Star Trace Gate

Chapter 934 Settlement upon Leaving the Gate, Heavenly Grace Continues

Little Bad King soared up from Wangxiang Tower, chasing the eternal light, and flew away, bidding farewell to the Village of Illusion.

This departure process was completely different from the previous processes in other secret realms. He did not experience a strong feeling of coldness or weightlessness. Instead, his body and soul were constantly enveloped by the eternal light. Although his eyes were blinded and he could not see the surrounding scenery, he felt a sense of warmth, freedom, and breaking through all shackles and constraints, like a bird soaring freely between heaven and earth.

It was in this extremely comfortable feeling that Little Bad King also heard the Heavenly proclamation of "Secret Realm Settlement".

[You have completed your journey through the entire Illusory Village Secret Realm and successfully triggered the only special quest. You have received a large amount of experience and Star Essence rewards, as well as the "Settlement Blessing" reward from the Heavenly Grace-level Secret Realm.]

[Congratulations, Human Emperor! You have successfully advanced to the fourth rank, eighth level.]

[Congratulations, Human Emperor! You have successfully advanced to the fourth rank, ninth level.]

[Congratulations, Human Emperor! You have successfully advanced to the Great Perfection of the Fourth Rank.]

[We regret to inform you that you are temporarily unable to break through the barrier and advance to the fifth rank because you have not completed the promotion task for the fourth rank. Before you complete the promotion task, your excess experience can still be accumulated.]

[Congratulations, Human Emperor! You have received a Star Source reward of 6829301. Your current Star Source balance is 15965000.]

[Heavenly Grace-Level Secret Realm - Settlement Blessing: Do you still remember the rare treasures you saw in the Illusory Village? Elixirs, magical artifacts, strange spellbooks, or even the dazzling Dao Heart Sutra? Did these many magnificent items ever dazzle your eyes, arousing your greed and making you want to possess them? Don't say no, this Heavenly Dao knows you well, you are just that kind of person…]

"???!"

Amidst the endless white light, Ren Ye heard the proclamation of Heaven and immediately cursed, "Damn it, you're settling accounts, why are you cursing? Who am I? I don't need to explain myself, just ask Zhong Deng, who has tasted all the world's rarest poisons...!"

"But what does this reward of settlement blessing mean?" The Little Bad King's heart was filled with doubt and anticipation.

"boom!"

Just as he was speculating, he suddenly heard a deafening roar all around him, and the endless white light rippled outwards like a whirlwind.

Immediately afterwards, Little Bad King witnessed with his own eyes that from those ripples, the shapes of divine objects slowly condensed. He frequently turned his head, his eyes dazzled as he looked around. First, he saw the Sun family's supreme treasure, the Cold Heaven Bell, then he saw the Emperor's Holy Blade that Qian Zhongge had used, the Yin family's Southern Bright Fire, the Li family's Void Limitless Mirror, the Void Sword Array's sword box, the Divine Scripture for Mending Heaven, and various ancient books and secret manuals that he had once read in the Zhao family's Enlightenment Pavilion.

He even saw a phantom image of Zhao Mi himself, who was looking at him with a somewhat ambiguous gaze.

Holy crap, what does this mean?!

The little rascal was a bit confused for a moment, and even more unsure of the Heavenly Dao's intentions.

[Blessing at Settlement: As you can see, the divine objects you've encountered here may all be your opportunities. You can choose any two divine objects from these opportunities as a reward for your complete journey through the Heavenly Grace-level Secret Realm. Special Reminder: This is an illusion, a place where reality and illusion intertwine. Some of the opportunities you've seen may be taken away, while others may just be a fleeting illusion... Ultimately, your choice depends on your own wisdom.]

"I can actually choose from all the magical treasures, spellbooks, and Dao Heart Sutras I've seen here?! Is this some kind of buffet-style reward? If I choose correctly, I can take them away; but if I choose incorrectly, then it's all for nothing, and I've wasted my time?" Upon hearing this settlement rule, Ren Ye immediately broke down and cursed, "My ass! I risked my life to travel through the Heavenly Grace-level Secret Realm, and you dig a pit for me at the very end?! Heavenly Dao, you are truly a beast...!"

He never expected that the final reward for this secret realm would arrive in this way. Caught completely off guard, he was naturally both bewildered and anxious.

If you choose the wrong one, wouldn't that be like letting Heaven take advantage of you for free? You'd have gone through a Heavenly Grace-level secret realm for nothing, only to end up with nothing.

Stay calm, you must stay calm...

Ren tried to calm himself down, and then thought of some details from before.

That is, during the Li-Yin conflict, Heaven had given him a proclamation and hint, instructing him to carefully record the magical treasures, divine arts, and scriptures he had encountered, saying they would be useful later. Now, it seems that these things he had seen were indeed useful, as they concerned how he should choose his rewards.

The little rascal didn't rush to make a choice, but instead used the process of elimination in his mind to rapidly narrow down the range of options.

The choice given by Heaven is, to put it bluntly, to let travelers judge the authenticity of these divine objects, to distinguish which ones are things evolved by Heaven, and which ones may actually exist in the Mysterious Realm of the Illusory Village.

Within the endless white light, there was a phantom of Zhao Mi, who was looking at me with ambiguous eyes... Was this Heaven's way reminding me that Zhao Mi could impart his teachings to me?

If I choose him, I might obtain the complete manual for cultivating the Nine Yang Divine Technique?!

Screw that, it's definitely fake. Zhao Mi might still be alive. If he's not dead, how could he easily release his Nine Yang Divine Technique, leaving it ownerless and returning it to the Heavenly Dao? That's absolutely impossible…

Choosing him would be a complete waste of time.

Although the Sun family's "Frosty Heaven Bell" is a supreme treasure of the Great Dao, possessing extreme cold and capable of freezing heaven and earth, it seems like a good choice. However, after Sun Michen's death, such a treasure could never leave the true Void Village. It would either be inherited by a member of the Sun family, controlled by the other three clans, or directly sent to the Divine Tomb for safekeeping... In short, it would absolutely never flow into the real human world and become an ownerless object.

Therefore, the Frost Bell that I saw before, and its extreme cold aura, were most likely products of the evolution of the Heavenly Dao, rather than divine objects that truly exist in this secret realm.

The same applies to the Qian family's Emperor's Sacred Blade. The Zhao family's various books are all privately held family collections and could never truly be leaked... this is also fake.

The Li family's Void Limitless Realm?! That's even more absurd, because that's Little Fatty's most treasured possession, still in his hands, and I've seen it many times before...

Fake, all fake.

Ren Ye's mind was racing, and he was frantically "subtracting" from his list of options when suddenly inspiration struck. He shouted decisively and firmly, "The first divine object I want is the Nanming Li Fire!"

Once spoken, eternal silence descended.

"boom!"

Immediately following, a weak cluster of flames instantly spread across the entire southern sky, rising endlessly with raging crimson flames.

[Congratulations, Your Majesty, you have made a very wise choice. This Southern Bright Fire is an unclaimed object; its former owner perished in the migration to the Heavenly Capital. This fire has returned to the Heavenly Dao, hidden within Nirvana, and is a truly existing divine object here. Now that the time has come, if it is willing to acknowledge Your Majesty as its master, it can naturally fight alongside you in this prosperous era.]

"Hurrah!"

The cold voice of the Heavenly Dao rang out, and the Southern Bright Fire that was burning fiercely in the southwest sky instantly subsided its crimson waves, turning into only a weak flame that surged into Ren Ye's brow.

"brush!"

In less than two breaths, the Southern Bright Fire decisively chose to recognize its master, the Emperor. Its flames gently rose within the Little Bad King's consciousness space, invisibly nourishing his soul; its inner spirit also took the initiative to show goodwill, emerging from the weak flames and transforming into the phantom of a small fireman, projecting its essence of fire to actively sense Ren Ye's divine thoughts and establish a host connection with him.

As the saying goes, fish follow fish, shrimp follow shrimp, and turtles follow turtles. After Nanming Li Huo sensed Ren Ye's luck and the destiny of the Human Emperor, its speed in recognizing him as its father was no slower than that of the park's master, smooth and decisive.

"boom!"

After the recognition of his master ended, a fiery mark rose from between the little wicked king's eyebrows, and his entire body faintly emitted an extremely yang and intense scorching heat, as if he could burn the ground with a mere gesture.

The mark between the eyebrows flashed by.

Little Bad King grinned, secretly pleased with himself, and said, "Thank you to the organization, and thank you to the people who keep watch over the New Year for their countless records. Without these vast and complex books, how could I be sure that the Southern Ming Fire truly exists?"

In fact, when he first saw the Nanming Li Fire, he recalled that this fire had appeared in the records of Blue Star, but later disappeared without a trace. Therefore, he concluded that the Nanming Li Fire was a real thing, and most likely an unclaimed object that could be taken away.

Legend has it that the Southern Bright Fire is the companion fire of the Vermilion Bird, a divine object of nature, extremely yang and intense, and its status is definitely higher than that of the previous Heavenly Craft Fire.

This fire is unparalleled in both alchemy and weapon forging. Furthermore, when clashing with powerful enemies, it can ignite the Emperor's Sword, instantly transforming it into the Southern Bright Fire Sword. Its magical power will undoubtedly increase dramatically, allowing for not only devastating strikes with every blow but also the convenient incineration of the opponent.

He even considered the possibility of this fire merging with the Heavenly Craft Fire. If the two fires could be combined and complement each other, they would surely reach the ultimate realm. Wouldn't that allow him to cremate whomever he wanted?!

Having obtained the Southern Ming Fire, he saw countless possibilities and was naturally extremely excited.

After a long while, Ren Ye finally managed to calm down his joy and then spoke again: "The second divine item, I want the 'Divine Scripture for Mending the Heavens'."

After a brief silence, the proclamation of Heaven's will resounded once more.

[The Divine Canon for Mending the Heavens was originally a treasured possession of this Land of Illusion, and there was absolutely no possibility of it being passed on to outsiders. However, during the last golden age, someone brought it out and it spread to the Migration Realm. This divine canon is only a fragment, but it records the methods for refining many divine elixirs and ancient pills. Congratulations, Human Emperor, you have obtained a fragment of the Divine Canon for Mending the Heavens.]

"brush!"

The cold voice dissipated, and a beam of divine light instantly entered Ren Ye's brow.

Within his consciousness space, there appeared an ancient-looking, tattered book that emitted a faint blue light.

"It's done!"

Ren was overjoyed and thought to himself, "When my beloved concubine returns, I will give her the Southern Bright Fire and the Divine Scripture for Mending the Heavens, so she can have as many children as possible while refining pills for us. If the targets and quality don't meet them, I'll whip her!"

Having obtained two divine items, he became somewhat carried away with his success and began to fantasize about his future family and position, completely forgetting the embarrassing situation where he would have to shed a few tears if his beloved concubine glared at him.

His final choice of the Divine Scripture for Mending the Heavens was, in fact, a gamble, because he genuinely wasn't sure if the formula was unique to the Li family, or if it was some illusory creation of the Heavenly Dao. However, after careful consideration, he realized that formulas, unlike magical texts, didn't require cultivation; they only recorded the preparation method. If they could truly be passed down through the ages, they must have changed hands countless times. For example, before the Li family obtained it, the Yin family had also possessed it, and the core members of the Yin family must have had some understanding of the formula's contents.

He felt that the Heaven-Mending Formula was not unique, but exclusive to the Li family, and might have been passed down through generations. In addition, the only time Heaven gave a hint was when the Southern Bright Fire and the pill formula were introduced, which might also be a subtle suggestion to reinforce the impression. Therefore, he tried to choose one and got a fairly ideal result.

The Southern Bright Fire and the elixir formula are two divine objects that complement and enhance each other. In addition, the beloved concubine and the Crown Prince are both cultivators with considerable experience in alchemy, and Old Liu has a continuous supply of the Water of Life. In this way, the expenses that the park team would incur before their future travels by buying and consuming medicine can be completely saved, and they can instead produce their own and be self-sufficient.