Free Web NovelChapter 391: Chapter 383: The Great Stone Stele’s "Version Change"! Changes to the Wondrous Item Ranking
"Captain, are we heading to the Extreme North next?"
"No."
Shi Ming shook his head.
"First, a trip to the Sea of Soaring Dragons."
This trip to the Extreme North... he didn’t know how long it would take.
While lying in wait for the Active Wormhole and seizing its power, he couldn’t afford any distractions, let alone split his focus. He had to make some arrangements beforehand based on the prophetic vision he’d seen. Only then could he proceed without any other worries.
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The meeting with Elder Zhou of Da Yu was set at the Xirang Research Institute Headquarters.
Mount Everest stood tall in the Endless Ocean.
Its water level showed no apparent change, but the crisis had not vanished. Xirang had installed a highly precise water level gauge at the foot of the mountain to constantly monitor the state of the Unceasing Water. The research institute on the mountainside had also been expanded. After the Sub-Blade Storm disappeared, the dangers of this peak were no longer worth mentioning.
After a secret discussion, Shi Ming left the Xirang Research Institute. He continued his ascent and, before long, reached the summit.
The wind and snow on the summit were as fierce as ever.
Shi Ming hadn’t come here just to revisit an old haunt. He wanted to see if, with his current strength, he could discover something he had previously overlooked or find some new details.
’I’m here anyway, and it’s just a few miles’ distance.’
He looked at the great stone monument.
The monument was as cold, mysterious, profound, and imposing as ever. It was fused so tightly with Mount Everest it seemed to have taken root; even the current Shi Ming could not separate and claim it.
The engraved symbols looked the same as always, with no apparent changes.
But Shi Ming was amazed to find that the meaning deciphered from their combination had subtly changed.
’The language left by the gods truly is wondrously profound.’
Like the Eye of Destiny, it could present different revelations at different points in time.
The stone monument had thirty-three thousand characters.
Most of the content, such as the three sections [Path to Divinity], [Myriad Universal Phases], and [Inheritance Secret Scripture], remained unchanged. Only the fourth section, [Worldly Wonders]—also known as the "Compendium of Wondrous Items of the Endless Ocean"—had undergone a subtle transformation.
The original list of 181 wondrous items had shrunk to 176.
Shi Ming investigated closely.
The ranking of the "Map of the Endless Sea," after its limitless upgrade, had risen from 108th to 33rd...
"Phaseless Pure Ice," "Broken Crystal," "Sea-Rising Cherry Root," "Heart of the White Dragon Whale," and some other clearly consumed wondrous items had been removed.
And three noteworthy "new faces" had been added.
And so on.
The ranks of the other wondrous items were adjusted accordingly.
Shi Ming paid no mind to the items that had only changed ranks. His gaze fell upon the newly added [Miniature Wormhole], [Star Lamp], and [Ten Thousand Forms Glaze], especially the Miniature Wormhole that had replaced the [Four Feared Vedas], and their brief descriptions.
[4. Miniature Wormhole]
A palm-sized collapsed star that can create a spatial wormhole three times.
It can randomly teleport a target to a location somewhere in the cosmic Star Sea.
Extremely dangerous!
Highly uncontrollable! Completely random!
[14. Star Lamp]
Having lain in the Golden Coffin for several millennia, the once-extinguished and useless Starry Sky Lamp has been purified, broken through its limits, and localized. It can now replicate its former brilliance and pinpoint the way home.
[31. Ten Thousand Forms Glaze]
A square fish scale that became an item born from the demise of a shattered destiny.
Dust to dust, earth to earth. Even when destiny turns to dust, it carries the unbearable weight of life.
...
Shi Ming quickly grasped all the changes.
The Star Lamp went without saying.
It was a wondrous item he owned. After being reignited, it had entered the top ranks of the list, and after its limitless upgrade, it had shot up to 14th place. Deep down, Shi Ming felt this rank was actually a bit low, but it also indirectly showed just how powerful the top ten wondrous items on the list must be.
As for the [Ten Thousand Forms Glaze] at rank 31,
it was obvious that,
it was the item born from the demise of the Ten Thousand Forms Kun.
When Shi Ming killed it, no wondrous item had appeared at the site of its fall. However, that creature had possessed over a thousand "forms" before its death, had numerous descendants, and its destiny had been profoundly mysterious in itself.
The S-rank skill sources, Harmonize with the Light and Desolate Star Dust, were obtained by different people, but the skill source for Oblivion to Dust was nowhere to be found.
’This thing might just be it.’
As for the [Miniature Wormhole].
’This thing was obviously brought here by the "Active Wormhole"!’
The list’s description called it random, uncontrollable, and dangerous.
And it was true. Using it on a target was equivalent to a form of "banishment." An unprepared creature would be teleported into the cosmic void, and without experience in space survival, its only fate would be death.
However, Shi Ming possessed the "Star Lamp," which could act as a hearthstone, so to a certain extent, he wasn’t afraid of it.
He had already decided that while he battled wits with it, he had to guard against this move. The best course of action would be to find its location and destroy it—or seize it—at the first opportunity!
Otherwise, if he were forcibly banished at a critical moment, he would waste a lot of time even if he could return with the Star Lamp. More importantly, if the Active Wormhole got scared and decided to play dirty by using this thing to escape, all his efforts would be for naught.
Shi Ming would absolutely not allow a future where all his efforts came to nothing.
’These things from the starry sky...’
’Why are they all so vile!’
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After descending from Mount Everest, dealing with all remaining matters, and forming a detailed plan of action in his mind, he piloted the Da Yun and drove straight north.
Destination: the Extreme North Ice Sea.
For the foreseeable future, the Extreme North would be his battlefield.
The temperature continued to drop. Over an endless white snowfield, the Da Yun activated "hover mode," "sailing" at a low altitude about ten meters above the ice. Ah Jian remained perched on his shoulder, while the Three-Eyed Golden Crow, being too conspicuous, flew down from the top of the ship.
As his destination neared,
Shi Ming used one of his skills.
Destiny Light Cone!
A twenty-sided Light Cone, imperceptible to the normal human eye, came tumbling down onto the Da Yun and then suddenly expanded. Ethereal lights and shadows darted between the facets of the cone, sometimes connecting head-to-tail, sometimes shuttling forward.
The Da Yun sailed into the Light Cone World.
This was the [Destiny Light Cone], the 2nd-ranked S-rank skill from the Mobius Serpent. It could pull a target into the Light Cone World, where all actions become probabilistic. Originally a skill for trapping and killing enemies, Shi Ming had developed a different use for it.
Concealment!
A creature that entered the Light Cone World could not be detected, not even by the Map of the Endless Sea.
It was a perfect hiding place.
Back in the Earth’s Lung, the 2nd-ranked Mobius Serpent had used this very move to appear out of thin air. It had also used this move to evade the Map of the Endless Sea’s detection, leading Shi Ming to mistakenly believe that no other S-rank sea beasts existed within the Earth’s Lung.
The Da Yun, having entered the Light Cone World, was effectively in another dimension. Not even a Holy Hall Tier being could find a trace of it.
The only drawback was that the crew’s actions might now require them to roll dice at any moment.
But that was a necessary procedure.
After concealing the Da Yun, he piloted the She Ri alone, activated stealth mode, and headed straight for the Extreme North Ice Eye.
