Chapter 278: A Reward So Grand

The construction in the Northern Land had never ceased, and the Hall of Heroes now rested there, undergoing further modifications.

The Northern Land was a place of plenty, but it suffered from a lack of manpower. Only a few Gao Hu people and some craftsmen from Ningyuan Heavy Industries were stationed there, and even when combined, their numbers were insufficient. To build warships, at least a thousand craftsmen were needed on-site. If the manufacture of various components and equipment was taken into account, an even larger workforce would be required.

To solve this problem, Song Zining had outsourced the production of a significant amount of equipment to the empire’s shipbuilding workshops. The first batch of equipment purchased was from existing stock; some were sent to Nan Qing City, while the high-end equipment was placed in the Northern Land. Once the warship was preliminarily constructed and capable of basic flight, it could be moved to the Northern Land for final assembly, at which point it would be a fully functional warship.

Such a scheme could only be conceived by someone with a comprehensive understanding of the situation.

After reviewing the list, Qian Ye thought for a moment and then marked out several items, saying, “Move these to the warehouse outside the city; I have other uses for them.”

Steward Song hastily replied, “Sir, these materials were originally intended for the construction of the floating warship. These merchants have prepared them according to our orders, and in truth, there is no surplus.”

His words implied that these things were all useful, and though they once required payment, they were now free. However, the quantity remained the same.

Qian Ye waved his hand and said, “I have my own use for them. It’s settled. Also, prepare a few sets of origin crystal conversion arrays and fifty units of crystal.”

Steward Song was surprised, “But, if we do that, the warship won’t be completed! The remaining materials are not enough for one warship.”

“Use what we have for now. Follow my instructions!”

Seeing Qian Ye’s determination, Steward Song did not argue further, sighed, and stood aside. At this moment, a general from the mercenary corps asked, “Sir, the weapons and equipment left by Young Master Qi are still sealed in the warehouse, ready to be transported. Now that you’ve returned, how should we handle them? Should we distribute them again?”

Qian Ye thought for a moment and said, “Choose a group of steadfast veterans from Darkflame and form an elite unit. Keep the number around five hundred, and distribute the equipment. Leave the excess in the warehouse; I have use for it.”

“Yes, Sir.” The mercenary leader was also somewhat puzzled, unsure of Qian Ye’s intentions, but he did not ask, responding with a nod and following the order.

Qian Ye was a bit troubled, as the surrender under the emperor’s command had reduced the losses in Nan Qing City, but it also deprived him of an opportunity to test the loyalty of his troops. Now, the number of mercenaries in Darkflame was considerable, but their cohesion was unknown.

However, Qian Ye had more pressing matters to attend to, so aside from forming an elite unit, everything else in Nan Qing City remained the same.

In the following days, he remained holed up in his room, never stepping outside.

Sometimes, flashes of lightning and peals of thunder, sometimes a whirlwind of sand, and sometimes a vast, ancient aura would rise from the courtyard where he resided. At times, a dark blood-red line would shoot up to the sky, reaching hundreds of meters before stopping.

Everyone knew that Qian Ye was practicing a secret technique, and no one dared to approach, given the sheer force of its presence. Even a slight leak of energy from a strong practitioner could be lethal to ordinary people.

Qian Ye’s room was in disarray, with everything broken and scattered. Strangely, some of the wood had begun to rot, as if it had been through a thousand years. The roof had a large hole, revealing the sky, and the ground was pitted and broken. Little Zhujī curled up in a corner, trembling slightly, her gaze on Qian Ye filled with both excitement and fear.

Qian Ye stood in the center of the room, his feet hovering slightly above the ground. He held a large book in his hands, the cover adorned with a massive, eye-catching rhombus-shaped gemstone.

This was the Book of Darkness, which had materialized in Qian Ye’s hands. The pages depicted the evolution of the cosmos and the transformation of the world. Qian Ye focused on it for a long time, shook his head, and muttered, “It’s still not enough. This level of origin power evolution is beyond my grasp. I need to refine it further.”

He closed his eyes, and the vast, ancient aura began to emanate from him. Soon, his skin bulged with veins, followed by bursting blood vessels, spraying clouds of blood mist!

Qian Ye’s body jolted, and he fell to the ground. He smiled bitterly, took a deep breath, and all the blood mist was absorbed back into his body. The wounds on his skin healed rapidly.

“It’s still not enough. Not only can I not control the origin power, but even emulating its essence is too much for me. This body is still too weak.” Qian Ye looked at himself with a hint of helplessness.

The constitution of the ancient blood race was among the strongest in Eternight. Perhaps only pure-blooded spider demons like Ruler Le, who had awakened their royal blood, could match or surpass him.

Thinking of the spider demons, Qian Ye glanced at Little Zhujī. This little one, with her unknown bloodline, was incredibly powerful. If all spider demons were like her, humanity would not stand a chance and would face extinction. Oh, but before humanity’s demise, the internal balance of the Eternight Council would already be in chaos.

From birth, the little one had rarely shown her arachnid form. If Qian Ye hadn’t witnessed her crawling out of a spider demon egg, he would have doubted her lineage.

“Zhujī, come here.”

The little one shivered, and although she was reluctant, she approached Qian Ye when he beckoned her.

Qian Ye extended a finger and said, “Come, bite it.”

The little one stared at the finger as if it were a ghost, her eyes finally gleaming with ferocity, and she lunged forward to bite it.

By the time she bit, the finger had vanished, and her teeth collided, sparking and ringing. Then, a muffled thud, and she was struck on the forehead.

The blow was heavy, causing her to flip over, dazed and dizzy.

“If you’re not serious, you’ll be punished with no food.”

At the mention of punishment, the little one’s expression changed, and she stared at the finger as if it were a bone of a fierce beast.

“This is delicious, this is delicious…” the little one mumbled, pouncing like lightning. This attack was much faster than before.

In an instant, the room was filled with the silhouettes of Little Zhujī, each in a different pouncing posture. Qian Ye’s finger flickered, creating multiple afterimages, as if it were everywhere.

In a blink, Little Zhujī had pounced countless times, like a kitten chasing butterflies.

Her hunting instincts gradually took over, and she got closer to Qian Ye’s finger. She suddenly feigned a pounce, tricking Qian Ye into changing the direction of his finger, and then twisted mid-air, biting down on Qian Ye’s hand!

A crack like shattering glass was heard, and the little one screamed, bouncing to the corner, clutching her mouth, tears welling up in her eyes.

Qian Ye looked at his hand, which was covered in deep tooth marks left by Little Zhujī. His palm shimmered with a strange metallic luster, with tiny, flickering lights.

He shook his head, helpless, “If you grow a little more, you might bite off a piece of flesh.”

Little Zhujī, holding her mouth, protested with a muffled sound.

This bite had hurt her so much that her face turned white, and there was blood between her teeth.

The metallic luster on Qian Ye’s hand faded, and his skin turned blackish-green. Moments later, the blackish-green flesh lost all life. Blood fire ignited on his arm, extending to his hand, burning away the blackish-green skin. With the blackish-green flesh gone, his hand was left with only bones. Then, living flesh began to move, slowly regenerating a new hand.

Qian Ye flexed his newly regrown hand and said, “The power is great, but the cost is also high.”

This was a new secret technique called the Starfall Invincible Body, derived from extraterrestrial meteorites, symbolizing the resilience that withstands the fires of tribulation. The source of this technique was Empress Li, hidden within the Blood Moon. When Qian Ye fully controlled the Blood Moon, the technique naturally appeared. To cultivate the Starfall Invincible Body, the millennium fragrant wood, an extremely rare catalyst, was needed. However, the scabbard containing the Blood Moon was made from millennium fragrant wood.

Various measures to conceal the true nature of this gift, even hiding it from Eunuch Yang who delivered the reward, had a purpose.

The Starfall Invincible Body originated from the Martial Emperor, a closely guarded imperial secret. How Empress Li obtained it and then passed it to Qian Ye, the implications were vast, both large and small. The imperial treasury accumulated countless treasures over a thousand years, and a single secret technique was insignificant. However, leaking the imperial inheritance was a grave sin that could result in the extermination of the entire clan.

When the Starfall Invincible Body was activated, the body’s flesh and blood transformed into something akin to starmetal, becoming almost indestructible. Using the Starfall Invincible Body, even Little Zhujī could not bite through it, instead injuring her teeth. The strength of this technique was evident. The Martial Emperor, able to fight freely against many Eternight strongmen, must have relied on this supreme secret technique.

On the other hand, the cultivation requirements for the Starfall Invincible Body were extremely strict, requiring the millennium fragrant wood as a catalyst to greatly stimulate the body’s vitality, while also transforming part of the body into a wooden nature to alleviate the pressure on the body during cultivation.

Even with the millennium fragrant wood, the physical demands of cultivating this technique were extremely high. Based on Qian Ye’s understanding of the empire’s strong practitioners, it was virtually impossible for anyone to successfully cultivate it. In fact, in the centuries since the Martial Emperor, no one, not even those with imperial blood, had been able to master it.

Among the imperial secret techniques that demanded extreme physical prowess and possessed immense power, the Starfall Invincible Body was one of them.

Qian Ye, with his ancient blood race constitution and the millennium fragrant wood, managed to cultivate it smoothly. However, after several attempts, he found that while the technique was immensely powerful, even a god-general’s full-strength attack might not break the Starfall Invincible Body. But its use inflicted irreversible damage on the flesh, and most of the meteorized flesh would collapse afterward.

Therefore, the Starfall Invincible Body was a last-resort technique, requiring a period of rest after each use. Qian Ye, with his remarkable regenerative abilities, could shorten the rest time, but it was still necessary. The more forcefully the Starfall Invincible Body was used, the more flesh was consumed, and the longer the recovery time needed.

Frequent use of the Starfall Invincible Body would severely deplete one’s vital energy. Even the ancient blood race would find it difficult to bear the continuous destruction and regeneration of flesh. Otherwise, why would they need to enter a state of hibernation with a blood pool?

As Qian Ye waited for his flesh to regenerate, he pondered. Records stated that the Martial Emperor’s cultivation was unparalleled, and his combat strength might even exceed the Founding Emperor, yet his lifespan was short. Was there a connection to the Starfall Invincible Body?

With the addition of the Starfall Invincible Body, Empress Li’s gift was indeed substantial.

Qian Ye repeatedly wondered what he had done to deserve such a generous reward.