174: Chapter 174 The Philosopher's Stone Acquired! The National Treasure Actually Flies Towards Su Bai

Stars were born within the darkness, only to march toward destruction in an instant.

Matter transformed into Mental Power, Mental Power condensed into flames, and the flames disintegrated into countless minuscule laws, ultimately reconverging into a flickering point of light.

Infinite changes cycled endlessly behind the rift.

After just a single glance, many Card Creators turned pale and hurriedly averted their gazes.

They could not comprehend the scenes presented by that space.

Forcing oneself to watch would only throw one's mental circuits into chaos.

Soon, a trace of red light emerged from the depths of the rift.

At first, it was only the size of a needle tip.

As it slowly approached the arena, the distorted light around it gradually returned to normal, and a red crystal only the size of a fingernail finally appeared before everyone's eyes.

The crystal's shape was irregular, with obvious fracture marks still remaining on its edges.

It was clearly just a fragment.

Yet within its translucent red interior, it seemed to contain a boundless universe.

Whenever anyone's gaze shifted, the stellar structure within the crystal would change accordingly.

Viewed from the front, it resembled a burning fire.

Viewed from the side, it looked like a drop of congealed blood.

Those with sufficient Mental Power could even see the path of laws they had always pursued within it.

Qi Yuan saw a truth furnace constructed from hundreds of millions of materials.

Li Qingyue saw countless timelines intersecting at the same origin point.

The Purple-Robed Chief saw the entire process of a card from birth to destruction.

As for Su Bai, he saw a patch of chaos.

Within that chaos, the causal rings of the Magical Girl and the spiritual silhouette of the Stand intertwined with each other, and a slender arrow flickered in and out of view in the deepest depths.

His gaze instantly turned serious.

Gazing at the slowly descending red crystal, the Empress explained to the nationwide audience:

"This item is the highest reward of this National Competition, the Philosopher's Stone fragment."

"It is neither a complete divine artifact nor can it truly provide infinite mana, yet it still possesses three traits sufficient to change the path of card creation."

As she spoke, three lines of golden text materialized above the arena.

[First, ignore the load-bearing upper limit of some materials.]

[Second, achieve lossless conversion between Mental Power, matter, and laws.]

[Third, enable the enlightener to come into contact with the ultimate truth structure at the bottom layer of the world.]

With the appearance of each line of text, the sound of breathing at the scene grew heavier by a fraction.

The first trait could solve the material problem that plagued Card Creators the most.

The second trait was enough to turn countless designs stuck in the theoretical stage into reality.

As for the third, it had already exceeded the scope of what ordinary professionals could imagine.

That was a path leading directly to Tier Nine, and even beyond Tier Nine.

"According to the rules of the competition, the champion Card Creator may enter the National Treasure Secret Realm to comprehend for seven days."

The Empress looked at Su Bai.

"The Philosopher's Stone belongs to the Dragon Kingdom's national treasure; you cannot take it away, nor can you cut the stone body. How much you can understand and record within seven days depends entirely on your talent and fortuitous encounters."

"Seven days are enough."

Su Bai stood up.

For other Card Creators, seven days might not even be enough to understand the structure on the surface of the Philosopher's Stone.

But what he needed to do was extremely clear.

With the help of the Philosopher's Stone, he would complete the lossless conversion between Mental Power, matter, and laws, and then completely materialize the Stand arrow from the conceptual blueprint.

The Empress nodded gently.

"Then let the national treasure confirm your qualification for comprehension."

The red crystal hovered directly above the arena.

A golden staircase condensed from national destiny extended out from the VIP seats, leading directly beneath the Philosopher's Stone.

Su Bai stepped onto the staircase.

Tens of billions of gazes followed his figure as he moved.

Tier one.

Tier two.

Tier three.

As the distance closed, the magical girl card within Su Bai's body vibrated first.

Immediately following that, the Stand Card also emitted a low hum.

Two completely different powers awakened simultaneously.

Pink light representing miracles and wishes surrounded Su Bai's left side, while dark golden light representing spirit and soul rose from the right.

Behind Su Bai, the causal ring and the phantom of [The World] manifested simultaneously.

Gasps instantly erupted inside the arena.

The Empress slightly narrowed her eyes.

Li Qingyue also took half a step forward.

Under normal circumstances, an enlightener needed to walk beneath the Philosopher's Stone, touch the national destiny projection with Mental Power, and then let the Ninefold Seal judge their identity and qualifications.

Yet Su Bai was still more than ten meters away from the end of the staircase.

That quietly suspended red crystal suddenly vibrated.

Hum!

A nearly transparent ripple spread outward.

The next moment, the Philosopher's Stone actually broke away from the encirclement of the nine golden dragons and took the initiative to fly toward Su Bai!

"What?!"

The complexions of the nine imperial powerhouses responsible for maintaining the seal changed simultaneously.

"The national treasure has left its fixed coordinates!"

"The seal hasn't been attacked!"

"It is moving on its own!"

On the golden staircase, Su Bai also stopped in his tracks.

He had just raised his right hand when the red crystal crossed the final dozen meters and gently landed in his palm.

There was no rejection.

There was no qualification review.

That national treasure fragment, which had slumbered in the Dragon Kingdom's secret realm for hundreds of years, rested quietly in Su Bai's hand as if it had finally found the person it had been waiting for for so long.

The entire audience was dead silent.

Even the Empress was stunned for a split second.

The Philosopher's Stone was jointly guarded by successive Dragon Kingdom imperial households and the Truth Sanctuary, and in the past, dozens of national champions had entered the secret realm to comprehend it.

Some received blessings from the laws.

Some used it to advance to Tier Nine.

Others created Rainbow Card blueprints that were passed down for a hundred years.

But a situation where the Philosopher's Stone actively flew toward an enlightener had never happened before.

"Why would it choose Su Bai?"

An imperial Card Creator blurted out in shock.

No one could answer.

Because at the very moment the crystal touched Su Bai's palm, a strange change occurred once again.

The stars inside the red crystal extinguished simultaneously.

Countless minuscule points of light converged toward the center, gradually outlining a slender silhouette.

That was an arrow.

The arrow shaft was archaic, yet the arrowhead gleamed with a chilling light capable of piercing the soul.

The Stand Card within Su Bai's body vibrated violently.

Behind Qin Ye, [The World] also reappeared at the same time, looking up at the arrow within the Philosopher's Stone.

An indescribable spiritual resonance swept across the arena.

Everyone whose mental attributes reached the standard saw a blurry figure standing behind them in a daze.

Behind some people, a sword-wielding knight emerged.

Some saw a burning giant beast.

Some saw a humanoid machine composed of precision gears.

Those silhouettes only existed for an instant before dissipating once more.

Yet this single instant was already enough to drive everyone into a frenzy.

"What did I just see?"

"It feels like someone is standing behind me!"

"That is a Stand? Is it possible for me to awaken a Stand as well?!"

"This system is not exclusive to Qin Ye; it can really be popularized for everyone!"

The tournament detection array suddenly emitted a piercing alarm.

The card data on the main screen was completely cleared, and rows of golden prompts that had never appeared before replaced the original image.

[Detected unknown law resonance.]

[Analyzing system origin...]

[Analysis failed.]

[Calling world occupation classification database...]

[No corresponding occupation found.]

[Re-evaluating...]

After a brief pause, the first brand-new prompt slowly surfaced.

[Detected independent conceptual path.]

All the card-making grandmasters in the VIP seats stood up simultaneously.

The second prompt appeared.

[System Name: Stand.]

Third line.

[Core Rules: Spiritual Manifestation, Soul Resonance, Conceptual Awakening.]

Fourth line.

[Preliminary recognition by world laws.]

No other sound could be heard inside the arena anymore.

Everyone stared fixedly at the final paragraph of slowly generating text.

[This system possesses the potential to break away from traditional card classifications and form an independent extraordinary profession.]

Boom!

Above the arena, the nine national destiny golden dragons that originally only descended for the champion let out a simultaneous long roar.

A dark golden pillar of light soared into the sky from Su Bai's palm, piercing through the clouds and transforming into a blurry humanoid silhouette above the imperial city.

That silhouette had no fixed appearance.

The image seen by everyone was different.

Because what it represented was not any single Stand.

It represented a brand-new path that had just been recognized by the world!