Chapter 343: Chapter 205: Could It Be Lan Hao?

HUMMM—

As the fragments of the Red Thunder Cauldron merged into it, the crimson-and-azure barrier of light in the sky grew richer in color, its surface faintly taking on a metallic sheen.

Gasps of amazement rippled through the crowd. Su Chen couldn’t help but marvel. ’What an inconceivable display of power,’ he thought. ’So immense it can cover an entire planet.’

’I wonder when I’ll ever be able to reach such a level.’

Chong Jingtian’s heart pounded with excitement. Although it seemed they would still have to do the work themselves now that the fog was gone, without its interference, they could survey the entire planet with unparalleled precision.

The Four Cities of Yingfeng had thrived on Red Thunder Star for a millennium, yet they had never possessed a complete map of the planet—only fragmented charts pieced together from explorations within the fog.

In fact, if someone from the Royal Court hadn’t descended from the heavens ten years ago, they wouldn’t have even known they were living on a sphere.

The benefits of an accurate survey were immense. They could potentially find more convenient, faster, and safer routes between the cities, drastically reducing travel time.

They could also venture into regions previously marked as dangerous to discover new resources.

Even if the Nether Fog were to make a comeback one day, the advantages gained during this period would be immense, allowing them to face it with greater composure. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"Senior Brother..." Su Chen looked to Qing Cang beside him and asked, "How long can Master’s barrier hold?"

"Hmm..."

Qing Cang still felt a bit awkward being called "Senior Brother." He paused to think for a moment before saying, "If this were just a barrier formed from pure Energy, it would be like rootless duckweed, lasting three months at most. But with the fragments of the Red Thunder Cauldron as its foundation, its stability is greatly increased."

"I estimate it will last at least one year. At best, it might even hold for three."

"One to three years..." Su Chen murmured, lost in thought. Qing Cang then added, "After all, this is just a fraction of Master’s power. It’s still fundamentally a temporary fix. If Master were here in person, using the full power of an Ancient King, it would naturally last much longer."

He spoke as if he were afraid Su Chen might think this was the full extent of an Ancient King’s power.

’This senior brother of mine really can’t stand anyone having the slightest doubt about the Ancient King,’ Su Chen mused, then replied:

"That’s already far longer than I expected. It’s enough time to deal with this Holy Banquet problem."

One to three years. Su Chen split the difference and settled on two years.

During this period, the Four Cities of Yingfeng would do everything in their power to purge the Deceitful God’s Followers. While those Followers hiding in the wilderness wouldn’t be completely exposed, they would find it extremely difficult to remain concealed.

By the time the Nether Fog returned, it would take the Deceitful God’s Followers a much longer time to grow their numbers to the point of instigating another Holy Banquet calamity.

’As long as nothing unexpected happens, that should buy them at least a decade, maybe more.’

’Ten years...’ Su Chen mused. ’By then, I’ll definitely be more than just a nameless... well, a slightly-less-nameless grunt. I can just clean them up thoroughly again myself.’

As long as someone with enough power was around to periodically purge them, the Deceitful God’s Followers shouldn’t be able to harm Red Thunder Star.

It sounded tedious, but Red Thunder Star’s location was simply too inconvenient. Otherwise, a planet in the Red Sun system would never have been left completely ignored.

Even just now, Venerable Red Sun hadn’t asked the Bronze Ancient King to help resolve the issue permanently. Clearly, he knew it wasn’t a problem that could be easily fixed; the only true solution was to move the entire planet.

’Moving an entire planet...’ Su Chen’s mind wandered. ’What level of power would that even take?’

As he was lost in thought, a streak of crimson light shot toward them like a Meteor before abruptly halting in mid-air. The resulting shockwave washed over the crowd, sending their hair and clothes fluttering.

It was the Stone Slab bearing the Spirituality of the Great Venerable Red Flame Thunder Resonator. A crimson mist swirled around it, irresistibly drawing everyone’s gaze.

Qing Cang once again tossed out the metallic compression frame, which enveloped the Stone Slab and shrank it down to the size of a fist before he put it away.

Then, his gaze fell upon Su Chen, and he looked as if he wanted to say something but was hesitating.

Su Chen watched him with a curious expression for a long moment before Qing Cang finally managed to force the word out: "Junior Brother..."

’Are those two words really so difficult to say?’ Su Chen grumbled to himself.

Once he had uttered those two difficult words, Qing Cang’s speech became much smoother. "Things on Red Thunder Star are more or less settled. Junior Brother, when do you plan to leave with me?"

"I get to choose when?" Su Chen was rather surprised. He had assumed Qing Cang would insist on taking him away immediately.

He could tell that Qing Cang didn’t fully approve of the Ancient King expending power to resolve the Holy Banquet calamity; his only thought had been to safely bring this Morning Star Tier Spirituality back to the Sect.

They had different priorities, so he wouldn’t accuse Qing Cang of being callous or disregarding life.

But now that the Ancient King’s power had already been spent, it was truly surprising that Qing Cang was still giving him time.

"And why not?" Qing Cang glanced at him. For some reason, the worry that had been etched on his brow was gone, replaced by a much calmer demeanor. His tone was level and gentle. "This is your home planet, after all—the place you’ve lived for many years. Don’t you want to say your goodbyes?"

He said "Junior Brother" again, this time without stumbling over the words.

Wan Chen found his gaze repeatedly drifting to Qing Cang, a trace of resentment in his heart. ’This Master Qing is excellent in every way, except for his absolute, unquestioning reverence for the Ancient King.’

’Shouldn’t the most important thing right now be leaving as quickly as possible?’

’The longer we delay, the more time other powers will have to react. Is he being this lenient just because Su Chen is considered half a disciple of the Ancient King?’

"We should just head back as soon as possible," Lan Hao finally burst out, unable to hold back any longer. He had gotten nothing out of this trip and had even been inexplicably tormented by the Deceitful God’s Followers.

If someone really made a move on the Spirituality on the way back, no one would care about his status. If he got caught in the crossfire, dead was dead.