Zhang Yanhang had managed to produce three Flame God's Crowns this time, and the equipment available for relevant fusion included one Flame God's Crown +2 and one Flame God's Crown +1, which was equivalent to six ordinary Flame God's Crowns, bringing the total equivalent to nine ordinary Flame God's Crowns that could be used to fuse a Flame God's Crown +3.

The Flame God's Crown +3 was also the limit Zhang Yanhang could achieve based on the quantity he had.

After confirming he had enough, Zhang Yanhang took off the Flame God's Crown +2 he was wearing and took out the extra Flame God's Crown +1 from his waist bag. Then he picked up the two newly produced Flame God's Crowns and placed them in the Alchemy Array to begin fusion.

Compared to the previous Crimson Iron Hell Fingers, fusing the Flame God's Crowns was undoubtedly faster, after all, it was just a +3 fusion, and only four pieces of equipment were involved in the fusion, making the whole process exceptionally smooth. The fusion and shaping were completed within a minute and a half.

Looking at the freshly produced Orange quality Flame God's Crown +3, Zhang Yanhang glanced briefly at its attribute list.

[Flame God's Crown +3]

[Quality: Orange]

[Type: Equipment]

[Origin: Ashen World, Crimson Iron Ore Vein, Large Crimson Iron Ant Nest Tarano, Zhang Yanhang.]

[Durability: 72/72]

[Defensive Power: 55]

[Additional Attributes: Strength Effect +50%.]

[Usage requirements: Strength 75.]

[Score: 575 (Orange item scores range from 531 to 680.)]

[Introduction: The Nameless Blacksmith became an admired Forging Master known to all after helping Princess Cecilia Josephine return to the Kingdom, and he took responsibility for all the Kingdom's forging needs and order distribution, managing dozens of skilled forgers from the Royal Workshop...]

"I now have a total of four Flame God's Crowns +3, and since the fusion of the Flame God's Crowns is far from reaching its limit, and considering my previous experience with fusing other equipment, I estimate that I could immediately produce a Red Quality Flame God's Crown +5 through ordinary fusion," Zhang Yanhang thought.

Zhang Yanhang's previous fusions, such as the Crimson Marrow Flame Demon Armor and the Crimson Marrow Hell Finger, had reached their limits at +5, and he guessed that the Flame God's Crowns would likely be the same. So, if he had enough quantity, promoting it to Red Quality would be easy, but unfortunately, there was not enough quantity.

He had four heads that required equipping with the Flame God's Crown +3. If he fused all four Flame God's Crown +3 into a single Red Quality Flame God's Crown +5, what would the other three heads wear?

After all, even if the Red Quality Flame God's Crown +5 was powerful, it couldn't possibly provide higher additional attributes than what the four Orange Flame God's Crowns +3 offered. Therefore, fusing a Flame God's Crown +5 was indeed a meaningless act.

"The previous Flame God's Crown +2 provided a 45% Strength Effect bonus, while the Flame God's Crown +3 offered a 50% Strength Effect bonus. That's only a 5% increase in Strength Bonus. Not much of an increase, or rather, quite a minimal increase."

But this small amount was relative. It was only because the Flame God's Crown initially had a larger base number that it seemed small, and that was the reason Zhang Yanhang used to console himself.

After all, he had just obtained a 40% Strength Effect bonus from the Golden Quality Achievement [Crimson Iron Ant Nest Destroyer]. Comparing this to the 5% did indeed seem small.

However, as the saying goes, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, or to put it more simply, even a mosquito leg is meat. An increase, no matter how small, was still an increase. His advantage in physical strength over enemies of the same tier or even higher tiers was accumulated in such small increments. He should not despise it just because the bonus was small.

After briefly checking the Attribute list of the Flame God's Crown +3 and finding it identical to the other Flame God's Crowns +3, Zhang Yanhang quickly put the Orange quality Flame God's Crown +3 back on the head that was left vacant due to the removal of the Flame God's Crown +2.

Although the increase was minimal, a 5% Strength Effect bonus still intrigued him to test his current level of Strength.

Skillfully pulling out a large pile of Crimson Iron Ore from his waist bag, Zhang Yanhang began by placing 1030 tons of Crimson Iron Ore on his right hand with little confidence, and then slowly started to add more, one ton at a time.

Because a 5% Strength bonus was indeed trivial, after adding four times, Zhang Yanhang realized his capacity was maxed out and he had reached his current limit.

"So, thanks to that 5% Strength Effect bonus just now, my single-hand Strength has increased from the original 1029 tons to 1034 tons, precisely increasing by five tons..."

Of course, there was bound to be some margin of error in this figure, and it's not accurate, not to the extent that 1% Strength bonus would surely equate to 1 ton of Strength, especially since Zhang Yanhang remembered that after receiving a 40% Strength Effect bonus from the achievement last time, his total Strength increased by 47 tons.

"Previously, I always used the description of having increased several times the strength of the Second Tier Period, but this time it's different. I've increased by less than a third of the strength from the Second Tier Period; the bonus increase this time is indeed too small."

However, Zhang Yanhang did not feel downhearted; after testing his Strength, he promptly began to take stock of other items.

Next were the items opened from the Ashen Treasure Box, starting with the Red Quality [Forging Hammer of Fire and Craftsman God Hephaestus (Divine Projection)].

Zhang Yanhang picked up the hammer of the Fire God for observation and found that it looked like an ordinary forging hammer. Apart from some Ancient Greek Runes, which Zhang Yanhang had difficulty deciphering, there did not seem to be anything particularly special about it. It truly looked ordinary; if it were not for the hammer's surface constantly flashing red, it would be hard to believe it was of high quality based on its appearance alone.

"Well, it really does fit the character of the Fire God Hephaestus, being lame, ugly, and old. It's hard to imagine someone with his appearance using a fancy-looking hammer to forge divine artifacts, after all, he's not the kind of glamorous character that relies on looks like the Thunder God."

Because this Forging Hammer of the Fire God required a hundred points of Strength to use, Zhang Yanhang simply observed it briefly before directly putting it into his Waist Bag. He planned to wait until he met the usage requirements before considering what to specifically upgrade with this Forging Hammer of the Fire God.

Next was another red-quality item, the "Plasma State Micro Star·Juvenile Stage (Nuclear Fusion)."

From its appearance, this artificial star really looked like a fiery red glass ball. However, although it looked small, it had indeed been constantly producing high temperatures. The surrounding air had been in a state of distortion due to the massive heat released by this artificial star.

Even if Zhang Yanhang hadn't recently increased his defensive power significantly, he suspected that holding this microscopic artificial star might result in his Shield Value being burned away by the high temperature. After all, a real star's surface has a temperature of six thousand degrees, and while this artificial star was small, it wasn't far off in terms of temperature.

"Before, I was envious of the mysterious giant swallowing a Red Giant Star on the Divination Tarot Card·Sun, but I never expected that so soon, I would also have the opportunity to consume a star. Even if it's just an artificial star, and a miniature one at that—even just a juvenile-stage microscopic artificial star—but rounding up, I'm pretty much enjoying the same treatment as that mysterious giant."

Looking at the microscopic star in front of him, which occasionally bubbled and produced cyclones on its surface, Zhang Yanhang seriously doubted that swallowing it wouldn't burn a hole through his esophagus. But luckily, he had his Energy Shield for protection, so he didn't need to worry about being scorched by it.

Trusting in his Energy Shield, Zhang Yanhang chose to eat the microscopic artificial star directly like he would any regular buff artifact.

The moment he put the star in his mouth, Zhang Yanhang felt a burning sensation, as if he had swallowed a sun.

Well, he had in fact swallowed a sun.

Zhang Yanhang had considered other usage methods, such as using Alchemy to open a hole in his stomach and directly place the microscopic artificial star into his stomach through the gastric opening, so in case of any issues, he could take it out again immediately.

But that would have been too bothersome, and also because of his yearning for the experience of the mysterious giant, Zhang Yanhang still chose the most conventional method of swallowing.

Thanks to the protection of the Energy Shield, Zhang Yanhang did not encounter any situation like his esophagus being burned through and the artificial star falling out of his throat. He smoothly swallowed the microscopic artificial star and allowed it to reach his stomach successfully.

The moment it reached his stomach, the artificial star suddenly exploded, which was the so-called 'Supernova explosion.' Although the artificial star was only the size of a glass ball, it released a tremendous amount of energy in the instant of the supernova explosion.

Of course, this energy didn't cause any harm to Zhang Yanhang himself, because even with his Energy Shield, he might have been instantly shield-broken and blown apart from the stomach up.

After all, a real supernova explosion is a cosmic-scale catastrophe that can easily destroy star systems. Even though this artificial star is just a miniature one, it still shouldn't be underestimated.

As Zhang Yanhang was puzzling over the sudden occurrence of a supernova explosion, he suddenly realized that the energy burst from the artificial star had seamlessly and swiftly merged into his body. He then understood that the supernova explosion had been the increase in the Energy Value limit mentioned in the usage effect.

After the explosion, the microscopic artificial star wasn't completely obliterated; instead, under the influence of a vortex, it gathered remnants of the star's previous form into a strange spherical celestial body.

This odd sphere, with a volume less than one-tenth of its original size, began absorbing Life Energy from Zhang Yanhang's body continuously after coming together.

Once the Life Energy filled the surface of this new star, which had formed from the remains of the original, it suddenly shot a stream of pure energy directly into Zhang Yanhang's body, quickly fusing with him.

"If I'm not mistaken, my Life Value must have definitely decreased by 1000 points..." said Zhang Yanhang as he opened up his Life Value to check.

[Life Value: 7690/8690 (Constitution ×34, current body is officially dataized, Life Value Recovery Speed, 30 points per hour.)]

"Indeed, it has decreased by a thousand points. It seems that the new star body must have been what is called 'nuclear fusion.'"

To Zhang Yanhang, the decrease in Life Value was still novel as he hadn't experienced a reduction in Life Value since his promotion to Second Tier. Even during the First Tier Period, he had only been injured while facing the Licker.

The reason for the injury then was mainly due to the temporary lack of the Heavenly Destiny Master role and the Technique Immunity Skill. Since obtaining the Energy Shield, Zhang Yanhang really hadn't experienced any notable decrease in Life Value.

Especially in the Third Tier, the Energy Shield had never been broken by the Large Crimson Iron Ants in the Crimson Iron Ant Nest. Even the Energy Shield after Cecilia, God of the Scorching Sun, Crotena, applied Indestructible Golden Body to him couldn't deal much damage.

But as novel as it was, it felt strange to just maintain a Life Value of 7690 points. So, Zhang Yanhang quickly pulled out a bunch of Artifacts that restored Life Value from his Waist Bag and ate them to replenish the missing 1000 points of Life Value.

"I have to say, despite having a plethora of Artifacts for restoring Life Value, this is actually the first time I'm using them in such a proper way. Is this the sorrow of the strong? Not even able to enjoy the simple pleasures of consuming potions while grinding monsters."

Well, maybe such an inconsequential thing isn't worth the experience anyway. Compared to that, Zhang Yanhang still found his current Energy Value limit more significant, so he quickly opened up his own Energy Value to have a look.

[Energy Value: 7200/7200 (Intelligence ×34, current body is officially dataized, Energy Value Recovery Speed, 93 points per hour.)]

"The microscopic artificial star I just consumed has raised my Energy Value limit from the original 5760 points to 7200 points, a total increase of 1440 points to the Energy Value limit."

Looking at such a significant increase in the Energy Value limit, Zhang Yanhang couldn't help but reminisce about the microscopic artificial star that he had just swallowed. He had gobbled it down like Zhu Bajie eating Ginsengfruit, without even tasting it. If he could have a few more microscopic artificial stars, he would definitely bite into one to really savor the flavor, to taste what a supernova explosion actually tastes like.

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