Chapter 279: Secret Treasure

Chapter 279: Secret Treasure

Without any way to confirm, everything was just speculation. If it was not Irene who said it, but someone else, even Dan Marina, Zheng Yichen thought he would have to hold back from cursing. With nothing to back it up, wasn’t all this talk just nonsense!?

“Divine Power, just what kind of power is it?”

Zheng Yichen asked curiously.

Irene shook her head slightly. “There is not much research information. Any information about gods seems to have a certain era-wide gap. What remains rarely touches upon this topic.”

As she said this, a hint of unease actually appeared on Irene’s face, though she quickly suppressed it. She gave Zheng Yichen an extra glance. “You don’t need to know too much about these things for now. Knowing doesn’t hold much meaning anyway. If you want to understand this, first get your Mana Quality to the level of this ‘Pseudo Divine Power’. Not this kind of shortcut usage, mind you. If you can achieve that, I will tell you all the related information I know.”

“Also, you won’t need to pay anything extra.” After saying this, Irene thought for a moment and added another line, making the corner of Zheng Yichen’s mouth twitch. Damn, did she mean she originally planned to ask for ‘payment’?

“Improving the quality of mana is not that easy.” Zheng Yichen shook his head. Being around Witch sisters, his understanding of Witches might not match that of experts in the field, but he knew some secrets even those experts didn’t. Among them was the concept of Mana Quality. Once a Witch Awakened, she initially possessed Mana Quality far surpassing ordinary mana, similar to Pseudo Divine Power, yet it was not Divine Power…

This wasn’t a big issue. Irene had mentioned before that the powers in this world shared the trait of different paths leading to the same destination. The early and mid-stage development paths differed, but if one could reach the highest level, a convergence point would occur. There might be further branches after that point, but that was for later.

Since nothing could be confirmed now anyway, in Zheng Yichen’s view, that convergence point… was probably a new starting point. Just like the power of mana, mana cultivation involved the use of Magic Rune Arrays and some other methods, yet the source of cultivation was the free elemental power from the outside world…

Elemental Power was Elemental Power, Mana was Mana—they were different. Cultivating mana by using Magic Rune Arrays was like the food humans ate. Food was a physical entity, but the bodily energy converted after eating it was another, non-physical form. This was also why mana could recover from one’s own body. However, without the cultivation process, the recovery speed was very slow. Overall, the body could produce mana on its own, and mana was also linked to the Soul.

Zheng Yichen didn’t know these things before. The reason he could learn such deep-level knowledge was, of course, from flipping through Irene’s notes in the past. To strengthen one’s own power, one first needed a deep understanding of it, so knowledge in this area was essential.

Such was the case for mana, but improving Mana Quality was not like increasing quantity—it was truly difficult. After Loris Awakened and became a Witch back then, up until now, the increase in her Mana Quality was still less than two-thirds! It paled in comparison to the increase in her Mana Capacity.

Of course, this was also because a Witch’s baseline Mana Quality was too high from the start. Unlike Zheng Yichen, a single Supermagic Crystal with nearly depleted energy had multiplied his Mana Quality several times. But after that improvement, the speed of Mana Quality increase during subsequent self-cultivation couldn’t simply be described as a snail’s pace. Back when his Mana Quality was improving, at least Zheng Yichen could still feel the speed of a snail crawling—slow, yes, but he could see the progress clearly, right?

So the improvement speed wasn’t just a snail; it was a snail placed on a treadmill… Though it wouldn’t regress, it was almost like treading water.

One could imagine how difficult it was to improve Mana Quality. Since Irene brought this up, Zheng Yichen straightforwardly described the situation he encountered.

“Your Mana Quality was raised through external force. Even if there are no hidden dangers, you still need a period of time to get used to controlling the drastically increased Mana Quality—roughly between half a year to a year. If you deepen your understanding and mastery of mana, you can shorten this time,” Irene said.

“Alright…” Zheng Yichen nodded. His Quest plan list was clearly going to have another long-term Quest added. “Tsk, let’s not talk about this. Come on, come on, let’s finish up the remaining few Intermediate Magic Weapons together.”

Some attributes of High-Level Magic Soldiers required special customization, but Intermediate Magic Weapons weren’t so strict. Bow, dagger, Magic Wand, warhammer, plus a Heavenly Halberd… basically filled the previous gaps in the Magic Arms lineup. After adding these Magic Arms, the refinement steps for Intermediate Magic Weapons could slow down. In the remaining time, effort could focus on High-Level Magic Soldiers.

While these Magic Arms seemed numerous, with Irene’s assistance, the time spent on these new weapons was less than one-tenth of what it took for the two swords, Xihe Sword and Wangshu Sword.

The new Magic Arms made many Magic Weapon Summoners exclaim with delight on the Forum. The types of Intermediate Magic Weapons were finally mostly complete, allowing those who previously couldn’t find suitable ones to breathe a sigh of relief. Even if they weren’t as varied as sword-type Magic Arms, having something was better than nothing, right?

As for the issue of Magic Arms levels, if Irene hadn’t previously enhanced those weapons, there would be debate. Now, the quality of the Magical Structure of the Magic Arms had been raised to the extreme, enough for those Magic Weapon Summoners to study the Intermediate Magic Weapons for a long time. After all, if the summoning stage of an Intermediate Magic Weapon reached the Ultimate Summoning, its power wouldn’t be inferior to the low-level summoning of a High-Level Magic Soldier, and the consumption was lower. For weapons, of course, the more suitable, the better.

While crafting Magic Arms, the competition at the Witch’s treasure trove was also ongoing. Those who entered the treasure trove were pleasantly surprised to discover that it didn’t contain just one type of Arcane Treasure; there were actually other kinds as well. Though their value was far inferior to the best one, they possessed many excellent effects.

For example, an eye stored in a certain container. The person who found this ‘Secret Treasure’ learned about its function from there. It could replace a missing eye on a person. The method of use was simple: make some fresh cuts at the location of the missing eye, insert this eye, and after a while, it would truly become one’s own eye.

Moreover, this eye could grant the user even stronger vision!

Even though it wasn’t a Secret Treasure that extended life or improved aptitude, just this alone skyrocketed its value. Although some Magic could indeed regenerate severed fingers, such Magic belonged to High-tier Magic and was far from as all-powerful as in so-called novels. Generally, if a severed limb wasn’t reshaped within three days, using such Magic would be ineffective.

To recover, aside from using more powerful Magic, one could only rely on other methods. And that was for regular injuries. If the wound was afflicted by certain Curse attacks, recovery was basically very difficult. Even with transplantation, the transplanted part would quickly fail or produce severe rejection. Yet this eye could not only replace a missing eye in a foolproof way but could also ignore most Curse Power.

For Adventurers or Mercenaries, losing an eye greatly affected combat power. Of course, many would choose to replace an eye if they could have one with vision far surpassing a normal human’s, especially since this replacement had no side effects.

In short, the Adventurer who discovered this eye almost couldn’t resist using it on the spot. Although it required some time to fuse, it could be used immediately after installation. As for the Sanctuary Church’s warning not to completely trust a Witch’s words, even if they believed it, whether they heeded it was another matter.

At least many were willing to take this risk.

Besides this eye, others discovered additional items, like a left arm. It looked like an ordinary human arm, but the description stated this arm concealed great power. This form was just a surface appearance. Once the power within the arm was truly activated, it could trigger its hidden form, transforming into a ‘Qilin Arm’. After adaptation, it could easily exert over ten times the strength of one’s original arm. Even in its surface form, it possessed over three times the strength.

The value of this arm absolutely far exceeded that of the earlier eye. Moreover, the person who obtained this arm unfortunately encountered enemies at the time—he was being chased and unable to match them. So after finding this item, he decisively cut off his own arm on the spot and replaced it with this new arm… Even though initially attached, it required adaptation and couldn’t unleash the full effect described, it still greatly boosted his strength.

Besides these, many others discovered things like hearts and such in this treasure trove. In short, few were conventional items, but they sparked fierce competition among many. These might not be conventional treasures, but they were all things that could directly benefit oneself. As long as one gritted their teeth and replaced a part, it would undoubtedly become real combat power. And without exception, these items additionally stated they would not affect one’s identity…

With such a bottom line, why hold back? Even without this assurance, many would likely choose to use these flesh-and-blood Secret Treasures after some consideration. While training to enhance strength, many were also willing to use other means to strengthen themselves. Reaching a higher level in a short time meant one had more time to pursue even greater strength.

The exploration of the Witch’s treasure trove lasted for three days. Finally, the Secret Treasure that could enhance personal aptitude and lifespan was discovered. To many’s delight, it wasn’t just one but three portions. The worry was that, unlike the other treasures unearthed earlier—over ninety percent of which were side-effect-free—this treasure indeed could greatly extend lifespan and improve one’s aptitude, but it had a point that couldn’t be ignored!

When using this Secret Treasure, the survival chance was only one-fifth to one-half! The better one’s physique and the stronger one’s willpower, the greater the chance of success. Looking at it this way, having three such treasures didn’t seem so strange. With good luck, three existences with outstanding aptitude, extremely long lifespans, and deep potential could emerge. With bad luck, they could all die.

Young people would hesitate before this thing. After all, they still had plenty of lifespan left. What if it backfired? Wouldn’t that mean dying young? For those whose lifespans were about to end, it didn’t matter. Not using it? At most, they could live another year or two. Using it not only meant a worry-free future but also no need to fret about lifespan for a long time. Why not give it a shot?

As for the form of this Secret Treasure, it was a crimson liquid in a crystal bottle. The liquid resembled blood. Even though tightly sealed, one could see it wriggling slightly in the bottle like a living thing, even producing a pulse-like breathing motion. The liquid inside would churn on its own, as if trying to become a ferocious beast and bite.

It was eerie, but the effects were irresistible to many. Gathering in the area hiding the final Secret Treasure, they looked at the treasures still far from them. The space here was vast, clearly expanded. Obtaining those three treasures wouldn’t be easy. Everyone who came here had learned about the treasure’s information.

To obtain the treasure, one needed to pass the final test. Only those with sufficiently good luck, sufficient strength, or sufficiently strong will could obtain it, as all three were important factors affecting whether using the treasure would succeed.

There was no time limit here, nor would anyone shout “Ready, set, go!” Afterward, everyone would charge forward like unleashed somethings, competing to be first—entirely at their own discretion. In fact, many were already on the path to retrieve the treasure. But many of these people stood frozen in place, expressions somewhat bewildered. Some simply lay on the ground, losing consciousness. Others were under mysterious pressure, becoming unable to move forward, barely inching ahead with immense difficulty.

Others who hadn’t acted yet had no doubt that the seemingly empty ground ahead contained something that could directly affect them. This treasure trove was established by a Witch and had an entry strength limit, meaning the methods ahead undoubtedly possessed the power to suppress everyone present.

However, as time passed, those arriving later couldn’t hold back either and stepped into the divided open area ahead. They were already far behind. Although there were three treasures, the competitors numbered hundreds of times more than the treasures.

Given the testing pressure, falling behind temporarily was fine, but if they stayed behind, what if a few with good luck and sufficient strength made it through? What if a moment of hesitation caused them to fall behind by a single step?

So those who came later didn’t hesitate much and directly entered the testing area.