Chapter 751: Section 539: Bottleneck (Extra for 700 monthly votes)
The Little Prince was very well-behaved and obedient, remembering Cang Xu’s advice earlier and made an effort to pray incessantly.
But his soul had just endured a violent transformation, and the process of praying was also a process of offering up spiritual power, like a person who is exhausted from running yet must continue to run.
"My Lord, the God of Mei Lan, You are a God full of grace and mercy, I beg You to save Your believers, grant me one chance, to worship You, rather than perish in the maw of a beast..."
The Little Prince exerted all his effort to maintain his prayer, and soon reached his limit, his voice growing weaker until he fainted on the spot.
Inside the crude shack, a brief silence fell.
A few seconds later, the ship ghost broke the silence, "Xu Jia, you have worked hard this time. I can see that, for the sake of converting the Little Prince’s faith, you have paid a price with your soul."
The ship ghost then expressed that, if the opportunity arose, he would compensate Cang Xu with hundreds of Soul Crystals for the Little Prince’s sake.
Even though the Little Prince had fainted and could not see this moment, the ship ghost still wanted to show his gesture.
Cang Xu couldn’t help but admire the ship ghost’s ability to deceive.
"We are companions, and I truly hope to see the Little Prince survive!" said Cang Xu. At the same time, he indicated to the ship ghost through a secretive method that he accepted the ship ghost’s goodwill but didn’t need the Soul Crystals, what he wanted was the ship ghost’s expertise in certain areas of cultivation!
The ship ghost inquired in detail.
Cang Xu said bluntly, "I need practical insights into the Memory Switching Technique and Memory Concealment Skill. In my recent use, I have found that it’s possible to apply these techniques selectively to certain memories."
When the ship ghost heard this, his heart stirred.
He realized that Cang Xu most likely had used these spells to alter his own memory. Cang Xu’s faith in the God of Mei Lan had a significant part that was fabricated!
The ship ghost was secretly delighted with this discovery.
"Of course!" he immediately agreed to Cang Xu’s request and passed on his relevant experience directly.
Although Cang Xu had previously obtained related inheritances from the ship ghost, they weren’t personal experiences.
To use an analogy, the inheritance is akin to a textbook, while personal experiences are like study notes from a top student.
Both would be extremely helpful to Cang Xu!
Cang Xu once again took advantage of the ship ghost. He bid the ship ghost farewell, feeling satisfied.
Inside the shack, only the ship ghost and the fainted Little Prince remained.
The ship ghost approached the Little Prince, bent down, and picked him up.
During this process, touching the Little Prince’s body, he sneakily probed the Little Prince’s condition through the connection of their souls.
"Although I am bound by a double seal, this soul connection is deeper and more secret, so I can still clandestinely learn some inside information and truths."
"After a round of Divine Arts, the Little Prince’s soul has indeed been extensively transformed."
"Fortunately, I had already tampered with Xu Jia before this, so even if he transformed the Little Prince’s soul, it would create a backdoor copy. The Little Prince’s life is still at the mercy of my will!"
The ship ghost felt relieved.
Cang Xu was so forthright in using Divine Arts in front of him, causing the ship ghost to once again underestimate him: Cang Xu had not discovered the deadly secret trap in his soul.
Cang Xu’s inquiries into the memory-related spells reassured the ship ghost even more.
"Xu Jia’s problem isn’t big, the situation is still within my control."
"But it needs to happen quickly."
"If the Little Prince doesn’t come back this time, the memory modification plan will lose a talented participant!"
The Little Prince’s state of unconsciousness did not last long before he awoke.
Cang Xu wasn’t surprised; in the past few days, he had used this suite of Divine Arts on others and had gained a great deal of Divine Grace.
But the Synchronized Conversion in the Divine Arts consumed his soul, so he couldn’t use it indiscriminately.
Although he now had a reserve of Soul Crystals, allowing him to use them openly.
The Little Prince woke up as planned, and two hours later, he had no choice but to participate in the Transmission Blood Sacrifice.
A group of sea beasts was driven onto the Golden Level altar as sacrifices, leaving only their skeletons; the rest of their bodies dissolved into blood to provide energy.
Unlike the previous times, the sacrifices were not limited to sea beasts, but also included many Undead Lives.
Among them, the majority was the mass of turtle skulls provided by the Little Prince.
This change was precisely what Cang Xu had suggested to Zhou Zhang.
He was bold, directly stating that during the time of Divine Blessing, he had received the message as the will of the God of Mei Lan.
As the God of Mei Lan had fallen into a deep slumber, Zhou Zhang, although the Bishop, was unable to verify and had to take it on faith.
Along with the Little Prince was also Cang Xu.
On the second transmission back, Cang Xu had already come up with a reason and obtained Zhou Zhang’s recognition.
"Another Transmission Blood Sacrifice, I hope my lord can recover strength soon and end the state of slumber," Zhou Zhang, as a Bishop, indeed devoted himself wholeheartedly to the God of Mei Lan.
Cang Xu’s face was calm, but inside he harbored many expectations, "I’ll be seeing the squad leader again! With so many Undead Lives this time, I should be able to further improve my talent."
Deep Sea Monster Fish.
Water Magic—Water Ball Skill.
Water Magic—Clear Spring Technique.
Water Magic—Water Arrow.
...
In the hands of the Fishman youth, Water Magic spells were cast in succession. Because they were all Low-level spells, the success rate was a hundred percent.
Blood Core—Compound Transformation—Fishman Holy Corpse Bloodline + Ghost-faced Fish Bloodline.
Undead Magic—Soul Shriek Skill.
Undead Magic—Ghost Fog Technique.
Undead Magic—Reduction Technique.
Undead Magic—Reduction Technique.
...
The Fishman youth with a ghostly face practiced a series of Undead Magic again.
But compared to Water Element Magic, the success rate of casting Undead Magic was not high, and the speed was not fast.
"Originally, what I needed to practice most was the Soul Crystal Manufacturing Technique."
"But since Zhou Zhang took the initiative to lift Cang Xu’s seal, Cang Xu can openly use Soul Crystals, and I don’t need to take the risk of casting this kind of spell."
"Sigh, if only my Mage Level were Silver Level..."
The Fishman youth’s Life Level was Silver Level, but his Mage Level was only Black Iron Level.
For him, casting the Soul Crystal Manufacturing Technique was even more difficult than the Undead Bloodline Detection Technique.
To expect his Mage Level to quickly rise from Black Iron Level to Silver Level was unrealistic.
Magic cultivation, Fighting energy cultivation, both are gradual processes. Even with Divine Power infusion, nurturing and transformation come first, until the body of the Divine Officer can better accommodate Divine Power, only then can one be elevated to an Extraordinary Level.
The latter also requires a process of accumulation.
Cang Xu’s Synchronized Conversion Divine Arts was too intense to change the soul, and could not be used frequently.
The Fishman youth was able to rapidly progress from Bronze Level to Black Iron Level, thanks to his Life Level. Of course, the Fishman Bloodline was also a key factor.
Now, with his Mage Level only one Level behind his Life Level, the effect of the latter’s support had significantly lessened.
Think about Zi Di.
Her Life Level was Black Iron Level, and it took her over a month to ascend from Bronze Level Mage to Black Iron Level Undead Mage!
"The cultivation of a Mage requires a lot of time."
"Just practicing these spells takes far too much time. Not to mention, a Mage also needs to conduct research, alchemy, copy Magic Scrolls, and other such tasks."
During this time, the Fishman youth’s primary feeling in his arduous practice of magic was that there was too much to learn and practice, and his time and energy were far from sufficient.
Magic cultivation was truly vast and profound.
The Fishman youth, practicing both Fighting energy and magic, deeply felt the immense difficulty involved!
The consumption of time and energy was truly substantial.
Focusing on both could easily result in scant progress in either area.
"In these past few days, I’ve almost given up on practicing Combat Skills, focusing solely on magic."
"But my mastery of these spells is also very low. Recklessly using them in actual combat would only become a weakness, severely disrupting my battle rhythm!"
Every time the Fishman youth thought of this, the image of Snowbird Port’s City Lord’s battle prowess would emerge in his mind.
Snowbird Port’s City Lord had a resplendent style of combat, swiftly alternating and combining a large array of Low-level Combat Skills and spells to achieve an overwhelmingly fast pace. In single combat, he could suppress equals to the point they couldn’t even lift their heads.
The City Lord’s fighting left a deep impression on the Fishman youth.
In these past days, as the Fishman youth practiced magic, he subconsciously wanted to imitate Snowbird Port’s City Lord.
After a brief attempt, he realized, to reach the level of Snowbird Port’s City Lord, he would need over five years of tough cultivation!
It was simply impossible to reach such a level in a short time.
Without reaching a certain standard, it would not be possible to apply it in actual combat.
"In the short term, it would be better for me to focus on cultivating Fighting energy."
In reality, the Fishman youth had a clear understanding of himself.
His Bloodline was excellent, and he was willing to train hard, but he severely lacked time.
Without the time to develop, it was difficult to achieve results.
In fact, the Fishman youth didn’t want to pursue dual cultivation; it was just that, due to the situation, he had no choice but to practice magic to help Cang Xu break through the impasse.
As the time approached, the Fishman youth stopped practicing.
With spatial fluctuations rippling, the Ocean Nest once again revealed disciples of Mei Lan.
The Fishman youth swiftly moved into action with the Alchemy Puppet.
He quickly captured the target, seizing a large amount of Undead Life.
Having done this before, the Fishman youth was now adept at these operations.
Cang Xu returned to the Deep Sea Monster Fish once again, respectfully greeting the squad leader in his mind.
The unconscious Little Prince was placed inside the Long-Horned Cage, sharing the same fate as Ku Feng and Qing Xin.
Whether to send him back through transmission was still a question, dependent on how the situation unfolded.
Utilizing the Blood Core, the Fishman youth absorbed a large quantity of Undead Life, successfully amassing a Bloodline Concentration suitable for the Corpse Hanging Tree Holy Domain.
Cang Xu reentered the Blood Light Purification Array, and upon emerging, his Bloodline Concentration had increased by 2%.
He moved to a special chamber, concealing his real memories and adopting forged memories to perform Desecration Priest rituals.
Divine Grace came once again.
But as the cabin door opened, Cang Xu showed little joy.
"It seems I have encountered a bottleneck."
"Though my talents have improved, the content of the Divine Blessing has not qualitatively improved."
"According to what Lord Zhou Zhang pointed out, it’s likely due to the level of devotion."
"With forged memories, my level of devotion can only just be considered devout."
The Fishman youth comforted him, "That’s quite impressive already."
"The deity Mei Lan is a righteous god, her sect is very well established, and the doctrine is complete. The rules and regulations related to Divine Blessing are much more stringent than we previously imagined."
"First, they entice with gifts for those with talents."
"But if the level of devotion is not high, then there are no qualitative changes in the Divine Blessing, which are wise measures for selection."
Cang Xu sighed, "Before, I was too naive."
"To accumulate Divine Grace in exchange for casting the Resurrection Technique is a long and arduous task."
At this point, Cang Xu paused before saying, "Squad leader, perhaps you could perform the Desecration Priest rituals."