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*****
A Consolidated Equipment Set consisting of nine or more pieces was considered Legend-tier.
The top equipment set on the continent today was an eleven-piece set.
This was because it was the highest level permitted by the current developmental stage of Heavenly Jewel Masters.
It couldn't be helped; on the entire continent, the only Heavenly God-tier powerhouse explicitly known on the surface was Xue Aotian. Even if one counted the hidden ones and the Heavenly Emperors who could burst out with Heavenly God-tier combat power by relying on external objects, they wouldn't exceed the fingers on two hands.
And not a single one of these people was a Consolidating Equipment Master!
That's right, not even one.
This was true even though Consolidating Equipment Masters themselves possessed the Space attribute, an upper-tier attribute that gave them an advantage in cultivating Heavenly Energy.
After all, an upper-tier attribute did not help with the cultivation of Heavenly Dao Energy in the slightest.
In fact, by the time one reached the Upper Heavenly Zong stage, the amplification brought by the Space attribute was no longer very obvious.
Consolidating Equipment Masters who could cultivate to the Upper Heavenly Zong stage were already few and far between. Rarer still were those whose Consolidating Equipment Master skills reached the peak of the Grandmaster tier after their Heavenly Energy cultivation met the standard.
On this basis, breaking through the bottleneck to reach Heavenly Dao Energy--a feat that many Heavenly Jewel Masters who focused solely on cultivating Heavenly Energy failed to achieve--was even harder!
Even after the breakthrough in Heavenly Energy, one still had to spend an immense amount of effort to simultaneously raise their Consolidating Equipment Master skills to the same level.
Even fewer succeeded.
The cultivation of a Consolidating Equipment Master was inherently extremely difficult. How arduous must it be to study Consolidating Equipment Master skills without letting one's Heavenly Energy cultivation fall behind, and to even have both aspects break through to the pinnacle of the continent?
Not everyone was Su Wen.
The three Great Divine Masters of the Boundless Palace were only Heavenly Kings themselves. Even though they possessed the scrolls for the Boundless Palace's eleven-piece Boundless Infiniti Set, they still had to cooperate fully as a trio, crafting separate parts and consuming an enormous amount of mental energy just to make it.
Right now, the theories of the three Divine Masters had naturally advanced to this level, but their restricted Heavenly Energy ultimately made it a luxury for them to independently craft an eleven-piece legendary set, let alone a Consolidated Equipment Set made of twelve pieces.
The absolute pinnacle of Consolidated Equipment Sets across the entire continent was also the only eleven-piece legendary set.
A twelve-piece set was completely unheard of.
One could well imagine Su Wen's goal.
And he had only been an initiate Consolidating Equipment Master for two years.
Yet, Su Wen was confident that he could craft this legendary-tier set.
This confidence didn't stem from his Consolidating Equipment Master techniques, but rather from his own accumulated foundations.
Fumbling through formations on his own, figuring out the movement of Soul Power in cultivation techniques by himself, subsequently coming into contact with Soul Guidance Devices and Soul Guidance Formations, and now touching upon Consolidating Equipment Master skills--Su Wen had encountered too many systems.
Sometimes specializing was good, but sometimes being erudite allowed one to understand other subjects by analogy.
Relying on his massive accumulation of foundations, paired with the support of his powerful Holy Dao Energy, he still had the confidence to successfully craft a twelve-piece, legendary-tier Consolidated Equipment Set.
Having been in secluded cultivation for a year, it was time for Su Wen to depart.
Tian'er's injuries had long been completely healed. It was just that her original realm wasn't low to begin with, and now, having turned a disaster into a blessing through this ordeal, she felt a breakthrough coming and was still in secluded cultivation to this day.
It wasn't that she hadn't broken through the bottleneck, but rather that her gains this time could support her in breaking through more than just a single minor realm.
As for Long Shiya, he had taken Zhou Weiqing away just a few days after Zhou Weiqing finished treating Tian'er and underwent a short period of secluded cultivation.
"Mountain Lord, I must thank the Snow God Mountain for its help over this past year."
Su Wen clasped his hands toward Xue Aotian, speaking with gratitude.
Over the past year, he hadn't just occupied Xue Aotian's cultivation grounds. Four of the six pieces in his current Consolidated Equipment Set had been crafted during this year. Xue Aotian had not refused him and had prepared the materials for him, which was no small expenditure.
This was only the Snow God Mountain, after all, and not Heavenly Jewel Island. The materials for a Consolidating Equipment Master to create consolidating scrolls weren't that abundant here. Of course, because there were numerous Heavenly Beasts in the Heavenly Beast Empire below, coupled with the primitive environment and its many natural resources, it wasn't too bad either. Otherwise, it would have been impossible to produce the only wild Divine Master in the world today who didn't originate from Heavenly Jewel Island.
But even so, the equipment Su Wen crafted was, after all, preparation for challenging a twelve-piece legendary set, so the consumption was quite massive.
"What Master Wen has done for the continent is far more than what I, Xue, have done," Xue Aotian waved his hand, not asking Su Wen for anything in return.
For the development of the entire Heavenly Jewel Master community on the continent, Su Wen had established an academy and opened up an academic field. This could be considered a monumental merit.
In Xue Aotian's eyes, this was making a contribution to the entire plane. It could even be seen as nurturing and seeking out geniuses to deal with the Lord of the Netherworld.
After all, there really were too many buried talents.
Although it was survival of the fittest, if the environment were a bit better, the probability of stronger individuals appearing would definitely be higher.
While you were still confined by the insufficient carrying capacity of the environment and could only accept your fate, someone was already lifting a hand to improve the living environment and raise everyone's chances of survival.
This was breadth of vision.
"Besides, Master Wen has frequently clashed with me this month, which has actually allowed me to make considerable progress in some of my methods." Although Xue Aotian didn't feel any loosening of his bottleneck during their confrontations, he had managed to perfect some of his skills.
"Mountain Lord, I have one more request."
"Please speak, Master Wen."
Su Wen took a deep breath and said solemnly, "I want to sense the seal over there."
Xue Aotian's pupils contracted.
Although he guessed that Su Wen might know information regarding the Lord of the Netherworld, he had never truly confirmed it.
Now that Su Wen had spoken up, Xue Aotian could finally be certain.
Furthermore, the request Su Wen made this time was very difficult for him to decide on alone, because the seal of the Lord of the Netherworld was far too important.
"Master Wen indeed knows of his existence."
"I have sensed his aura before."
"What?!" Xue Aotian was greatly shocked.
How could anyone have sensed the aura of the Lord of the Netherworld?
Su Wen had naturally fabricated this, but not having seen the Lord of the Netherworld didn't stop him from giving Xue Aotian and the others a warning.
"How is that possible? How could you have sensed his aura?"
Su Wen shook his head, seemingly reminiscing about something, his gaze filled with melancholy.
"Years ago, I once sensed a spatial rift. It was an aura completely filled with destruction and evil, tempting me to fall, enticing me to join his faction and help him break free..."
Xue Aotian's face had already become incredibly unsightly.
It wasn't that he had any prejudice against Su Wen, but rather that his heart felt heavy after hearing what Su Wen said.
The Lord of the Netherworld was clearly still sealed, yet he had actually established contact with the outside world!
This was the most terrifying thing.
"Are you sure?"
"I wouldn't lie about this kind of matter." Su Wen's face was calm.
"I destroyed that spatial rift and used my utmost strength to muddy the space. Perhaps it can interfere with his contact with the outside world, but in front of that kind of power, it is certainly negligible. I'm afraid it won't even delay him for a year or two." Su Wen sighed.
Xue Aotian did not blame Su Wen for why he hadn't come to the Snow God Mountain earlier to clarify this matter.
He also knew that even if Su Wen had sought him out early on, as an unfamiliar Initial-stage Heavenly Emperor, it would have been impossible for him to believe it.
Moreover, Su Wen had delayed for two years before telling this news to the Snow God Mountain, but he hadn't been idle during these two years either.