V5C11: Artefact Combination

With the azure light purged, she picked up the strange sheath that fell to the ground. It was blatantly the physical manifestation of the otherworldly gift the man had been using, so when it looked to break up into particles wherever she touched it and then fade into her hands, this was not particularly surprising.

Once it was in her body, she briefly checked that there were no obvious immediate effects to herself, whether physically or mentally. She knew no way of warding off or removing an otherworldly gift from herself if it was harmful to her in some way, but she could at the very least take precautions and avoid using the gift too much if it did affect her in a negative way, in the same manner that she wouldn’t use the Truth of the Universe to modify and improve techniques unless she had already understood the path for improvement.

So far, there looked to be nothing, so she focused upon the only hints she had regarding the function of the gift that she had picked up. There were the two weapons on the ground, which, even if they were incredibly useful, she did not want to use due to their connection to the azure light’s influence. They would either break quickly without its support, or affect her even without the light’s presence. It was best not to take the risk, for obvious reasons.

Then, she also had the various items lying around the underground battlefield, although their number was reduced after the battle. The strongest and most resistant artefacts were still whole, and she could make use of them if the otherworldly gift could indeed combine all artefacts and not just weapons.

Finally, there was the fact that whenever anything with an artefact-like structure neared the mental image of the sheath on her side, it looked to get more solid for a moment, although she knew that this was not the case. What was made very clear by this was that she would need to place something into the sheath, whether literally or otherwise, and then the effects of the item inside would either be improved by those of other items, or it would be broken down to empower something else. Given that she did not yet know the answer, she was naturally reluctant to use anything of any value to experiment before she could be certain.

Wei Yi took out a random weapon that she had on her – not the greatsword taken from the southern trio that wanted to sell her off, as she might want to use the otherworldly gift on it later – and a low-quality and low-grade artefact that managed to endure the conflict in the underground battlefield, although it wasn’t in a perfect condition.

The sheath reacted similarly to both, so she placed the weapon into the sheath physically and focused on the other artefact within her hand. Notably, the sheath changed shape to accommodate the weapon more, although this wasn’t too impressive considering its ethereal form. It would have been far stranger if the otherworldly gift was unable to do even this much, and acted only as a genuine sheath for a regular blade. It would also be strange considering that one of the two weapons used by the otherworldly demon was an axe that would very much not fit into the sheath.

Out of the two, she wanted the weapon more, so she was hoping that it would be the weapon that would be enhanced in this exchange. To be absolutely sure, she also made sure to will the other artefact to be sacrificed to the weapon rather than the other way around, just in case the arrangement didn’t actually matter and the intent had greater priority.

She did not need to wait long for a result. The moment that she clearly broadcasted her intent, the artefact she was holding onto collapsed into countless particles of light, sinking into the sheath and then through it into the weapon within. The noteworthy thing that stuck out to her right away was that only half of the particles actively passed through the sheath, with the rest seeming to stick within the sheath without much effect.

As unfortunate as that was, she was not surprised. The otherworldly gifts were bound to display a limited degree of their abilities until she neared the peak of cultivation, and in this instance, it seemed that the gift would only have the ability to pass on a limited extent of energy from any artefact into another. This was to be expected, of course, and it was ultimately not as bad as it could have been had she gotten her hands onto the item in the first or second realm, as that might have resulted in only ten or twenty percent of an item’s abilities being transferred into her chosen equipment. At that point, she would not have chosen to make use of it.

Now, however, although she could delay and wait until the sixth realm, there was one thing that she wished to check in order to have the best idea of what she would do with the gift.

From the House of Gold, she removed a shard of obsidian that contained a number of artefact pathways that were once highly powerful, but only due to the previous application of an azure light. The shards of Demon Killer once composed a powerful blade, but on their own, they were nigh useless as a result of whatever property that allowed it to grow more powerful alongside her vanishing.

If she could empower them with other artefacts, make each shard into something noteworthy, then merge them together once more with a new hilt and name, she could always create a greater blade that might, perhaps, be capable of handling her planar energy in full. Such a thing would not only be a major success due to that inherent property, but due to the enormous boost that it could offer her combat strength. Her various energy-based manifestations of artefacts were all effective in their own ways, but they were ultimately limited by her own energy projection abilities. They would not be truly empowered by the structure of whatever artefact she manifested.

Having a weapon to use in specific instances where it would be most beneficial to amplify her strength would certainly be a positive no matter how she ended up getting it, and making use of something that she was already familiar with would obviously be even better.

She removed the blade from the sheath and held it in her right hand after resting the obsidian shard in her Arm of Slaughtering Shadow, focusing on the left as the repository of power and the right as the source. Even assuming a decay of power that can be absorbed after each use of the otherworldly gift, the Artefact Combinator, a single low-quality blade shouldn’t affect that too greatly assuming that it is dependent on the quantity of power and not the items being shoved into others.

The sword in her hand broke down into particles and then flew into the sheath, which held onto half of the energy and passed on the rest to the obsidian shard in her hand. When it came to the sword, the particles had entered it almost right away, but it took quite a while this time, leaving her to stand for almost five minutes before the shard finally absorbed the energy from the sword, allowing her to safely remove the shard from the left clawed hand and dispel the arm after needing to maintain it for so long. Before doing anything else, she knew that she wouldn’t be able to sit still every time, so she attempted to move both it and the Artefact Combinator into the House of Gold to make the process a little less inconvenient.

Usually, the otherworldly gifts that didn’t have a direct relation – like the Mask of Yama that came from the House of Gold had, for instance – didn’t interact with one another all that much, with them rarely being able to detect one another, but to her surprise, these two did interact without any difficulty. The moment that she chose to put the Artefact Combinator into the House of Gold, it entered and settled in within the centre of the spatial storage, hovering above the majority of the trash that she had thrown inside after everything useful was already in.

In there, she finally got to confirm the name of the otherworldly gift, as the House of Gold had that functionality for anything that entered it. Apparently, rather than being named the Artefact Combinator, which made more sense due to the accuracy of the terms, it was instead labelled simply as Artefact Combination. Given that this made little sense, she chose not to adopt this particular label, and simply ignored it, as she did not seem to have the ability to change the names of certain items in there.

The shards of Demon Killer, however, did not get a new name. All that did change was the description, which suddenly mentioned that it had an additional number of internal artefact channels and the ability to store energy for the use of the cultivator, lacking any other function.

It was the exact property of the artefact that she had merged with the sword and then integrated with the shard, and although the exact strength looked to have been reduced, she had no problems at all with the outcome. The shard still had plenty of free space for other channels, and depending on how far the otherworldly gift could go with them, it might even be able to double or triple what any blacksmith that had or could ever live in the Planar Continents could place inside the shard. Thus, there was only one more thing that she wished to confirm before proceeding with her plan.

‘Can I shove the artefacts I manifest with my energy into the Artefact Combinator? If I can… then I can put any artefact that I have previously encountered into the otherworldly gift and thus empower each of the shards with such a large number of channels that, when they are combined together…’ she paused, as she couldn’t be sure what such a process would result in, ‘There are two things I can imagine, at least. One is that the channels collapse into a large open space that is able to accept my own energy. The other is that the many channels somehow resonate together and result in a very different effect, since there is no way that they would not interfere with one another to some extent after enough of them are placed into a shard.’

Logically speaking, such a thing shouldn’t be possible at all. Artefacts that were inherently temporary in nature shouldn’t be able to permanently become parts of other things without any consequences.

‘Wait, couldn’t that happen? Who is to say that a temporary thing cannot have permanent consequences? I could manifest the artefact and kill a man, carve out a hole in the ground, or forge something with a hammer made of energy that has a specific expiration date, so why shouldn’t it work? Now that I think about it… This must be caused by some heavenly mandate.’

There were countless properties of this type in the Planar Continents. The fact that cultivation realms would arbitrarily increase one’s lifespan, but only to a certain extent that cannot be moved up no matter what else someone attempts to do, unless they transform into something completely inhuman, for example. This was one of the many things in the world that made sense on first glance, but on the second, which most never gave it, it could not. Why would anyone perish on the spot just because they lived for a certain amount of time? It was illogical, silly, arbitrary, and entirely unnatural, as she could conclude from the fact that the Orbises did not have this same problem.

In those worlds, a lack of cultivation meant that lifespan couldn’t be brought up or down via so-called supernatural means, the seeming lack of the heavens also meant that it was entirely within the control of the people themselves. Those that did what they could to live longer could do so, whereas those that ignored their health would most often see their lifespan drop accordingly, albeit in a manner that could be reversed depending on the nature of the damage one dealt to themselves.

So far as she was able to conclude, this was what should occur. If aging itself was bypassed – something that the people of the other worlds had apparently discovered was caused by some mechanism in the ‘cells’ that made up the human body – whether with cultivation or some otherworldly solution, then one should have no issues at all with living for however long that they wanted. With Wei Yi’s various techniques, she was pretty confident that she would be able to accomplish this in one way or another, but she knew that she would age in the same way that anyone once she began to reach into the later years of her current lifespan without reaching a greater realm of cultivation to push that lifespan further back and give herself more time.

However, this was yet another thing that would require opposing the very heavens on a level that went beyond Touch the Heavens, which was only the lightest of challenges.

Back on the original topic, the Ascendant had originally thought that the otherworldly gifts would be able to work their impossible magic once more and allow something temporary to become permanent at no permanent cost, but now that she realised it, there was no significant physical change to the artefacts affected by the Artefact Combinator. The channels were formed within existing material, and any changes that occurred could be made from raw energy, which would be present in abundance within artefacts manifested by her planar energy.

Hence, she bypassed all of her hesitation from before and took out a replica of Freedom Unchained, a weapon that she remembered really well due to having designed and made on her own, so she didn’t need to worry that some fault in the structure would somehow damage her obsidian shards.

As she had assumed, the Artefact Combinator had accepted the spear without much difficulty, breaking it apart into small cosmic particles that looked like individual stars that contained many galaxies and stars of their own, and if she looked deep into them, she suspected that she would find even more of them within. All of them vanished after a moment, appearing within the House of Gold, then gathered around the same obsidian shard and began to enter it, one by one.

‘It does work. Knew it. Thus, as my left arm has become able to stop azure lights, although only for a little bit, and my understanding of the heavens and the world itself grows…’

In the end, she decided not to stick around and wait for the shard to be infused again, as it looked to be even longer than last time. Clearly, the time required was based in some way on the quality and power of the items being combined, and so a powerful shard being improved by a powerful high-grade artefact naturally took far longer.

She could wait for it to finish, as she was in no mood or shape to forge a blade anew, and since she didn’t have to hold onto the shard while it was being improved, she headed out of the underground battlefield while grabbing up as many artefacts as she was able to reasonably fit into the House of Gold. Even if the Qiang District’s leader demanded that she returned them, she could always request a small reward for them, either in the form of a few of the artefacts or some other resource that she needed. Perhaps the Qiang District still knew of the nature, appearance and location of spatial metal, in which case she would gladly hand all of the artefacts over to them for nothing else.

In terms of the original purpose that she had for them, she could replicate every single one with her cosmic energy, so it wasn’t much of an issue.

So, she soon left the battlefield and returned to the caves that she had travelled through to get to it. As before, there weren’t many people in the areas nearest to the battlefield, and once she arrived at the places that had previously been mined by at least one person, she found that many of them had been deserted or otherwise emptied out for one reason or another. Some were almost certainly gone due to her actions, but most were likely to have left due to other reasons.

After all, if the miners were permitted to walk out the moment that there was a bit of rumbling near them, they wouldn’t get up to much as they would constantly be sitting away from their place of work. Only those with no supervision at all could get away with such a thing.

Even if she was somehow responsible for everything, she didn’t really care about that. A day of work lost was nothing in comparison to the immense boost in resources that would be experienced once all of the resources in the district began to grow like crops without the typical limitations of such things. So long as the Patriarch provided the metal crops with an appropriate quantity of planar energy, all of the metal could grow at the same rate that all of the miners could extract it naturally from a source of ore, and thus their yield would only increase with each day that wasn’t used with optimal efficiency to extract the ore and refined metal that grows as leaves.

The reduced time taken to process that material would also greatly reduce the time between the initial extraction of the material to the point that it is usable, further increasing efficiency. If they allowed the ore to grow enough, the quantity that was able to grow would accordingly increase, and eventually the entire district could supply the rising demand of a world that was freed from the sickening influence of the Greats.

‘When I have the chance, I will change their title to something more suitable, just as I had changed the Kong Prison Realm’s names to the Crimson and Silver Sides,’ she decided, as she had grown tired of the term that they had used for themselves some time ago.

She had a few ideas, but the final title for them would depend on exactly what she learned regarding them over her long campaign to end their existence. For instance, if there was something about them that would be suitable for exemplifying just how terrible they were, like the story of Chao Jianhong being a perfect example of why the Blood-tinged Church was not to be trusted with the prospect of obtaining more power. Something of this nature would be highly beneficial in discouraging people from ever emulating the Great Families or seeking to side with them while they were still around.

After another hour, she managed to get to the parts of the mines that were still active, and was able to confirm that the majority had left for reasons other than the quakes, although this was only the explanation that she had heard being muttered from one miner to another. It was very plausible that there were a few that wanted to avoid being crushed by stones that might be knocked loose.

Additionally, there was a figure that looked to be standing around and waiting while looking in the direction that she had gone in, so she assumed by his sixth realm that he must have been a guardian of the Qiang District sent to look for her. There was little chance of her spiritual perception reaching out to the top of the Ancestral Hall to confirm what the Patriarch was up to, so she couldn’t just ask him, but she hardly needed to speak to him to notice that there was something odd about him. Even if he came during some kind of emergency, there was no reason for him to be as agitated as he was, and certainly no reason for him to be preparing his energy to this extent.

‘I have a bad feeling about him, but I can deal with anything that he might throw at me. If he does… I could get a little more out of the Qiang Patriarch, if I think of something that I want from him,’ she thought, quietly preparing her own energy as well while holding back so that she wouldn’t damage the caves any further with a reckless use of the Elysian Blast with her current Arm of Slaughtering Shadow.

With the minimal preparation complete, she continued walking, not hiding her gaze upon him as to test what it was that he was going to attempt. She got closer and closer, to the point that she almost had to conclude that he wasn’t going to be doing anything outwardly, when he did strike. In one brief moment, the earth rumbled and he appeared a dozen steps closer to her, his right hand pulled back in the instant that he appeared before her and thrust it out, a great concentration of earth-type energy surging from his body.

Given that he clearly attacked the supposedly weaker point of her body, she did not think that anyone would complain if she got a little rough.

Before his fist could draw too close, black claws made of smoke suddenly appeared before it, clamping down upon his skin like an unbreakable vice. Her only mobile hand went straight for his chest, moving at a higher speed than his earth-type cultivation would allow, and struck him easily.

There were several layers of planar barriers in the way, ones that had been established even before she had the thought of hitting him, but being a layer of passive barriers it was useless for anything other than a really quiet stealth attack which sacrificed strength for invisibility. Her punch was not hidden nor disguised in any way, and while she didn’t unleash the full potential of her body, she did not hold back her physical strength.

Her fist cracked several ribs and dug into the presumed guardian’s chest, causing him to spit out blood that she evaded after releasing his hand. One hit was enough to cause severe damage, so she wanted to see whether he was going to explain himself or apologise for the sudden attack. Just in case this proved to be an actual foe that was intent on taking her life, which was always a possibility that would have to change some of her other plans, she did not distance herself from the man. She remained as close as she reasonably could while ensuring that she had the time to evade any rapid attacks that the man might be able to manage with abilities that he had not revealed.

Of all the things that she had imagined him to do next, as part of her tactical considerations, pulling out a small vial that instantly resonated with her bloodline power was low on that list.

She had been unable to perceive it fully while it was hidden in his clothing and behind his own energy, but now that it was revealed, she knew that this item was of some great importance to the guardian and herself alike. For her, the function of any item that contained a bloodline, or anything relating to one, was obvious, but since she didn’t know what the man was intending to do with it, she couldn’t let him use it for his own purposes, as even losing this vial forever would be far preferable to allowing some abomination akin to Chao Jianhong’s final draconic state to be unleashed upon the world.

With his right hand having been grabbed onto by her claws, he must have decided that the left was more suitable for handling the vial, giving her the perfect opportunity to unleash the principle of the Crushing Dagger technique with the side of her hand.

It crashed onto his wrist, but his fingers managed to remain tight as he tried to retreat and pull the flask closer to himself. She naturally closed the distance instantly with her fourth realm movement method, manifesting the Arm of Slaughtering Shadow briefly to release an Elysian Blast at his left arm. She deliberately held back the attack, and thus the blast of dark energy was only able to rip the centre of his arm apart, leaving the skin and a bit of flesh to connect the hand and elbow together.

With that, he was unable to keep hold of the vial, leaving it to fall.

For a moment, he glanced into her eyes, their heights placing their eyes at around the same level, then suddenly lunged down with his mouth open, biting down upon the glass vial without any hesitation and breaking it in an instant. Part of the blood entered his mouth and was quickly absorbed into his body, so she rushed to absorb the rest of it via her bloodline power so that he wouldn’t receive as much of a benefit from the blood as he would receive if he got all of it.

She couldn’t analyse the exact nature of the blood from a second of absorption, but the fact that her bloodline power’s realm was immediately added to significantly made it very clear that she had done the right thing by getting it away from the guardian. The amount that did enter his body took effect a moment after that, and that further confirmed this particular conclusion.

He lurched back, his irises narrowing down until they were barely visible around the pitch-black pupils that suddenly expanded a moment later. They quickly took up most of his eyes, the sclera of which turned red as the influence of the blood spread throughout his body. The severed hand fused back with the arm, latching onto the elbow and greatly shortening the overall length of the left arm, while the flesh revealed by the torn armour around it similarly gained a crimson hue while countless pustules formed upon the surface, all of them filling with various similarly unpleasant colours, as if each one became home to a distinct toxic substance.

‘It’s a good thing that my bloodline emphasises a stable foundation over adaptation in mind and body, or else absorbing that blood would have caused me to experience some very similar changes… Wait-’

The body of the guardian suddenly bulged as glowing orange flame surged out from within him, pouring out of his orifices as he roared in either rage or anguish, perhaps both. Unfortunately, that did not kill the monster that the man became, but instead caused the aura radiating from him to grow in strength, and made it very clear that this was just one of the many functions that the blood from the vial possessed.

‘Isn’t that the True Ascendant’s yang-type energy? Fuck, how does he have… Not now,’ she had a couple of suspicions already, but she pushed them over to the side and kicked at the guardian’s crotch while he was still in the middle of his transformation.

Given his current state, it was difficult to estimate how much it would affect him, but the damage that she would be able to inflict to him with that move was sufficient to buy just enough time.

As soon as her foot – shielded in many layers of energy for reasons ranging from increasing offensive capability to improving her own hygiene – struck, she turned to the many people that were still in the mines, standing around and staring upon the two of them with a mixture of expressions. Some were still working, which was even worse in her mind as they would be unlikely to have the ability to react to the inevitable battle that would take place. Those that were looking would at least know if something was likely to hurt them or come flying in their direction at dangerous speeds.

“Everyone, unless you are actually suicidal, get out of here!” she exclaimed, “And get the Patriarch, if he isn’t already on his way!”

Her kick landed and threw the guardian, if he could still be called that in his current state, back by a couple of steps, and his landing on the hard stone beneath their feet provided enough of a noise to rouse everyone from their still stances of surprise and made everyone in the underground chamber flee. There were several routes to the surface, or to safer regions, and all of them were taken.

Thus, she was left alone with a monstrous entity that was already preparing to attack again, while she had a number of questions that she would have loved to ask either of the entity itself, or the source of the blood that had induced this transformation.