Chapter 327 – Evil Deity Factor, Embers Ranking!

It’s highly unlikely.

As a divine level mecha, just below the super divine level mecha, it is already considered the most top-tier strategic weapon on this planet.

Its status is roughly equivalent to that of nuclear weapons in the old era.

Currently, the Distant Star Federation, the Xia State, and Javier can become the three overlord nations on this planet largely because they possess the most divine level mechas.

Lu Yuan had specifically looked into the classification of mechas after hearing Xiao Rui mention the three super divine level mechas of the Distant Star Federation.

Before level SSS, the classification standards are almost similar to those of human strongmen.

But after level SSS, they are differentiated into “Earth Level, Sky Level, Divine Level, and Super Divine Level.”

Mainly because beyond level SSS, the combat power span of mechas is enormous and can’t be measured by individual combat power.

Furthermore, the combat power of mechas of the same level can vary greatly depending on the pilot.

Some special types of mechas can’t even be operated by a single pilot.

Although it’s unclear how strong a divine level mecha is, from Lan Chen’s description, it can be glimpsed just how terrifying this war machine is.

And such a terrifying war machine…

There is more than one person on this planet who can rival it with their individual strength.

Among them, Yuwen Tong stands out, needing a super divine level mecha to contain her.

Just how powerful is Lord Tong…

“I wonder when I can reach that height…”

Lu Yuan sighed inwardly, then asked Lan Chen beside him, “Didn’t Xia State deploy a mecha of the same level?”

Lan Chen shook his head.

“Definitely not. Don’t forget, this is the territory of the Distant Star Federation.”

Lu Yuan understood. Bringing such a top-tier war machine into another nation’s territory is almost equivalent to declaring war.

No wonder Lan Chen mentioned that for this secret realm exploration of Embers Mountain, the Distant Star Federation set the exploration rules in ways that favored themselves. Despite this, other nations remained compliant yet resentful, fundamentally for this reason.

In this light, the Ice God Mecha standing here is more about deterring foreign exploration teams; it’s unlikely to enter the secret realm itself.

“…Although we don’t have any divine level mechas this time, our exploration team does include two sky level Mechas and several Earth level Mechas, which is quite formidable.

However, one of the sky level Mechas was damaged in a previous exploration mission and has been sent back for repairs…

That’s the first video I sent you, where it got damaged while fighting for that fruit… and we didn’t even get the fruit in the end, it’s really… sigh…”

Lan Chen kept babbling on the side.

Lu Yuan thought for a moment after listening and then asked, “Since it’s a joint exploration, why don’t they just send more mechas in to wipe everything out? It’s better than losing people every day, right?”

Lan Chen rolled his eyes and replied, “If only it were that easy.

Combat mechas are heavily suppressed by the legendary aura within the secret realm; even a sky level Mecha can only unleash less than one-tenth of its combat power.

These things are expensive to build, and even the slightest damage requires resources that could build several level SSS individual combat powers…”

“Alright then.”

Lu Yuan nodded, resolving his doubts.

While he and Lan Chen were talking, the shuttle slowly descended into a busy base below.

The two of them disembarked from the shuttle, and Lu Yuan looked around, noticing that this huge base was actually made up of many small bases.

Each small base had flags from different factions, many of which he had never seen before.

“This is just a supply station; inside… that’s the real headquarters!”

As soon as they got off the shuttle, Lan Chen motioned for Lu Yuan to enter the secret realm.

In front of the secret realm entrance, a team of robotic guards quickly verified their identities and let them pass without any hassle.

Passing through the huge vortex-like light screen, they officially set foot on the land of Embers Mountain.

Lu Yuan first felt a slight heaviness in his body, likely due to the high-gravity environment, but it wasn’t too bothersome.

Next, he noticed a faint, mysterious aura in the air continuously merging into his body.

As this mysterious aura flowed in, the blood sphere in Lu Yuan’s chest sped up its circulation, his mental will became more active, and his body felt slightly warm.

It was as if he were soaking in a hot spring, with every pore in his body greedily absorbing this unknown and mystical Strength.

If there were a word to describe Lu Yuan’s feeling at this moment, it would be… euphoric!

An unprecedented feeling of getting stronger just by lying there and doing nothing!

“How does it feel?” Lan Chen’s voice came from beside him.

Lu Yuan turned his head and saw Lan Chen looking at him with a mix of teasing and concern.

“Do you feel a heavy suppression? It’s hard to bear, isn’t it? This is the legendary aura unique to a legendary level secret realm…”

Lan Chen patted Lu Yuan’s shoulder and comforted him, “Take your time to get used to it. We’ve all gone through this.”

Lu Yuan had a peculiar expression on his face, trying hard to suppress the euphoric feeling of soaking in a hot bath while nodding seriously to Lan Chen.

“Yes, I’ll adapt as quickly as possible.”

Lan Chen nodded in satisfaction, then led Lu Yuan towards a Camp ahead.

Following Lan Chen, Lu Yuan observed the surroundings and pondered the source of these mysterious auras.

“The so-called legendary aura… should be the same kind of extraordinary substance I was asked to collect in the elephant deity secret realm.

To be precise, it’s the aura left behind by the activities or descents of an ancient evil deity within the secret realm…”

“Unexpectedly, as a pure martial artist, I can directly absorb this Strength to enhance myself. In this way, Embers Mountain is simply a cultivation treasure trove for me!”

“But why didn’t I notice this in the elephant deity secret realm?”

Lu Yuan thought about it and quickly came to a conclusion: it was probably because the elephant deity secret realm had been ‘dead’ for too long, and the aura of the elephant deity had decayed over time.

Only the active evil deity aura could benefit a pure martial artist Grandmaster.

This also explained why he could extract nourishment from the flesh and blood of ancient evil deity creatures.

These ancient evil deity creatures were products contaminated by the aura of the evil deity. The evil deity aura combined with their flesh and blood naturally remained active.

Lu Yuan pondered for a moment and decided to refer to this aura as the “evil deity factor.”

However, he still couldn’t understand why the path of the pure martial artist Grandmaster could grow stronger by absorbing the evil deity factor.

Reflecting on the Hutian secret realm, he remembered the mural where the little figure not only absorbed the evil deity factor but also drew another type of Strength from the followers and worshipers bowing at its feet…

A bold hypothesis flashed through Lu Yuan’s mind-

“Could it be that the future direction of the path of the pure martial artist Grandmaster is to become something akin to an ancient evil deity-a ‘god’?!”

The little figure in the mural might have been absorbing something similar to ‘faith power’ from its followers and worshipers?!

The ancient evil deities valued their followers because they needed to draw faith from them. A large part of their divine Strength was constituted by the power of faith, so…

The essence of the evil deity factor is actually the power of faith!

This line of thinking seemed to make everything coherent.

Although Lu Yuan’s face remained calm, his heart surged with excitement at this conclusion.

He felt that even if his hypothesis wasn’t entirely accurate, it was at least partially correct.

“Unfortunately, in the current environment, cultivating followers is not a viable path. Not only is it difficult, but it also risks being labeled as a cult and exterminated by official forces.

There’s no way to replicate the ‘divine ascension’ of the mural’s little figure.

Fortunately, I can still absorb the evil deity factor to grow stronger…”

Lu Yuan’s thoughts swirled in his mind, giving him much clearer insight into the future direction of the path of the pure martial artist Grandmaster.

“Judging by the activity and concentration of the evil deity factor in the Embers Mountain secret realm, it indeed suggests that a Phoenix once existed here.

The legend of the Phoenix’s Nirvana seems to be true.

Moreover, the last time the Phoenix was active in Embers Mountain was likely not too long ago, perhaps even…”

Lu Yuan looked up at the fascinating sight of burning clouds filling the secret realm’s sky and thought to himself, “It’s highly possible that the Phoenix is still present in Embers Mountain!”

As he mulled over these thoughts, he and Lan Chen arrived at the entrance of the headquarters.

Just as Lan Chen had mentioned, the true headquarters within the secret realm was indeed far larger than the supply base at the entrance.

Various factions had built their base structures in concentric semi-circles radiating towards the deeper parts of the secret realm.

On the outermost perimeter, Lu Yuan noticed a nearly 100-meter-tall superalloy defense wall. Watchtowers were placed at regular intervals along the wall, and a swarm of reconnaissance drones buzzed in and out of the base overhead like a hive of bees.

Inside the headquarters, there were several bases for large-scale energy shields, though they weren’t activated-probably to conserve energy-and would only be used in case of a genuine crisis.

Apart from these, the most eye-catching feature of the entire headquarters was an enormous virtual light screen that hung in mid-air, projecting real-time information visible from any corner of the base.

Lu Yuan glanced at it and saw a list of names, each followed by a number labeled “embers value.”

“First, Oresa (Distant Star Federation), embers value: 354,671…”

Lu Yuan read a few of the names aloud before turning to ask Lan Chen, “Is this the contribution ranking you mentioned?”

“Yes.”

Lan Chen nodded.

“How is the embers value calculated?”

Lu Yuan inquired.

Lan Chen shook his head. “The algorithm is quite complex, but I’m certain of a few points-one is kills, specifically killing indigenous creatures and monsters within the secret realm.

The embers value is converted from the strength of the defeated opponents.

The second is harvests-items that are more precious and evaluated at higher values yield more embers value when converted…”

Listening to Lan Chen’s explanation, Lu Yuan thought for a moment and then asked, “Can I keep my harvests without converting them into embers value?”

Lan Chen gave him a meaningful look and nodded, “That’s a good question. Technically, the rules say absolutely not. But you know, rules are fixed, and people are flexible…”

Lu Yuan understood.

But then he heard Lan Chen continue, “However, I personally suggest you don’t challenge this rule.

Typically, converting harvests into embers value benefits us more than keeping them privately.

Unless you come across an exceptionally rare wondrous item, in which case even the higher-ups might help you keep it privately.

Of course…”

Lan Chen patted Lu Yuan on the shoulder and sighed, “Given our current strength, the chance of finding such a wondrous item is nearly zero. We’d best stick to honest exploration and killing monsters to earn embers value and exchange them for merit…”