Chapter 123: Wind and Thunder

The Wind Spirit Totem was glowing!

At that moment, images of his fight with the Scarlet Heart suddenly surfaced in his mind.

Could it be…...

Su Chen’s heart began to tremble.

How was this possible?

Why would the Wind Spirit Totem respond so soon when the Thunder Spirit Totem, which he had been studying for so long, had yet to react?

Wait a minute. Thunder Spirit Totem?

Su Chen suddenly thought of something. He unleashed a fierce attack at Li Daohong before pulling out the Thunder Spirit Totem from his Origin Ring.

That damned totem was also glowing.

No wonder the Origin Bone Scepter hadn’t been able to show Su Chen how to use the Wind Spirit Totem. Just look at how many experts he was currently surrounded by!

The Origin Scepter simply didn’t have the capacity to show what was happening given the amount of peak experts here.

But why would the Wind Spirit Totem and the Thunder Spirit Totem activate at this moment?

Was it just because his Arcana Techniques had reached the Eighth Ring?

But that didn’t make sense!

There were too many Eighth-Ring Arcana Techniques under the heavens to count! Well, actually, there weren’t that many. But still, they weren’t particularly rare either. Su Chen refused to believe that the two totems had never seen an Eighth-Ring Arcana Technique in their existence before, so why hadn’t they activated until now?

This definitely wasn’t a matter regarding one’s cultivation base.

But the Wind Spirit Totem had only started responding after Su Chen had reached the Eighth-Ring level, and the Thunder Spirit Totem was responding as well. This meant that some kind of condition had definitely been recently met for them to both activate.

It was his battle with the Scarlet Heart that had caused the Vitality Totem to activate for Su Chen.

He hadn’t even used any kind of lifeforce-related Arcana Technique…..

Hm?

There was no such thing as a lifeforce Arcana Technique in the first place. So what had caused the Vitality Totem to activate?

And what was the common denominator for these three occurrences, if there was one?

Su Chen felt a headache coming on.

He was still in the midst of a battle with Li Daohong, and the Wind and Thunder Spirit Totems were still glowing, though only one of them was in his possession. Su Chen needed time to go through all of the possibilities.

Even the others began to realize that something wasn’t right.

Inigo stared at Su Chen suspiciously. “Why? Why do you also have a totem? And why is it glowing right now? What’s going on?”

“I don’t know what’s happening either,” Su Chen replied frankly.

There was definitely some kind of a common factor between the two separate activation instances of these three totems.

But he had no time to ponder this question any longer.

Because Inigo was already reaching his hand out to swipe the Wind Spirit Totem away.

The only reason he hadn’t tried to take it earlier was because of his craftiness. He knew that trying to seize it at that point in time would have incurred the wrath of everyone else. Now, however, it was quite obvious that the changes occuring to the Wind Spirit Totem would likely not benefit him.

Su Chen’s expression sank when he saw Inigo’s move. “That already belongs to me. Are you going to try and fight me for it?”

With but a thought, the Wind Spirit Totem actually flew into the air and towards Su Chen of its own accord.

Inigo was stunned. “Quick, stop him!”

Night God Sun, Holly Keen, and Li Daohong all attacked Su Chen at the same time. Li Daohong was even able to launch a punch at the Wind Spirit Totem; he had realized that it might be hard to stop the Wind Spirit Totem from flying away and thus wanted to destroy it before that happened.

Su Chen said darkly, “So you all still have enough spare energy to try to take these treasures from me!”

These words seriously stimulated Zhu Chenhuan, Li Chongshan, and the others. They all began to attack with renewed vigor. Zhu Chenhuan, in particular, jabbed out with a vicious finger strike.

Heavenly Fox Finger!

However, Inigo was determined to prevent Su Chen from having his way. He flipped through his book rapidly, causing layers of barriers to appear around his body. At the same time, he reached out to grab at the Wind Spirit Totem again.

Unfortunately, all of these separate acts faded into the background for Su Chen.

As he muttered something under his breath, he stretched out his hand. The Wind Spirit Totem seemed to respond to an order and shot off in another direction, dodging Inigo’s grab.

Then, Su Chen barked, “Wind, rise!”

A violent gust of wind began to billow in all directions.

“How is this possible?” Li Daohong stared at the scene in shock as wind roared violently around him. The walls formed from his streams of sand also began to disappear.

“Don’t even think about it!” Night God Sun activated his strength to its fullest extent, stopping the wind in its tracks. He appeared to refuse to let the totem get any closer to Su Chen.

With Night God Sun and Inigo acting together, they were actually able to stop the totem from advancing any further.

Su Chen was also angered by their actions. “You might be able to stop that, but can you stop this?”

The Thunder Spirit Totem in his hand began to glow brilliantly.

He had been holding this totem in the first place, so no one could stop him from using it. And Su Chen could also sense that there was now a connection between him and the Thunder Spirit Totem. Even though he wasn’t sure where this connection had come from, he at least knew how to harness it.

As he activated the power of thunder to its greatest extent, the Thunder Spirit Totem’s light began to scintillate intensely. An intense surge of lightning suddenly crackled forth from the totem, discharging in all directions.

Such a ferocious wave of lightning should not have been able to target anything, but this electric mass seemed to have eyes and darted around Zhu Chenhuan, Li Chongshan, and the others, focusing selectively on Inigo and Night God Sun.

“How is this possible!?” Inigo couldn’t help but cry out in shock.

He was keenly aware of how difficult it was to activate an Arcana Technique that could distinguish between foes and allies. This was not something that just mastering the power of thunder could lead to. Su Chen basically needed to imbue the lightning and thunder with his own will in order to give it that ability.

That was a legendary ⁠— no, a forbidden-level pursuit!

How had Su Chen done it?

No, it was more accurate to say that the totem had done it.

Could it be…...

A thought surfaced in Inigo’s head.

However, he no longer had any time to analyze things any further. The violent wave of thunder also sent him flying, shattering his cooperative moves with Night God Sun.

The Wind Spirit Totem was no longer being restricted. An instant later, it flew into Su Chen’s other hand.

“NO!” Li Daohong cried out in despair.

He knew what was about to happen after Su Chen got his hands on the Wind Spirit Totem, so he unleashed one final punch that contained all of his strength in a futile attempt to stop it.

Unfortunately for him, this fist slowly ground to a halt in the air.

It was as if some formless hand had grabbed it and halted all its momentum.

Su Chen towered in the sky as he casually knocked Li Daohong’s hand aside and stared coldly at him.

The Wind Spirit Totem was radiating with light as it floated above Su Chen’s head, infusing his body with its power.

The Thunder Spirit Totem was also activated.

The power from the two totems simultaneously surged through Su Chen’s body, an ominous rumbling filling the entire palace as if it were honoring Su Chen’s “ascension.”

Even the commoners could sense a sudden sharp spike in Su Chen’s aura. The rate at which it shot up was jaw-dropping.

At the same time, strange inscriptions began to appear on Su Chen’s face.

These inscriptions originated from the Wind and Thunder Spirit Totems. They snaked their way across his face, leaving behind glowing lines everywhere they went that pulsated with wind and thunder energy.

Not only that, but the Vitality Totem’s inscriptions also suddenly began to emerge from Su Chen’s chest.

As a deluge of elemental energy poured into his body, Su Chen’s physical endurance was being put to the test. The Vitality Totem had activated at this moment, becoming a solid rock that he could rely on to help him fully absorb these two totems.

Su Chen suddenly realized something in that moment.

There were many reasons why the two totems had activated. The wind and thunder energy he had gathered in the area was one possible reason. Another possibility was the Vitality Totem itself.

The Vitality Totem may have previously activated because of how much death energy it had been surrounded by. And this time around, the presence of the Vitality Totem might have “enticed” the two Spirit Totems into activating.

Of course, this was just a guess. There might have been other conditions, but at least for now, the Vitality Totem was helping him through the process of absorbing the two other totems. In addition, Su Chen’s personal vitality had also increased again.

Su Chen had done a lot of research, but hadn’t fought many bloody battles lately. So, he hadn’t had many opportunities to test out his increased vitality. As a result, he had a very hard time activating the Vitality Totem.

Due to the presence of the two totems, however, the Vitality Totem was finally bursting forth with its full potential, greatly bolstering Su Chen’s lifeforce in the process.

Su Chen felt like he was strong enough to grapple with a top-tier Ravager warrior now.

That kind of physical power only belonged to warriors who possessed immense physical strength.

As the wind and thunder energy continued to fill his body with their energy, Su Chen felt like there was now a spring of Origin Energy inside of his body, supplying him with an endless amount of Origin Energy and making him want to try out every wind and thunder Arcana Technique he had at his disposal.

Not only that, but his mastery over thunder had increased yet again. This pushed him from the Eighth-Ring to the Ninth-Ring level.

He had become a Ninth-Ring Arcana Master!

Inigo was the first one to realize this, and he almost fainted from the realization.

Su Chen’s progress was truly astounding.

Even so, this was Su Chen. His extensive preparation and the countless years’ worth of knowledge he had accumulated had finally all manifested in this moment, pushing him into the Ninth Ring.

However, that was still not sufficient enough to break through to the Tenth Ring level.

It wasn’t that the Wind and Thunder Spirit Totems weren’t supplying him with enough energy, but rather that it wasn’t possible to ascend to that realm by solely relying on energy.

The higher quality these totems were, the more implications there were for their use, and the deeper their usefulness would extend.

Su Chen had forcibly elevated himself to the Ninth Ring level. He could sense that, even though he had relied on external support to reach the Ninth Ring, his comprehensions had met all the necessary requirements.

This comprehension was on a physical level, something that came almost intrinsically from possessing so much Origin Energy. It was incredibly hard to describe, and definitely not something that could be achieved just from becoming stronger alone.

Su Chen simply understood.

As a result, he now realized that not only had he reached the Ninth Ring, but he also didn’t suffer from any of the drawbacks that normally affected a newly ascended Arcana Master.

His foundation was more stable than anyone else’s!

He never would have imagined that the greatest benefit these two totems would bring him was not an increase in cultivation realm, but rather a stable foundation!

An incredibly stable foundation.

Who would believe a person if they said that they had managed to increase their cultivation base by four Rings, and with a stable foundation to boot?

But Su Chen had the boldness to say it!

Because this was the actual benefit provided to him by the totems!

The totems conferred a profound understanding of the universe’s fundamental truths upon him.

It was almost as if these totems were the source of the corresponding form of Origin Energy.

And now, Su Chen had come into possession of these very sources!

After breathing in deeply and taking in the newfound sensations the totems had bestowed upon him, Su Chen smiled and said, “You all…… are quite arrogant, aren’t you?”

Peals of thunder echoed as he spoke, accentuating his every word!