood during that battle.”

“In the end, we won, led by the Supreme Leader, we won,” Enrak’s smile was utterly powerless. “But the strength Alex gained by becoming an Undead surpassed our imagination. Finally, we pushed the Doomsday Fortress against Alex in a decisive battle, and we struck him dead. However, due to the collision and distortion of our powers, we were sealed within this very fortress…”

Qian Jin took a deep breath, realizing he was standing inside an inconceivably massive war fortress.

“Just when we thought everything was over, we suddenly realized we had lost…” Enrak’s smile looked as if he might weep at any moment. “Alex didn't die; he is still bizarrely ‘alive,’ while we are eternally trapped. He only needs to sleep for a very long time to recover a fraction of his strength, allowing him to awaken. But we will remain trapped here forever…”

“Perhaps Alex will never find us,” Enrak slammed his fist heavily onto the ground. “But we are not resigned! Why should we be eternally confined? Why should he be allowed to continue attempting to surpass the Star Gods? Therefore, we need to find someone to take him down again! To make sure he is truly dead!”

Qian Jin, midway through the story, had thought he encountered the classic trope of the hero defeating the Demon King. Alex was the sealed Demon King, and he was the hero chosen by destiny.

But as he listened further, he finally understood: there was no Demon King, nor was there a hero in this story. It was simply a group of uncles unwilling to accept the outcome as it stood.

“Actually, the person we initially wanted wasn’t you,” Enrak looked at Qian Jin. “We initially sought a dual warrior who could cultivate both Dou Qi and magic, not someone like you who can only practice Dou Qi. Because of you, Hong Yun, the supreme magic powerhouse in the village, remains deeply depressed to this day.”

Qian Jin looked apologetically at Enrak; not being able to cultivate magic… it wasn't something he wanted either.

“Having listened to all this, you should largely understand the situation,” Enrak said, looking at Qian Jin. “You can choose to help us strike down Alex, or you can choose to become one of his test subjects. I can assure you, your current aptitude is excellent, making your possibility of becoming an Undead extremely high and the chance of death extremely low. Moreover, perhaps by becoming an Undead, you can achieve true godhood that surpasses the stars.”

“And then?” Qian Jin looked at Enrak. “My friends, my relatives?”

“That…” Enrak shrugged. “That’s hard to say…”

“What about my friend’s relatives? My relative’s friends?” Qian Jin sighed, looking at Enrak. “I am not a hero, and he is not some great Demon King. But our positions are different… losing all sensation, perhaps even most emotions… and memories… what meaning does eternal life hold?”

“Uncle, just tell me what to do,” Qian Jin looked at Enrak. “I have no choice, especially since you all have been so kind to me… I don’t understand grand righteousness; I only know that if someone is good to me, I must be good to that person in return. Without you uncles, I wouldn't have this level of warrior strength now; you are my family too.”

“Excellent!” Enrak smiled with satisfaction. “Kid, you have now reached the True Saint stage we established long ago. The next breakthrough is the Demigod level! Of course, we coined the term Demigod ourselves; it doesn't mean a god who truly creates things.”

Demigod! The ultimate Bloodline Power surged in Qian Jin’s mind; that existence was still referred to as a Demigod-level powerhouse.

“Do you know what a Demigod is?” Enrak asked Qian Jin. “It is Dou Soul Armor Manifestation—achieving true integration with the flesh, rather than the Heavenly Deity Possession method you use.”

“And you possess three Dou Souls, making your Manifestation far more arduous than others,” Enrak nodded. “Because the three Dou Souls grant you extraordinary strength, they also make your control incredibly difficult to master.” Enrak continued, “Although your control has become quite strong through studying inscriptions, mysterious potions, and pharmaceutics, it’s still not enough… far from enough!”

“Furthermore, even as a Demigod, you might not be able to defeat Alex. The warriors who fought him back then were not all at the Demigod level; even existences like Uncle Enrak took to the field,” Enrak looked at Qian Jin. “Therefore, you absolutely must achieve Three Souls Unity!”

Three Souls Unity? Qian Jin was momentarily stunned. He had considered this possibility before entering the Saint realm, but it was impossible then, and equally impossible after achieving Sainthood. The mutual repulsion was too great; although they were connected as one entity, they fundamentally could not merge.

“Three Souls Unity! Exactly!” Enrak repeated once more. “Originally, I thought about having you achieve Dual Soul Unity, but I never expected you to cultivate three Dou Souls, something even I cannot fully fathom. Uncle Enrak is quite surprised by this as well.”

“What is the method for achieving Three Souls Unity?” Qian Jin asked the question most concerning to him.

“That…” Enrak looked toward Aknash’s room nearby. He saw the small figure emerging, carrying a massive magic device. Oulala and Adams were also leaving the room carrying different potions. Uncle Enrak had stopped smoking, and a red-robed woman Qian Jin had never seen before was walking from the edge of the village—clearly Hong Yun, the super mage Enrak had mentioned.

Almost all the strong individuals appeared simultaneously. Qian Jin felt a flicker of confusion—what did this mean?

“Step onto it,” Aknash pointed to the magic device on the ground.

Qian Jin habitually obeyed his teachers’ orders and stepped onto the device, looking at everyone.

“Drink it.”

Adams and Oulala spoke in unison. Qian Jin lifted two buckets of potion and chugged them down rapidly.

Hong Yun suddenly raised her hand, and surging magical power materialized into a tangible form, flowing like a great river into the magic device. The device instantly erupted with hundreds of energy chains, which next moment crazily surged into Qian Jin’s body.

What was this? Qian Jin was suddenly startled. The chains shot into his body and rapidly formed a bizarre net. This net intertwined, wrapping around all his Dou Meridians and Dou Apertures, completely binding them. Even the three Dou Souls seemed like sealed Demon Kings, tightly constricted by countless chains.

Wrapping them coil after coil!

Qian Jin tried to break free from these chains but found it utterly impossible. They kept tightening, tightening, tightening, and tightening further.

Enrak slowly stood before the magic device and raised both hands. A burning, leaping shape resembling a heart materialized between his palms.

The next moment! Qian Jin felt as if his body were standing next to the sun. His body, which prided itself on being unafraid of intense heat and cold, felt as if it were about to completely melt.

“This is called the Heart of Flame, the true source of all fire. I grant it to you now,” Enrak sent the Heart of Flame into Qian Jin’s body. “If you fail to gain its acknowledgment, you will die. If you can earn its recognition, you can live. You have ten hours to endure this torment.”

Torment!

All of Qian Jin’s Dou Apertures continuously erupted with intense heat. His entire body curled up on the magic device, hot and red like a cooked crab.

Torment… a torment Qian Jin had never experienced before, as if every next second he might truly die.

Ten hours…

Qian Jin lay sprawled on the magic device, sweat soaking him, gasping for air, feeling the constant changes within his body.

Strength… not a single iota of growth…

The Source of Ten Thousand Fires had integrated into his second Dou Soul, yet his strength had not changed at all. The surging power from before seemed completely sealed now. Those energy chains remained, and after ten hours of reinforcement by Hong Yun, they were even sturdier than before.

Qian Jin tried to mobilize his Dou Qi slightly and found it exponentially more difficult than before. Even shattering a Dou Seal had become arduous.

“This is…”

“A seal,” Black looked at Qian Jin. “It’s like simple weighted running. You have two ways to break the seal. One is through your own strength; the other is for me to tell you the method. I will tell you now.”

Qian Jin stood up and forced his body to move. This situation was far more terrifying than any Gravity Magic Device he had encountered. His strength wasn't just slightly suppressed; it was heavily suppressed. In this state, if he fought Qian Zhanxuan, could he last more than three seconds? Perhaps not even one second?

After listening to Uncle Black’s explanation, Qian Jin smiled weakly. The way to undo this was too simple, but this type of seal could only be applied once; this opportunity for training could only happen once. How could he waste it? Even if only to defeat a warrior with the ultimate Bloodline Power, he had to break the seal using his own strength.

“Alright, because your previous fluctuations differed from this Dou World, you can only study here and cannot take anything out. Now…” Black gestured around him. “Everything you can touch, except living beings, can be taken out.”

Everything can be taken out? Qian Jin’s heart jolted. This piece of news was absolutely shocking! The Forging Set! Uncle Black’s Forging Set! That was an entire set of Saint Artifact forging tools, and the equipment forged with it…

“Take it if you want,” Black showed the first smile Qian Jin had seen since his arrival. “That was what you earned by passing the assessment…”

“What about my Ascending Peak Eighteen Hammers…”

“Look at your second Dou Soul.”

Qian Jin activated his second Dou Soul and was stunned again. The essence of the Ascending Peak Eighteen Hammers was entirely contained within it. Although he would still have to learn each strike individually to master them.

“This is…” Qian Jin stared at all the movements of the Eighteen Hammers, once more dumbfounded.

“Mastering five strikes teaches you what continuity means. Seeing all eighteen strikes in one go is only beneficial to you after you understand continuity. If the first strike showed you all eighteen at once…”

Listening to Uncle Enrak, Qian Jin also smiled. Indeed! If he had seen the entire sequence of the Ascending Peak Eighteen Hammers from the beginning, he would have been completely lost, having no concept of what the technique truly was. Now that he had learned the Five Strikes Unity, seeing the continuous Eighteen Hammers in sequence allowed him to learn even more, and his learning speed would be faster.

But… even with accelerated learning… Qian Jin estimated it would still take at least ten or eight years to learn them all proficiently.

Qian Jin looked down at the magic device beneath his feet, a joyful smile spreading across his face. “I’d like to take this one as well.”

“For your friend?” Enrak smiled faintly. “Take it.”

“Uncle, can I continue studying forging here?”

Black nodded, appearing casual. “If you meet Alex, show no mercy. He is a pitiful child; sending him to meet the Star God sooner is the greatest mercy. Back then, I… faltered…”

Qian Jin just kept nodding, his gaze returning to Enrak.

“Kid, you should get used to this seal first. In your current state, you can’t win any rewards by fighting me.”

Qian Jin’s body flickered as he unleashed the Thousand Armies technique, only to sadly discover that even the Thousand Armies were bound by chains and could not exert their true combat power.

“You believe me now?”

“I believe you…” Qian Jin nodded weakly. “Then I’ll go to West Mountain…”

“Go, go…” Enrak waved his hand. “Be careful. If you die here now, you will truly die. The magical beasts in West Mountain are not weak either.”

“Wait a moment…” Qian Jin halted the step he had taken, turned back, and nodded toward Hong Yun. “Excuse me, do you possess any particularly specialized magic? Powerful destructive capability is good, but if not, magic with unique abilities would be even better. Although I cannot cultivate magic, I know that the original creation of magic was for convenience in life, not for warfare.”

Hong Yun raised an eyebrow. This young man who never sought her out actually knew so much about magic theory.

“There are many. Soul Tremor, Blood Burst Art…”

Hong Yun briefly listed the names of over a dozen spells. Qian Jin realized he hadn't heard of a single one.

“Do you want to see them?” Hong Yun flicked her finger lightly. Innumerable magical elements rapidly flowed across the ground, arranging themselves into increasingly special and profound sequences.

Although Qian Jin couldn’t cast magic, he possessed deep theoretical knowledge of magic; anyone studying inscriptions wouldn't lag far behind in this aspect.

“This is the Blood Burst Art. It uses the power of blood to cause an explosion, with power easily a hundred times greater than a standard Explosion spell,” Hong Yun explained simply. “Its might is especially significant on the battlefield. The drawback is that it indiscriminately harms friend and foe…”

Qian Jin rapidly memorized the element arrangements of the various spells. Even if he couldn't use them, Biluo Huangquan could! Although the era was advancing and magic was progressing, Hong Yun surely wasn't spending all her time sleeping; she must have improved and developed the magic. The destructive power of these spells certainly wouldn't be lacking.

It took a full two hours before Qian Jin managed to memorize the elemental sequences for several spells. He then stood up, bowed to everyone, and left the village. Looking toward the towering West Mountain, he knew it held countless high-grade materials. The Uncles only possessed the forging hammers as Saint Artifacts; everyone else still needed equipment. Previously, insufficient materials were a major hassle; now, as long as he worked hard, he could acquire more materials.

Head to West Mountain! Snatch materials! Utilize the time differential of this Endless World! That would allow for much more time for forging!

Time ticked by, and when the sixteen-hour limit arrived, Qian Jin was once again sent out of the Endless World.

What? Qian Jin stood up and looked at the Magic Hat in his hand. It seemed that place was truly a special dimension. To that place, he was always an outsider, and when the time limit was reached, he would be ejected—just like how the Stellar Laws under the stars cause aging; there was no way to avoid it.

Qian Jin glanced at the sealed magic device in the Dou World and smiled as he walked out of the room.

Duan Feng Bu’er was sitting in the courtyard, gently sharpening his ordinary battle saber on a whetstone. He wasn't sharpening the blade; he was sharpening his mind! Duan Feng Bu’er had entered his own special realm, using the mind-sharpening process to temper himself, preparing to impact the True Saint realm at any moment.

“Bu’er, I have something good for you.”

Qian Jin placed the massive sealed magic device on the ground and took out a large number of magic crystals from the Dou World. Since he had no magical talent, providing magical energy would have to be accomplished with piles of magic crystals.

Duan Feng Bu’er, holding the razor-sharp blade, stood curiously on the platform of the magic device. “Comrade, what good thing is this? Can it boost my power again? Can it help me reach True Saint and even knock you down?”

Qian Jin smiled cryptically as he installed magic crystals onto the device. “It can, it can. Everything is possible.”

“Really?” Duan Feng Bu’er grew more curious. “Say, Comrade, why does your smile look so villainous to me?”

“Soon, soon you will know,” Qian Jin installed the last magic crystal. “Call Che Shuai and the others over later; everyone should use it once.”

Qian Jin gently tapped the magic device. The red energy chains erupted like a swarm of vipers, surging madly out of the device and plunging into Duan Feng Bu’er’s own chains.

"Damn it! What in the blazes is this?" Duan Feng Er's immediate reaction was to unleash the colossal Nine-Headed Serpent Battle Soul, which surged into the sky, only for countless crimson energy chains to instantly entwine it, as if a gargantuan demonic beast had been snared by some potent spell.

Qian Jin kept his gaze fixed on the magical power crystals set into the magic device, promptly swapping out any crystal whose energy was nearing depletion for a fresh one.

The ascending Nine-Headed Serpent Battle Soul was slowly, inexorably dragged downward by the chains, inch by painstaking inch, back into its host's body.

"What the hell? What does this mean?" Duan Feng Er yelped repeatedly, his voice cracking. "How can this happen? My comrade... my strength is being suppressed non-stop..."

"It's a sealing effect... It'll be over soon, just hang on," Qian Jin muttered, his head down as he rapidly switched the power crystals. The Serpent Emperor, Pan Hongji, rushed over upon hearing the commotion and peered curiously at the unfolding scene.

"This is..." Pan Hongji exclaimed in astonishment, "A splendid item!"

"Splendid? Uncle..." Duan Feng Er sneered, puckering his lips. "Well, when this is over, you can come have a taste of this 'splendid item' yourself."

Pan Hongji positioned himself right behind Duan Feng Er, tilting his head to watch Qian Jin. "Kid, I'm already in line; I want to be the first to try it out later."

Duan Feng Er was left utterly speechless. The Serpent Emperor truly was the first person to show up whenever there was a chance for an easy score. : Today hits fifteen thousand characters!!! We're taking off like a rocket, let's unleash our fury together~~~RO