Free Web NovelChapter 364: Chapter 357: Operation Kun Hunt, Officially Launched
The intelligence wasn’t over yet.
The characters appearing in the Eye of Destiny flickered, presenting Shi Ming with new information. The materials listed before him were the key to the Sun-Shooter’s breakthrough to the King-level!
[Requirements for Infinite Upgrade:]
[1. One (1) formatted Intelligent Mechanism Core with its consciousness wiped.]
[2. 1,000 kilograms each of flesh and blood from five to seven different Holy Hall-level Sea Beasts. The more types, the better the boundary-breaking effect.]
[3. One (1) complete heart of a Nirvana-tier lifeform.]
The characters in his vision slowly faded.
With that, the intelligence report concluded.
Compared to the Great Fortune’s boundary breakthrough, the materials needed for the Sun-Shooter’s breakthrough only had one item in common: the need for different types of Holy Hall-tier Sea Beast Flesh and Blood.
The other two requirements were completely different.
However, they didn’t conflict.
The heart and the Brain Domain were complementary. He could use one beast for both purposes, ensuring nothing went to waste.
The first material needed for the Great Fortune was one of the top three rare items. The first material for the Sun-Shooter, however, was the so-called Intelligent Mechanism Core, with the added qualifier of "formatted and with its consciousness wiped."
’An Intelligent Mechanism Core?’
Shi Ming wasn’t sure what kind of mechanism could be called an "intelligent mechanism." However, there was no doubt that for a chip to serve as the primary material for an infinite upgrade, it had to be extraordinary. Moreover, since its consciousness needed to be wiped, it meant the core was capable of having consciousness.
’An animated machine?’
The universe was vast and infinite. Even wormholes could become animated, so it seemed natural for a machine to develop consciousness.
The problem was that he now had a lead on the Great Fortune’s boundary breakthrough. At least the three required materials could be traced within the Endless Ocean. Even the originally unobtainable "complete Brain Domain of a Nirvana-tier lifeform" had become a slight possibility due to the pull of the Creation Celestial Pillar. It was truly a case of fortune and misfortune being intertwined.
But the Intelligent Mechanism Core needed for the Sun-Shooter was nowhere to be found.
Shi Ming searched his memories.
’That’s right. That time I was looking for the Twin Mirror for Ah Jian, I found the 001 Celestial Net Guard in that sunken ship. Its tier didn’t meet the standard of an intelligent mechanism, but could it be evolved and upgraded into one?’
’Unfortunately, I’ve never heard of the materials needed to upgrade and repair it, either.’
According to the information from the Eye of the World at the time, the Celestial Net Guard, as a robot, already possessed three extraordinary skills: Death Ray, Celestial Net Descent, and Ultimate Art. It was a creation of the No. 001 King-level Wandering Ship, an unstable experimental product lost at the bottom of the sea, and a cleaner of Celestial Net bugs. The three-part description spoke volumes.
From this, it was clear that No. 001, its creator, must command a higher level of mechanical technology.
That made sense. A ship that could already roam the Star Sea was bound to have maxed-out technology. Shi Ming had once used the Great Fortune’s King of Kings ability to call upon the King Traits of other King-level Wandering Ships, but he had never been able to call upon No. 001’s. There were only two possibilities: either the ship was too far away to be called, or it had transcended the category of "King" and entered a new domain through other technological means.
’I’ll probably need to be much stronger to go after it.’
But in any case, he was still far from gathering all the materials needed for the boundary breakthroughs of the Sun-Shooter and the Great Fortune. The most important thing right now was to lure and kill the Ten Thousand Forms Kun. Once this Holy Hall-tier Sea Beast was dead, dealing with the other two wouldn’t be so troublesome.
One step at a time. He would clear a path when mountains blocked his way and build a bridge when he encountered water.
Shi Ming put away the Sun-Shooter.
He stepped out of the Captain’s Space.
He found that a torrential rain had begun to fall outside, accompanied by flashes of lightning. This dispersed much of the thin mist lingering over the sea, but in the distance, the depths of the Earth’s Lung remained pure white.
He spent a day adjusting and familiarizing himself with the Sun-Shooter’s various functions.
The Kun Hunting Plan was officially underway.
...
The Sun-Shooter was far more useful than Shi Ming had ever imagined.
If the Great Fortune was his logistics station and safe harbor, then the Sun-Shooter was an extension of his own arms and legs. None of its three King Traits were just for show; their practical applications in combat made Shi Ming even more formidable.
Take right now, for example.
Shi Ming was not on the surface of the sea, nor was he in the water.
He had dived directly from the Great Fortune’s anchored position, entered the seabed, and arrived above the remains of a rainforest. Relying on the King Trait "Seas of Ten Thousand Realms," he continued to descend, passing through what was now the seafloor and into the former landmass beneath, traveling through "soil" that had been soaked in seawater for thirty years.
He had gone underground!
Under the effect of the "Traceless Drifter" King Trait, he was completely without a trace, like a true ghost! No! A ghost could still be seen, but the Sun-Shooter and Shi Ming were now even harder to detect than a ghost.
He continued to descend.
He planned to use the Sun-Shooter’s traits to travel from deep underground into the Earth’s Lung, right into the Ten Thousand Forms Kun’s lair, and give it a surprise. He also wanted to see if the Sun-Shooter, in its traceless state, could deceive this Holy Hall-tier Sea Beast and wander around right under its nose.
It couldn’t fool him, anyway.
Shi Ming had previously tried having Ah Jian ride the Sun-Shooter. After activating Traceless Drifter, his own Spiritual Power couldn’t detect it at all unless he deliberately focused his scan. If he did scan with intent, the King-level Sun-Shooter was still unable to hide from his probe.
This might also be because his Spiritual Power was simply too strong.
The Ten Thousand Forms Kun, on the other hand, was a sea beast with destiny attributes and also possessed powerful Spiritual Power, which Shi Ming estimated was definitely stronger than the Abyss Lord’s. Shi Ming wasn’t planning to use conventional methods to kill it this time, so Ah Jian had also stayed behind on the Great Fortune to guard it.
He was heading into the depths of the Earth’s Lung alone.
Along the way, he reviewed the relative strengths of both himself and his enemy.
The Ten Thousand Forms Kun.
The Kun of Beiming, as recorded by the Ancient Sage Zhuangzi, had obtained the power of the Destiny Sanctuary in the clouds. After a journey of thousands of miles, it came to settle in the Southern Netherworld. In the early days of the Wandering Era, it was attracted by a rare item suspected to be the "Unceasing Water" and had resided in the Earth’s Lung ever since.
It had four skills.
[Ten Thousand Forms Sanctuary]
Enters the target’s dream to steal and manipulate their fate. It can possess the target or transform into a 1:1 replica, inheriting their destiny and continuing their life. Its Attack Power is not high, but it is extremely nasty.
[Southern Netherworld Phantom Dream]
Grants the Ten Thousand Forms Kun the ability to walk between illusion and reality, allowing its body to transform into a dream and enter an illusory state. This skill also has low Attack Power, but it is a life-saving ability on par with the Black Tortoise Shield.
[Thousand Rivers’ Autumn Waters]
When released, tens of thousands of streams of autumn water, empowered by the force of destiny, transform from supremely soft to supremely tough. Like countless wings formed from clouds hanging from the sky, they surge and sweep toward the target. An offensive-type skill.
[Forgotten Ruins Return to Dust]
This is also an offensive-type skill. It creates a "ruin point" and then rapidly expands it. Lifeforms within the range of the forgotten ruins will quickly turn to dust. The higher their Defense Power, the longer they can resist.
Aside from Ten Thousand Forms Sanctuary, the other three minor skills were all S-rank. The Southern Netherworld Phantom Dream, in particular, combined with the Kun’s ability to manipulate and perceive destiny, made it extremely difficult to kill.
It would flee at the slightest disadvantage.
But this time, its enemy was the number one Humanoid Fierce Beast of the Endless Ocean!
Shi Ming, who also wielded the power of destiny, combined with human cunning—no, acuity and caution—and the deep camouflage from the Sun-Shooter, had unknowingly already aimed his "fangs" at it.
The sea beast that manipulated destiny had, without realizing it, become entangled in the threads of fate itself.
