Chapter 473: Chapter 395: A Secret Rendezvous with the Crown of Corruption Right Before the Blood Soul True Monarch!

As night fell, Su Yuan’s Colorful Talent [Night Raid Must Succeed] could now be used without any restrictions.

This ability, which could resist all surveillance below Divinity Transformation, was his greatest reliance in stealing the crown.

However, to avoid possible surveillance in his residence, Su Yuan made certain arrangements before setting off.

He used the Corpse Refinement and the Vermilion Face and White Bone Puppet Manufacturing Method to create a puppet identical to his true self, leaving it in the room to simulate cultivating and confuse any onlookers.

Su Yuan believed that with his puppet expertise, as long as the Blood Soul True Monarch wasn’t watching closely, there wouldn’t be any issues detected.

After making the preparations, he officially entered a stealth state, and according to the memorized route, headed toward the study where the Blood Soul True Monarch resided.

Relying on the Night Raid Must Succeed, he made his way effortlessly and quickly reached the study.

At this time, the Blood Soul True Monarch had not yet left the study.

Su Yuan wasn’t in a hurry and maintained his stealth state, quietly waiting.

Time passed slowly, and after more than two hours, the Nascent Soul True Monarch finally stood up, left the study, and placed an invisible lock on the door.

If this lock were damaged, the Blood Soul True Monarch would undoubtedly become aware.

But for someone in stealth mode capable of penetrating all barriers with the ’Night Raid Must Succeed’, this was not an issue.

Watching the Blood Soul True Monarch walk away, Su Yuan casually stepped forward and entered the study.

Using the same method, he passed through the wall blocking the secret passage and once again faced the terrifying aura emanating from the Crown of Corruption.

The entire process was surprisingly smooth, as if it could achieve the final goal without any planning.

But Su Yuan wasn’t worried that such a smooth infiltration was a trap, because the Blood Soul True Monarch would never anticipate he had this divine-level stealth technique like "Night Raid Must Succeed".

Moreover, even with this level of a stealth technique, it was almost impossible to steal the Crown of Corruption.

Because the power emanating from this Divinity Transformation Treasure was enough to erode everything below Nascent Soul, causing cultivators to either die violently or become slaves to the Crown of Corruption.

Normally, neither Su Yuan nor Motis would be spared.

The Blood Soul True Monarch, however cautious, wouldn’t suspect a probability-zero event, right?

It’s just unfortunate that he wouldn’t expect Su Yuan to have mastered the ’Corruption Divine Kingdom’, which was optimized by the Blue Star Federation’s Divinity Transformation experts and then upgraded one more time by the system.

With this divine technique, he could be considered the true successor of the Decaying Demon Monarch... except the Demon Monarch himself wasn’t aware.

When entering the secret passage during the day, Su Yuan discovered that by showcasing the power of the Corruption Divine Kingdom, he could largely offset the erosion from the Crown of Corruption.

He could even... gain the recognition of this treasure, except at that time, the Blood Soul True Monarch was nearby, so he didn’t do it.

Now, with only himself present, he could be as outrageous as he wanted.

With a thought, the seed of corruption, which had grown into a Sword Lotus, suddenly expanded into a fiery red lotus platform phantom, enveloping Su Yuan entirely.

The erosive power in the secret passage infused into the Sword Lotus phantom, not corroding it but transforming it into energy to sustain the Sword Lotus’s existence.

Relying on the Sword Lotus phantom, Su Yuan quickly moved forward and once again stood before the Crown of Corruption.

This time, he directly crossed the final distance to the Crown of Corruption, reaching out to touch the Iron Crown.

In an instant, the treasure crown trembled slightly, having lost a third of its body and its Artifact Spirit, leaving only some instincts.

And these instincts evidently regarded Su Yuan as its true master, showing a trend of proactively claiming allegiance.

Su Yuan anticipated that the Crown of Corruption would look favorably upon him but didn’t expect it to be this intense, leaving him momentarily at a loss.

He wasn’t prepared to take away the Crown of Corruption today and then immediately defect!

To join the Blood God Sect suddenly that day and then leave suddenly the same day, even if the Blood Soul True Monarch were foolish, he would notice something was wrong and lay a trap to capture him.

Moreover, no one could guarantee there wasn’t an alarm device on the altar where the Crown of Corruption was stored.

After thinking it over, Su Yuan first activated the Demon Technique·Finger Weapon to establish as much of a connection as possible with the Crown of Corruption, to communicate mentally.

This Magical Treasure had been with the Blood Soul True Monarch for so long, perhaps it contained information related to him.

The communication with the Crown of Corruption went smoothly, and a piece of intelligence that the Blood Soul True Monarch had deliberately hidden was revealed.

It was about another ability of the damaged version of the Crown of Corruption.

Apparently, besides being able to refine the power of other beings through blood sacrifice and infuse it into the user, the Crown of Corruption could also seize the specified target’s talent.

Unlike the blood sacrifice ritual, which could be held every ten years, the talent extraction effect could only be activated once by each user.

The activation process was similar to the blood sacrifice ritual, with the only difference being that the latter required numerous beings as offerings, while the former only needed to make the specified target the offering.

Within ten years, the choice must be made between the blood sacrifice ceremony and the talent capture ritual.

"Hm, no wonder Blood Soul Old Deng is so enthusiastic about me, turns out he’s craving my body."

Su Yuan snorted coldly, finally understanding the scheme of the Blood Soul True Monarch toward him.

From this perspective, Motis is probably also one of the talent-grabbing targets dug out by the opponent.

Honestly speaking, this Old Deng really chose correctly.

With Su Yuan’s golden talent and colorful talents, if they were obtained by the Blood Soul True Monarch, this old Deng would soar directly.

And without surprise, with Su Yuan’s appearance, the Blood Soul True Monarch would definitely convert the current blood sacrifice ceremony into a talent extraction ritual targeting Su Yuan.

Thus, Su Yuan would give up his own life to save millions.

"But... I neither want to die, nor do I want to save the millions,"

murmured Su Yuan as he looked at the Crown of Corruption before him.

He tried asking for the effects in the prime state of this Magical Treasure and the reason for its evil corruption, but couldn’t get an effective response.

Because the consciousness of this Magical Treasure was once destroyed, and the current consciousness was born after the treasure became incomplete, unaware of the events of its full state.

This left Su Yuan somewhat regretful.

But it doesn’t matter, as after completing the [King of the Sea of Law] task and obtaining the Corruption Crown Refining Method, the answers would become clear.

As for how to complete the [Stealing Crown] task, Su Yuan had a certain idea.

He did not intend to directly take away this Magical Treasure, lest he alarm the Blood Soul True Monarch.

He was going to refine the Crown of Corruption on the spot!

Once this Magical Treasure essentially became Su Yuan’s possession, then the [Stealing Crown] task should be considered complete.

After obtaining the "Divine Creation External Pill Forging Technique," perhaps he could find a new way to save himself and the common people.

With this thought, Su Yuan covered his entire palm over the Crown of Corruption, officially starting the ritual refinement.

The Crown of Corruption itself had a strong inclination to acknowledge an owner. It was like dry wood meeting a raging fire with Su Yuan, instantly igniting.

Technically speaking, a Divinity Transformation Treasure, even a damaged one, should not be something a Foundation Establishment Cultivator could dabble with.

But there are always exceptions to the rule.

To use an inappropriate analogy, if the Crown of Corruption were a Royal Princess secluded in a deep palace, the normal process to marry her would be like this.

First, you need to have enough power, and then through day after day of being a sycophant, barely gaining the princess’s favor, you can win her over, although she still retains the right to seek more consorts, which you cannot prevent.

But Su Yuan did not take the usual path.

He was entirely like a yellow-haired lad who secretly sneaked into the princess’s boudoir, captivated her with thrilling stories, and decisively eloped with her.

All customary marriage rites, the formal process, were completely skipped as the princess and the yellow-haired lad wed directly in the wilderness.

Though the analogy might be off, the principle holds true.

After bypassing all the cumbersome procedures, how could Su Yuan’s refining speed not be swift?

On the first day, Su Yuan refined a third of the Crown of Corruption.

He reluctantly left only when daylight broke, and the Blood Soul True Monarch might return or monitor him at any moment.

During the day, he didn’t idle; instead, he diligently practiced the "Celestial Demon Parasitism Technique," turning his soul into a source of contamination.

The method of contaminating one’s soul was simple—using the Abyssal Magic Vein for infection.

Once the Abyssal Magic Vein was upgraded to full level, the gathered Abyssal Spiritual Power was inherently highly contaminating. Once it contacted a Cultivator, it would rapidly penetrate and completely control them.

If such an effect could be integrated into Su Yuan’s soul, it would undoubtedly enhance him significantly.

After an entire day’s cultivation, Su Yuan’s soul initially transformed into a contamination source, and he demonstrated this to the Blood Soul True Monarch late at night.

The latter was very satisfied, confirming that Su Yuan was a prodigious talent of the Demon Dao.

During the demonstration of the Celestial Demon Parasitism Technique, Su Yuan secretly observed the Blood Soul True Monarch’s expression, noting no unusual reactions, likely still in the dark.

This reassured him, allowing him to act more boldly.

Upon parting with the Blood Soul True Monarch, Su Yuan once again stealthily entered the secret passage to meet the princess in the tower... ahem, the Crown of Corruption.

That night, he refined another third.

The third night was the same, and by the break of dawn, he completed the ritual refinement of the Crown of Corruption, turning the damaged Divinity Transformation Treasure into his possession.

Su Yuan wasn’t worried that the refinement of the Crown of Corruption into another’s Magical Treasure would be discovered by the Blood Soul True Monarch.

Because the Blood Soul True Monarch had never gained the treasure’s acknowledgment.

To put it bluntly, this Old Deng hadn’t even gotten close to the mark, hadn’t even entered the princess’s boudoir once; how could he notice the princess had become someone else’s?

Heh, the value of the Innate Yellow-haired Sacred Body keeps rising!

Just then, a soft "ding" rang in Su Yuan’s ears.

[Stealing Crown (1/1)]

[Task Two: Stealing Crown (Completed)]

[Task Reward: Divine Creation External Pill Forging Technique (Available)] 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Seeing the information displayed on the system panel, Su Yuan smiled in satisfaction.

Three days of effort had not been in vain.

He glanced at the time; there was still some time before dawn fully broke, so he directly claimed the task reward.

He hoped this reward could bring new possibilities.

If not, he’d have to boldly steal the Crown of Corruption, initiate the Blood Sacrifice Array with Chen Nuoyi, and summon himself and Motis away.

But in doing so, he and Motis might preserve their lives, but the captured civilians’ fate would be uncertain.

With less than a month left before the Blood Sacrifice Ceremony, even if Sea Yaksha Wu Sheng was killed, other pirates had still abducted over fifty thousand people.

These civilians were being held in some outposts outside the headquarters.

Even if the Crown of Corruption was gone, the Blood Sacrifice Ceremony couldn’t proceed, would the Blood Soul True Monarch kindly release these fifty thousand civilians?

Most likely, they’d be slaughtered in a fit of rage.

So unless absolutely necessary, Su Yuan still wanted to find a win-win solution.

With this mindset, the vast knowledge of the Divine Creation External Pill Forging Technique poured into Su Yuan’s mind.

After digesting this knowledge, his eyes lit up.

A win-win method might really exist!

"However, just relying on the Divine Creation External Pill Forging Technique isn’t enough; I need to plan further,"

Su Yuan contained his excitement, thinking secretly.

He cast his gaze on the Crown of Corruption, reluctantly patting its Divinity Transformation Treasure body, and said:

"Princess... ahem, Treasure Crown, bear with it and stay here a little longer."

"When the Blood Sacrifice Ceremony of Blood Soul Old Deng starts, that’s when we’ll reunite... Then, we’ll never be apart again!"