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*****
The Ancient Tree of Life represented the laws of life for the entire continent. It was omnipresent, and with the revival of spiritual energy, it had also gained certain omniscient traits.
It knew of the threat posed by the Lord of the Netherworld, and it was even more aware of Su Wen's talent and the purpose of his journey.
A twelve-piece Consolidated Equipment Set would allow a Heavenly God-tier Heavenly Jewel Master to unleash Heaven-Mutating power, which could then resolve the threat of the Lord of the Netherworld.
As for breaking through to the Heaven-Mutating tier?
The Ancient Tree of Life did not harbor such hopes.
After all, breaking through to that level was not a simple matter of personal advancement. The plane itself could not support it. The weakness of the plane capped the ceiling of a Heavenly Jewel Master at the twelfth stage.
However, external forces could be leveraged.
Take Su Wen's Consolidated Equipment Set, for instance.
A twelve-piece Consolidated Equipment Set was truly at a level that matched the Heavenly God tier.
An eleven-piece Consolidated Equipment Set wielded by a Heavenly Emperor could unleash power at the Heavenly God tier, allowing someone at the peak of the Heavenly Emperor tier to erupt with the strength of a high-stage or even peak Heavenly God.
Even if it were only a ten-piece Consolidated Equipment Set, it would still be enough to allow a powerhouse at the peak of the Heavenly Emperor tier to display the strength of an elementary-stage Heavenly God.
If the Heavenly Emperor powerhouse themselves defied heaven and had already reached the absolute limit of the Heavenly Emperor tier--being just a single line away--then even a nine-piece set would be enough to achieve this effect, allowing them to exert elementary-stage Heavenly God strength.
This was the power of a Consolidated Equipment Set!
The amplification a ten-piece set provided to a Heavenly God-tier powerhouse was similar to what a nine-piece set provided to a Heavenly Emperor. It could allow a powerhouse whose Heavenly Emperor power had reached the limit to display a trace of Heaven-Mutating power.
Unfortunately, the Consolidated Equipment Set was an ability unique to the Heavenly Jewel Master system. Neither the Dragon Emperor nor the Elven race possessed such power.
As for Xue Aotian of the Snow God Mountain lineage, even without considering a Consolidated Equipment Set, his strength had not reached that absolute limit. In other words, he was not just a single line away from possessing Heaven-Mutating power, and he could not even achieve a half-step Heaven-Mutating state.
Even with the God-Descend Set, Xue Aotian still remained at the Heavenly God tier and could not achieve that so-called transformation.
If he could possess an eleven-piece set, Xue Aotian could more or less reach the level of the Elven Queen or the Dragon Emperor.
Unfortunately, perfecting the God-Descend Set to eleven pieces was incredibly difficult.
As for asking external Consolidated Equipment Masters to assist in deducing the design, that was even more impossible. After all, this set was the core heritage of the Snow God Mountain and their very foundation. They could not possibly hand it over as an experimental subject for the Divine Masters of the Boundless Palace to study.
The set Su Wen intended to craft was a twelve-piece set, which corresponded to a Heavenly God-tier Consolidated Equipment Set.
Its amplification effect would be comparable to the boost an eleven-piece set gave to a Heavenly Emperor powerhouse.
If Su Wen could reach the peak of the Heavenly God tier, he wouldn't even need to be exceptionally heaven-defying himself to reach the absolute limit of that tier. With the twelve-piece set, it would be enough for him to unleash genuine Heaven-Mutating power.
It wouldn't be some half-step Heaven-Mutating state, but the true, actual Heaven-Mutating tier!
And could Su Wen achieve the peak of the Heavenly God tier?
The answer was obviously yes.
Given his talent, such an achievement did not seem far-fetched.
Moreover, while currently only at the Heavenly Emperor tier, Su Wen already possessed the strength of a peak Heavenly God. If his cultivation realm actually reached the peak of the Heavenly God tier, he could fully hope to rival the Elven Queen and the Dragon Emperor purely through his own strength.
When the time came to combine that with the twelve-piece Consolidated Equipment Set, there might truly be hope to completely eradicate the Lord of the Netherworld.
In truth, the Lord of the Netherworld had not fully matured.
He could be considered to have broken through to the Heaven-Mutating tier, but he had not stabilized his realm, nor had he fully mastered his own power when he arrived at the Heavenly Jewel Planet. Consequently, he was sealed by the joint efforts of the Dragon race, the Elven race, and the other major races of that era.
The strongest aspect of the sealed space was that it blocked his ability to absorb negative emotions from the outside world. This was a Heaven-Mutating power, or rather, a god-level ability. It allowed one to absorb the convictions of all living beings--whether it was faith or negative emotions--to achieve personal growth through this method.
Unfortunately, having just broken through to the Heaven-Mutating tier, he was sealed by multiple half-step Heaven-Mutating powerhouses. He had subsequently grown progressively weaker within the sealed space, leading to his current state.
If he were truly allowed to escape, even if the Dragon Emperor were reborn, it would be impossible to seal him again. Over the years, even though the Lord of the Netherworld failed to break the seal and his strength might have steadily declined, his mastery over his own power was definitely nothing like before. Once he emerged and replenished his strength, he would absolutely become a true Heaven-Mutating powerhouse.
When that time came, absolutely no one would be able to deal with him.
And it was at this moment that Su Wen appeared.
The Ancient Tree of Life was the core of all life on the entire planet and held the greatest aversion to the Lord of the Netherworld. Thus, it chose to consume its own energy to condense its most refined sprout to help Su Wen craft his Consolidated Equipment Set.
"Senior, please rest assured. I will deal with him before I leave," Su Wen promised.
"Your Majesty, our transaction is complete. It is time for me to go search for the next crucial material to craft my Consolidated Equipment Set."
"Master Wen has received the blessing of the Ancient Tree. From now on, you are an honored guest of our Elven race. Whenever Master Wen has a need, you may always seek out the Elven race," the Elven Queen said politely.
She had clearly received instructions from the Ancient Tree of Life as well.
Su Wen left the sealed land without any delay.
"For the belt material, I directly asked the Elven Queen for extra blood to use in crafting the consolidation fluid. This will allow the crafted belt to be of even higher quality. Additionally, my previous sets can also undergo a minor upgrade."
Holding the sprout condensed by the Ancient Tree of Life in his hand, Su Wen remarked, "With this sprout as the core, my armor and even the parts representing heaven and earth can be upgraded once again."
This sprout remained the primary material for the belt, but it was no longer the sole primary material.
To be more precise, Su Wen intended to use this branch as the primary material for his entire Consolidated Equipment Set. As for the belt itself, he planned to incorporate an additional primary material.
"Dragon tendon..."
This was the suggestion given by Ye Ruichen.
After some thought, Su Wen did not return to Heavenly Jewel Island but instead headed straight out to sea.
He prepared to travel to another continent.
Before leaving the Elven race, Su Wen had inquired about the Dragon race, particularly regarding information on dragons other than giant dragons.
For example, sea dragons.
He had successfully obtained some information.
However, there were no precise coordinates in the deep ocean. Even the Elven race found it difficult to give Su Wen the exact coordinates of where sea dragons appeared.
Fortunately, there were traces of sea dragons on the other continent.
After learning the basic information about the other continent from the Elven race, Su Wen planned to head there.
The other continent was known as the Xuantian Continent, and it possessed only a single Sacred Land, which was the Xuantian Palace.
The Xuantian Palace seemed to possess a heritage related to sea dragons.
Without boarding any ocean-faring vessel, Su Wen utilized his own understanding of numerous conceptual intents regarding the ocean, making him feel completely in his element within the waters.
Still, to make things a bit easier, after leaving the mainland, he found a Demon Soul Shark to serve as his mount. He promised to release it once it brought him near the Xuantian Continent.
Unfortunately, after sailing through the ocean for a long time, Su Wen did not encounter any attacks from sea dragon-type Heavenly Beasts.
There was nothing to be done about it. Even if he did encounter one, there was a high probability he wouldn't get what he wanted.
What he needed was the dragon tendon of a Heavenly God-tier sea dragon.