Divine Convenience Store-Chapter 550: Purple Chest
As though they had coordinated it, the Nihilist and the Arbiter turned into motes of light at the same time as Liu Xiaoyu and Lin Mo dealt their finishing blows against them. One became filled with holes emitting golden lightning while the other became obliterated by a concentrated sphere of starlight annihilation.
The shockwaves from their simultaneous destruction ripped through the arena, canceling each other out in a thunderous clap that shook the void above.
And then, the familiar window panel appeared before them.
[Wave 3 Complete.]
[Floor 5 Cleared.]
[Time Elapsed: 12 Minutes 45 Seconds]
[Rating: SSS]
[Rewards: 2 Blue Chests, 1 Purple Chest, 3000 Dimension Essence, Access to Floor 6 Unlocked.]
[Floor 5 Checkpoint Reached. Can start on Floor 6 on the next attempt.]
Lin Mo landed heavily as the [Decanus Set] automatically returned to its cube form.
He took a deep, shuddering breath, feeling the strain of maintaining the Aetheric Link and the explosive output of his final attack.
"Whew... that was intense," He muttered as he holstered his revolver and wiped sweat from his forehead. "But we did it. SSS rating. Not bad."
"Not bad? That was awesome, Boss!" Liu Xiaoyu landed beside him, still vibrating with residual energy. Her golden armor was glowing hot, but she looked like she could go another ten rounds. "Did you see that Void guy’s face? Or, well, lack of face? He looked so confused when I showered him with punches!"
The golden armor also retracted from her body, turning into a golden cube. Her face revealed a beaming, flushed face and hair that was standing on end from static. "Oh! This is amusing. The armor got compressed and folded like they’re made of paper."
"Well, that’s an advanced technology from the Argent Covenant Realm. Maybe like compression or spatial folding technology."
"Compression? Spatial folding? Sounds complicated, Boss."
"Think of it like a spatial array. Spatial folding and compression make things smaller. Like folding paper until it’s small enough to become like that cube. It’s a principle that our own spatial rings use, but applied to physical matter in a way that retains its structural integrity without being placed in a separate dimension. The Argent Covenant’s technology is... highly efficient."
"Oh! Technology... Got it," Xiaoyu nodded.
But I get it. The armor is incredible, Boss. I feel stronger like I became a storm giant. I should get grandpa to wear one of these."
"It amplifies your physical output but it also depends on the level of the armor. A Legionary Set will possibly not have that much effect on your grandfather. Anyway, how are you feeling?" Lin Mo asked.
Liu Xiaoyu blinked, then checked her internal state. Her eyes widened.
"Oh. I’m... kinda empty. The armor ate a lot of my qi to keep up with the output."
"I knew it. It’s because you forced it to adapt to your storm qi. You poured so much that it was even being transferred to me through the Aetheric Link. You gotta work on the synchronization."
Her eyes already drifted past the scientific explanation to the three glowing chests floating in the center of the arena. "Understand, Boss! Now, the loot! The Purple Chest! This only shows up at Floor 8 to 10 on the Jade Hollow Conduit Tower!"
He looked at the center of the arena, where three chests hovered in the air.
Two familiar blue ones, and one radiating a profound, regal purple light.
"Floor 8, huh? I guess this means we truly did something impossible to be awarded with this.
"I call dibs on opening it, Boss!" Liu Xiaoyu grinned as she started dashing towards them.
"Wait, Xiaoyu! Let’s check the Blue ones first!"
But she was already there. She popped the lid of the first Blue Chest.
[Item Acquired: Void Essence Shard x3]
[Item Acquired: Static Core x2]
[Item Acquired: Manual Fragment: [Void-Step Arts] (High Earth-Grade)]
"Movement technique fragment," Lin Mo noted, catching up to her. "Useful. We can combine it with the [Seismic Step] fragment I got earlier. I’ll give it to you. Maybe you can create a hybrid movement art with it."
"Seismec Step and Void-Step Arts? Okay. I’ll try to create something from it, then I’ll teach it to Xiao Ya and Xiaoping."
"Well, it’s up to you what you want to do with it. You’re the genius between us."
Lin Mo shrugged before opening the other Blue Chest.
[Item Acquired: Unknown Alloy Ingot x5]
[Item Acquired: [Conductor’s Baton] (Mid Spirit-Grade artifact)]
[Item Acquired: 1000 Dimension Essence]
"Hmm? Materials and a baton? Not good." Xiaoyu huffed, unimpressed at what was inside. "Okay, the big one. The purple one. Come on, give us something good!"
She placed her hands on the Purple Chest. It seemed to beat rhythmically as it responded to her touch. The lid creaked open slowly, revealing a blinding violet light.
When the light faded, a single item lay within.
It wasn’t a weapon, a piece of armor, an artifact or a manual.
It was a small, intricate figurine. A miniature statue of a creature that looked like a cross between a dragon and a storm cloud, carved from a material that seemed to shift and flow like liquid lightning.
[Item Acquired: [Storm-Soul Totem] (Low Heaven-Grade)]
[Description: A totem containing the remnant will of an ancient Storm Sovereign from the Primordial Jungle Fractured Plane. Can be fused with a compatible spirit beast or artifact to grant it sentience and evolution potential.]
[Note: Highly compatible with storm-attribute entities.]
Liu Xiaoyu stared at it, her mouth agape. "Heaven... Heaven-Grade? And it... evolves things?"
Lin Mo’s eyebrow raised. This was big. A Heaven-Grade item from a Floor 5 clear? The rewards scaled exponentially.
"That’s... perfect for you," He said. "Or rather, perfect for a... pet? Do you have a tamed spirit beast?"
"No... but I have the Celestial Duel cards!" Liu Xiaoyu exclaimed. "Can I... can it be fused with a Unit Card?"
Lin Mo paused. Fuse it with a card? The system said ’artifact’. Technically, the cards were spiritual artifacts or, more specifically, reusable talismans tied to a magnificent system created by divine beings.
"Well, keep it for now and let’s ask Zhenren Lihua first," He answered as he pulled up the Divine System Interface and wrote a query under the [Feedback and Suggestions] tab.
[Query: Can the [Storm-Soul Totem] be fused with a Celestial Duel Unit Card?]
To his surprise, Lihua’s reply was instant. Sure enough, they must’ve been watching them from up there.
[Answer: Yes. However, the process will be irreversible. The Unit Card will become a unique, Soul-Bound entity. It will no longer be summonable in a casual Celestial Duel game. It can only be summoned in a Celestial Duelist mode. The card will gain the ’Growth’ attribute but the restriction will remain the same. If it grows to become a Level 5 Unit, summoning it requires the sacrifice of lower-level units. On another note, she can keep it summoned by supplying it with its required spiritual energy even without opening her Celestial Field.]
Lin Mo showed it to Xiaoyu who immediately squealed as if the restriction didn’t matter to her.
She pulled out her deck. She shuffled through it frantically before stopping on one card.
The [Stormfang Wolf]. It was a Level 1 Unit from the [Celestial Beasts] deck, but it was her favorite outside of her starter [Celestial Idols] deck.
"This one. I want to make Fenrir real!"
"Fenrir? Where did you get that name?"
"I’ve read it in a book! Anyway, help me fuse it. Boss!"
Lin Mo chuckled. "Alright. Place the card and the totem together."
Xiaoyu did so. As the two items touched, a blinding flash of lightning erupted.
The card dissolved and flowed into the totem. The totem then cracked, and a surge of energy shot out, coalescing into a small, puppy-sized wolf made of solid lightning and storm clouds.
It yipped, which sounded like a tiny thunderclap, and nuzzled Xiaoyu’s hand.
"It’s... it’s adorable!" Liu Xiaoyu happily hugged the crackling creature. "I’m calling you Sparky!"
"I thought he was Fenrir? A downgrade in naming sense," Lin Mo teased, though he was impressed. The creature radiated a power that was already at the peak of the Spirit Condensation Stage. And it would grow. That’s the equivalent of a Level 1 Unit. But it’ll definitely grow stronger alongside her. On top of that, if it levels up, it’ll probably evolve or grow even stronger. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂
"Alright. Make sure it won’t cause chaos in our store. Let’s go to the next floor... Or we can stop here for now..."
"Eh? No, Boss. Let’s continue. The effect of the Divine Vitality Surge is still here. I wanna show Sparky how strong her master is. Hehe."
"You’re really treating it like a sentient being now?"
"Of course. That’s the effect of the totem, no? Sparky has the remnant will of an Ancient Storm Sovereign!"
Lin Mo could only shake his head as he watched the small cub bark at him as though it understood their conversation.
"Alright, let’s go up then... The next floors should be easier than what we faced here. Hopefully..."
With that, they walked toward the glowing portal to Floor 6.
