novelraw Chapter 398: Celebration and Incense Divine Power
Chapter 398: Celebration and Incense Divine Power
Infernal Sulfur Plane, Incense Fire Divine Dao Central Control Chamber.
As the final crystal panel etched with intricate runes clicked into the main array’s slot, Jie Ming carefully completed the last energy-circuit calibration.
He stepped back two paces and initiated a full-system diagnostic.
Hum…
The entire chamber bathed in soft milky-white light. Countless fine energy veins on walls, floor, and ceiling came alive, flowing like liquid.
Dozens of suspended light-screens flared to life, cascading torrents of data: faith-power collection efficiency, Spiritual Qi conversion rate, energy-network node stability, real-time Black Giant population status…
Three minutes later, every screen flashed a pleasing green. A gentle synthetic voice announced:
“Incense Fire Power Collection Network Module ‘Mind Resonance Array’ installation complete. Full-system self-check passed. Projected operational efficiency increase: 37.2%.”
Jie Ming exhaled deeply, rubbing his slightly aching brow.
The final phase had been far more troublesome than anticipated. Originally scheduled for six months, it had dragged on for nearly two years, mostly due to compatibility issues between the “Mind Resonance” and “Faith Purification” subsystems.
Still, he had made it in time.
And the rush was for good reason: two days from now was the Black Giants’ decennial Molten Fire Grand Celebration.
As elemental lifeforms personally created and iteratively improved by Jie Ming, the Black Giants’ physiology differed utterly from ordinary creatures.
They required neither food nor sleep; their metabolism was extremely slow, and their lifespans vast.
Even the most common Black Giant could live thousands of years if not killed in battle or drained of energy.
Those who had evolved to fourth- or fifth-ring through devouring lived in tens of thousands.
Such longevity warped their perception of time; a celebration every ten years was already considered “frequent.”
The century-spanning Grand Sacrifices and the yet-to-be-held Millennial Holy Rite were true milestones in tribal memory.
“Lord Master.”
A voice like thunder from the planet’s core rumbled outside the chamber.
Jie Ming turned.
At the doorway stood a head so massive only one eye was visible, belonging to Molten Mountain, one of the two remaining sixth-ring leaders of the Black Giant legions.
Unlike the slender, research-oriented Black Giant Priests, Molten Mountain followed the classic “elemental colossus” evolutionary path.
After reaching sixth-ring, his already fifty-meter frame had grown to nearly a hundred meters in resting form.
His body was sheathed in flowing liquid black metal that gleamed like cooling lava under the chamber lights.
One outstretched palm could cover half the room; the signature vertical fissure in his chest revealed a furnace-like obsidian core glowing within.
He was one of the original five elite Black Giants Jie Ming had nurtured, and one of only two survivors of countless planar wars.
Raw power, unbreakable will, and absolute loyalty in battle made him the undisputed martial symbol of the Black Giant legions.
“How are the celebration preparations?” Jie Ming asked, pulling up live feeds of venues across the plane.
Molten Mountain lowered his colossal head in reverence, nearly touching the ceiling. “Framework construction 87% complete. The main ritual site’s Eternal Furnace has been ignited; energy supply stable. Commander Rockhammer has gone to the eastern gathering zone to summon the clans. By celebration start, over 98% of the tribe will have reached the main venue.”
The feeds showed the central plains venue in frantic final construction.
Tens of thousands of Black Giants labored: bare-handed, they drew molten rock from the earth, shaping towering arches, platforms, and statues in mid-air; channeled pure energy from elemental pools into protective and enhancement arrays covering the entire site; and priest teams maintained a five-hundred-meter-wide energy vortex at the core, the Eternal Furnace, the focal point for tribal will and energy during the celebration.
“Good.” Jie Ming nodded in satisfaction. “Exact start time?”
“Standard planar time: noon in two days. When the twin suns reach zenith, the Furnace Resonance Ritual will officially begin.” A rare trace of anticipation colored Molten Mountain’s voice.
Even for long-lived Black Giants, a decennial tribal celebration was not to be missed.
“Understood. Carry on. Ensure everything proceeds smoothly.”
“As the Lord Master commands.” Molten Mountain bowed again, then turned with astonishing grace for his size and departed without disturbing a single instrument.
Jie Ming watched him go, then returned his gaze to the monitors.
Two days later, noon.
Across the Infernal Sulfur plane’s sky, two dark-red suns of different sizes slowly climbed to their zenith.
Scorching light bathed the central plains, turning the completed celebration grounds into a sea of glory.
Over three billion Black Giants had gathered.
The number sounded terrifying, yet when arrayed in perfect formation across the vast obsidian plain, they appeared orderly and majestic.
From high above, the black sea of giants was dotted with countless lava-forged sculptures, rune-shimmering energy towers, and slowly rotating energy vortices.
At the very center, the five-hundred-meter Eternal Furnace blazed at its peak. A golden-red pillar of energy soared skyward, linking with the twin suns overhead.
No long speeches, no complicated formalities.
The instant the twin suns’ light perfectly overlapped the furnace pillar…
“ROAR!!!!!”
Three billion Black Giants roared to the heavens as one!
It was not sound, but the spiritual resonance, energy oscillation, and tidal will of three billion elemental lives!
The earth quaked; air flash-heated to steel-melting temperatures, only to be instantly cooled by the giants’ innate heat-absorption talent.
Visible ripples of energy spread from every giant, weaving, colliding, and merging above the grounds before pouring into the central Eternal Furnace.
The pillar surged once more, shifting from golden-red to pure gold, a bridge of light connecting heaven and earth.
The celebration reached its climax.
In perfect square formations, the Black Giants began their war dances.
Every stomp, every punch, every energy eruption synchronized perfectly with an ancient rhythm etched into their blood.
Elite squads performed live combat demonstrations around the furnace, unleashing innate abilities under control, drawing waves of spiritual cheers from the onlookers.
And as all this unfolded, the newly completed “Mind Resonance Arrays” of the Incense Fire Divine Dao across the venue and the entire plane began to glow faintly.
Central Control Chamber.
Jie Ming did not attend the celebration in person; his presence would only make the Black Giants tense.
Standing before the main console, he stared unblinkingly at the dozens of light-screens flooding with data.
The leftmost screen showed the Eternal Furnace’s energy intensity had shattered conventional measurement limits.
The right screens displayed faith and thought-wave metrics.
The largest central screen showed a curve rocketing upward almost vertically.
It represented real-time reserves of Incense Divine Power.
The essence of Incense Divine Power was the scattered “thought fragments” and “sparks of inspiration” that naturally leaked from intelligent beings during daily life and cognition, collected, purified, and integrated through a specialized system into a unique conceptual force.
Unlike raw emotional energy or faith power, it was closer to “latent wisdom afterglow” or “condensed thought nuclei.”
Under normal conditions, with Black Giants dispersed across the plane for work and training, collection efficiency was limited.
But now, three billion individuals gathered in perfect focus, minds in peak resonance, emotions at fever pitch, their thought activity had reached an unprecedented summit.
And the newly optimized Mind Resonance Arrays were operating at maximum efficiency.
“Thought-fragment capture rate: 89.7%… 91.2%… 93.5%…”
“Inspiration purity: Transcendent grade… still rising…”
“Incense Divine Power synthesis rate: currently equivalent to 132 years of normal output per second…”
The numbers continued their frenzied climb.
When the celebration reached its most fervent moment, when three billion Black Giants roared an ancient war song in perfect unison and their spiritual waves synchronized completely with the Eternal Furnace’s torrent,
the central curve shattered Jie Ming’s pre-set “theoretical peak threshold” and shot into the red zone labeled “unknown high value.”
“Warning: storage rate exceeds safe buffer capacity. Initiate emergency diversion?”
The synthetic voice prompted.
“No. Maintain current state. Prioritize complete data collection,” Jie Ming ordered decisively, eyes fixed on the still-rising curve.
The corners of his mouth lifted uncontrollably.
Over an hour later, the first wave of climax gradually subsided.
The Black Giants entered the free mingling and display phase.
The Eternal Furnace’s intensity slowly declined; the peak period of mind resonance passed.
The Incense Divine Power reserve curve finally leveled off at a height that satisfied Jie Ming.
He glanced at the final total and drew a deep breath.
This single celebration had yielded enough Incense Divine Power to complete every planned module of the Incense Fire Divine Dao.
More importantly, the purity and activity of this batch reached theoretical optimum, true top-grade quality.
“Extract one standard unit and deliver to Analysis Lab One,” he commanded.
Minutes later, Jie Ming returned to his core laboratory.
On the workbench, a transparent crystal container held a fist-sized mass of warm golden light.
It neither danced like flame nor glared like a light sphere, but flowed slowly between liquid and gas as a gentle “mist of light.”
Closer inspection revealed countless tiny golden runes flickering in and out of existence within, accompanied by the faint murmur of billions of voices in harmony.
Incense Divine Power.
According to the Great Dao Book Pavilion, it was a supreme universal resource on par with Mortal Dust Qi.
Whether used to break cultivation bottlenecks, refine treasures or pills, temper body or soul, construct arrays or talismans, or heal Dao injuries and soul damage, its versatility and efficiency were nearly unmatched.
It even surpassed Mortal Dust Qi in breadth of application, for it could be shaped into virtually any form of power according to the user’s needs.
Yet what Jie Ming wished to attempt now was an extremely special, almost extravagant use of Incense Divine Power, one he had memorized the instant he read about it in the Great Dao Book Pavilion.
Divine Thought Sympathy Art.
The principle was to harness the “multitude thought afterglow” property within Incense Divine Power and temporarily convert it into whatever specific mental faculty the user urgently required.
In simple terms, it could selectively and temporarily boost comprehension, inspiration, deduction speed, or intuitive acuity.
Like injecting the brain with a super-dose of “epiphany catalyst.”
Jie Ming carefully enveloped the golden mist with spiritual force and, following the complex circulation route recorded in the Divine Thought Sympathy Art, began guiding its power.
There was no dramatic surge of energy, no grand phenomenon.
The golden mist seemed alive, following his spiritual guidance and gently merging into his brow.
A warm, lucid sensation like divine nectar poured over his mind, spreading instantly from its depths.
Jie Ming closed his eyes.
The world… had changed.
Not in perception, but in thought.
It felt as though he had stepped out of a narrow tunnel into infinite starry skies.
Countless problems, stuck ideas, and vague hypotheses from past research suddenly became as clear as a polished mirror.
His mind’s processing speed seemed to multiply a hundred-, a thousand-fold.
Ideas, inspirations, and solutions gushed forth like a fountain, instantly evaluated, filtered, combined, and optimized.
Complex theoretical problems that would have taken months of bitter contemplation now yielded multiple viable solutions in mere breaths.
Subconsciously, he focused this overclocked cognition on the problem that had plagued him for so long:
How to resolve the excessive energy dispersion and low killing efficiency when combining the two power systems?
Almost the instant the question formed,
the answer appeared, as if it had always been waiting there, clear, concise, complete.
Not one or two scattered ideas, but an entire coherent theoretical framework and implementation plan.
From the deepest principles of energy interaction to concrete rune array designs, every detail flowed seamlessly.
Jie Ming froze.
Not because the answer was too complex, but because… it was too simple.
So simple it was like a thin sheet of paper he had simply failed to poke through from the right angle before.
“So that’s it…” He slowly opened his eyes. The golden light faded, replaced by the bright gleam of sudden enlightenment. The corners of his mouth lifted uncontrollably. “So simple… How did I not see it before?”