Chapter 189: The Undying Dragon King
Zhang Nu examined the ring in his palm. The ring was crafted from pure white crystal, its texture and material distinct from ordinary substances. Its size and even its weight seemed mutable, likely composed of the highest-grade spatial attribute material. Thanks to this unique composition, it remained intact despite being swept into the turbulence.
Its stats were now revealed:
[Heart of Space] Orange quality supreme equipment. It possessed an internal storage space of 10,000 cubic meters and could bestow formidable spatial magic talent upon its wearer.
The equipment's stats information was succinct, yet it was undoubtedly a supreme-grade item. It had only two effects.
The first effect was its storage space, which was undeniably invaluable. A vast 10,000 cubic meters of storage offered an impressive repository for a variety of items. However, this storage space did not conform to the normal rules of space; it had flaws in its spatial laws. This meant it was not compatible with psychic and soul attribute energies. Consequently, living beings, undead entities, and anything with consciousness or a soul could not be placed inside.
Apart from these restrictions, it could store everything else. It was not only exceptionally secure but also featured an immensely potent preservation ability, slowing down the decay and deterioration of materials to a great extent.
The second effect was the bestowment of talent, essentially the core function of the Heart of Space. This ring had the power to grant its wearer incredibly potent spatial talent. Spatial talents were exceedingly rare, with perhaps one occurrence for every hundred million individuals. Even the renowned adventurer Undying Phoenix Hubert lacked spatial magic talent prior to acquiring the ring. His several spatial magic skills were all mastered after obtaining the Heart of Space.
From the encounter between Zhang Nu and the Hero Yan Qianjun just now, it was evident that the latter's spatial magic prowess exceeded that of Li Si and was by no means ordinary. This observation highlighted the exceptional might of the Heart of Space's bestowed talent. It undoubtedly stood as a truly epic equipment, a distinction well-deserved even among items of epic-grade quality.
For Zhang Nu, due to his mastery over the dominion laws of space, the so-called spatial magic talent held no significant allure. This talent essentially pertained to the aptitude for learning spatial skills and magic. Yet, all magical abilities were built upon the foundation of the dominion laws. If one could directly comprehend and wield the laws themselves, the necessity to learn each spatial ability from the bottom up would be obviated. With a solid grasp of the control and application of these laws, the utilization of such powers could naturally manifest from top to bottom.
Certainly, this did not mean that the Heart of Space had no utility. Even as a storage ring, it held significant value for Zhang Nu. Moreover, after wearing the Heart of Space, the consumption of spatial power had been greatly reduced, which had held great practical value in combat situations.
In addition to this epic-grade equipment, the spoils had included a Level 6 soul and four skill stones. How rare was a Level 6 Hero? How precious was a Level 6 soul? Souls of this quality could not even have been synthesized by the Soul Altar.
The Soul Altar in the Darkness City was a Level 5 building at most. Hence, it could only synthesize Level 5 souls at best. Keeping this soul might have proven immensely useful; there was no need to expend a Level 6 soul to obtain talent points.
Then there were the four skill stones, all at least A rank in quality. Their excellence caught Zhang Nu's attention. They were as follows:
[Rebirth from within the Flames] S rank skill stone.
[Spatial Turbulence] A rank skill stone.
[Spatial Movement] A rank skill stone.
[Death Sacrifice] A rank skill stone.
Such amazing luck! He even got an S rank skill stone drop! Without hesitation, Zhang Nu used the [Rebirth from within the Flames] skill stone.
[You've used a skill stone!]
[You've acquired a new skill: "Rebirth from within the Flames"!]
Zhang Nu felt a subtle and imperceptible change occurring within his body. He sensed an additional component within each drop of blood, resembling tiny flames at their utmost faintness. These components were harmless, in fact, they seemed to be beneficial. These minuscule flames were none other than the Undying Phoenix Fire, the foundation of activating the "Rebirth from within the Flames".
[Rebirth from within the Flames] S rank skill. Under full divine fire energy, this skill would automatically trigger when the user's HP reached zero. It would instantaneously heal all injuries, restore vitality, and alleviate any abnormal conditions.
Current divine fire energy: 0/200,000
This skill was remarkably potent, almost like a second life. No wonder Hubert was hailed as the Undying Phoenix. Rebirth from within the Flames did not possess a conventional skill cooldown, but restoring it was more complex than waiting for cooldowns. Resurrecting with this skill required the consumption of divine fire energy. Only when the divine fire energy was fully replenished could the skill be activated.
Each unit of energy required the conversion of vitality. In other words, Zhang Nu needed to spend quite some time constantly converting his HP into divine fire energy. When he amassed 200,000 points, Rebirth from within the Flames would be activated and awaiting its trigger. Even if his HP hit zero in a battle, he could resurrect instantly. This Rebirth from within the Flames seemed to involve investing a significant amount of time to store HP, which could then be unleashed at crucial moments. No wonder its effect was so potent. Not only could it bring someone back to life, but it could also restore them to full health and peak condition, repairing any injuries, no matter how severe---unless the body was turned to ashes or completely obliterated.
As for why 200,000 energy was needed, Zhang Nu thought it was related to his race and his own strength. The stronger his power and physical body, the more energy resurrection would require. This was not a difficult task for Zhang Nu, his recovery speed in the Demon King's castle was astonishing. He could fully replenish the skill's divine fire energy in a matter of days.
Even for the Great Demon King, Rebirth from within the Flames was an extremely valuable skill. It would undoubtedly prove incredibly useful in the future.
As for the other three skills, they were all exceptional as well. Among them were two space attributed skills. One was "Spatial Turbulence," a spatial area-of-effect attack skill that could distort space to create violent turbulence, tearing apart targets within the area. The other was "Spatial Movement," an advanced version of instant teleportation. Instant teleportation was for short-distance rapid movement with a short cooldown and low energy consumption, primarily used for combat support, evasion, and high practical combat value. Spatial movement was for medium-distance rapid movement, with higher energy consumption and longer cooldown. However, it could cover distances dozens of times greater than instant teleportation, usually used for escaping.
After some thought, Zhang Nu decided to learn the "Spatial Turbulence" attack skill, even though he possessed the power of the dominion laws, he was not entirely proficient with it yet. As for "Spatial Movement," it might be somewhat redundant for the Great Demon King, but it held significant value for others. Zhang Nu decided to keep it for the future, to give to his subordinates or sell it.
Lastly, there was a skill stone named "Death Sacrifice." This was an extremely extreme skill that allowed an instantaneous release of MP and HP to enhance the attack effect.
When facing the Spatial Turbulence unleashed by Yanchiun Jin just before his death, its power and area of effect were so immense that it could sweep over hundreds of meters, tearing and obliterating everything within its range. Such a fierce spatial attack was beyond his ability to employ. The reason Yanchiun Jin could pull off such a feat was solely due to the boost from Death Sacrifice. The terror of the Spatial Turbulence was so overwhelming that he himself could not escape its fatal grasp.
Zhang Nu would never use a suicidal skill, but with Rebirth from within the Flames in his possession, the situation was different. He felt that these two skills could complement each other and prove critical in certain exceptional situations. When activating Death Sacrifice, the stronger his own power, and the more HP and MP he released, the stronger the effect of the sacrifice would be.
Before Yan Qianjun's death, he was left with only half his HP or less. Even so, he managed to create such a huge commotion. If the Great Demon King were to use his vast HP and MP, and his formidable race and strength to activate Death Sacrifice, who knows, an A rank skill might end up unleashing power beyond that of a S rank skill.
Regarding this acquisition, Zhang Nu was extremely satisfied. He put the Heart of Space on his left thumb. The dimensions and weight of the equipment could adjust automatically, so even in his dragon form, there was no concern about breaking it.
Zhang Nu sensed within the ring and was astonished to find quite a few things in the storage space. These were probably the collections of the Undying Phoenix, Hubert. An adventurer who frequently ventured into ruins and dungeons must have had an impressive accumulation. Zhang Nu took a quick look. Apart from various potions and supplies, there were many gemstones, crystals, and excellent equipment. Furthermore, there were numerous treasure maps and ruin maps. Obviously, as a legendary adventurer, he had done a lot of research and preparation for various adventure sites.
These were some really good items! For the Great Demon King, each of these was a high-level monster area! He decided to thoroughly study these maps after returning. He was certain that he would find valuable places to conquer among them.
Yan Qianjun. This guy came from afar just to generously deliver his soul, skills, and equipment. He really was quite something. But of course, he also brought trouble, and not a minor one either. Under the fierce attacks of a couple million gargoyle soldiers, Zhang Nu's Bloody Fortress suffered significant losses. Before this, Zhang Nu had never anticipated that low-level troops could possess such terrifying destructive power once they reached a certain scale and quantity.
All eight of the Guardian Knights were killed, and the Hero Yan Qianjun was also dealt with. Consequently, these gargoyle soldiers who lost their leaders scattered in all directions, posing a significant threat. In this battle, only a million of these Demon King soldiers were annihilated at most, with nearly two million more spread throughout various places. This would bring tremendous trouble to the Chaos Forest's various tribes and towns. At the very least, the safety, production, and order of the Chaos Forest would be affected.
However, dealing with such a large number was not an insurmountable task. Fortunately, Zhang Nu had already discerned their origins. All these Demon King soldiers hailed from the Stone Curse Mountains in the Barrenfire Stone Plains. Immediately, Zhang Nu ordered Li Si to summon Su Yan back and to make a trip with the Royal Guards.
"Your Majesty!"
"These Guardian Knights! They must be sent by Bachor!"
"The empire intends to strike at us again. This time, they've suffered a loss of eight Guardian Knights. Both Bachor and the empire would never allow this to go unanswered."
Sun Liu, the Skydrake Archpriest, suggested, "We must quickly repair and reinforce the fortress, increase the size of our fortress army to be prepared for the challenges that lie ahead."
However, the Demon King uttered, "There's no rush."
"Courtesy demands reciprocity. We can't always be on the defensive."
"Now that the empire is attacking Chaos Forest, we can also make our move and directly assault the empire's cities and regions."
Hearing this, everyone was very surprised. The Demon King planned to counterattack the empire? This was not a matter to be taken lightly. The forces of the Chaos Forest were insufficient for such an endeavor. While the defense was barely enough, launching an attack on the empire would be extremely difficult!"