章 66: Man and Weapon: War Forging
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Once everyone returned to their room to rest for the night, Ja Sun sighed softly and brought a small brown fist-sized crystal.
Ja Sun had gained many rewards that he couldn't have made use of in his previous life so even if he got some S-ranked rewards that he couldn't use previously, he was quite unhurried about it. After all, the frequency of S-ranked missions here was amazingly high.
But the decision of utilizing his week to fully focus on one profession within Gengxin City turned out to be a correct one. He found the use of one of the S-ranked rewards he hadn't been able to use before.
Making sure once again that his body was at its peak condition, he held the brown crystal with slight expectations in his heart.
Crystal of War God's Essence.
Ja Sun earned this brown crystal in the War-Competition between Silvers and Balak Kingdom.
Due to its name, Ja Sun classified it as a resource for his blood or a body enhancement resource. But in reality...
This crystal is a metal. Already purified to an extreme degree and ready to be used with any item. In fact, Ja Sun read about this crystal in the last book of metal essences he earned as the last commission before passing out.
Crystal of War God's Essence: Legends state that the War God of the olden era was not only a powerful cultivator with a body that matched the strongest of spirit beasts but he was also a manic craftsman fascinated by every form of weaponry. His existence is said to have pushed the boundaries of blacksmithing and with every craft of his, to bring the greatest of the essence of a metal, he bled severely and used his own blood to quench every piece of weapon developed under his hand. His existence changed the way of metal in the world, creating a change in nature with sheer passion and bringing life to another form of rare metal— War God's Essence.
This crystal simply had too great of an origin and Ja Sun now knew how to use it. How could he not feel even the slightest bit excited?
Body Forging.
The use of this metal is to forge a weapon and body together. Without a weapon, the body will ruin. Without body, the weapon will ruin. Blood and Metal. A perfect fusion of man and weapon.
Calmly, Ja Sun set the crystal in front of him and unwrapped the gauze presented to him by Qian Daoliu. This gauze wrapping wasn't of the same quality as the Vajra Gauntlets despite being extraordinary still.
The light of his room was dimmed as he blew off the lamps and silently wore the Vajra Gauntlets before losing every piece of clothing over him. Silently, he sat naked with only Vajra Gauntlets covering his fists. The comfortable gauntlets reached his elbows and gave a feeling of might even without any infused spirit energy.
"Set mission."
[Set Parameters.]
"Use the War God's Essence to forge body and gauntlets together."
[Objective: Forge man and weapon using War God's Essence.
Mission Rank: S
Mission Rewards: Blueprint of War God's Cauldron Array.
Time Limit: 12 Hours.]
Ja Sun's brows creased instantly. He only wanted to check the initial difficulty since he was confident that he could complete this task quite easily. In fact, he was planning on increasing the difficulty but...
He did not expect such a situation. Clearly, even if he did not overestimate his skills, he unknowingly underestimated the difficulty. This also meant that the book's knowledge of this piece of refined metal wasn't complete.
But simply accepting the mission, Ja Sun's body revealed a strange momentum and from his pores gushed out streams of spirit energy. Not taking any chances, he also took out barely filled Sigh of Immortal. He had only stored twice his reserves within this artifact. But Ja Sun didn't keep this artifact close to his body and let it stay afloat in a distance.
The gushing spirit energy twisted around his body, forming into a strange pattern while also covering the Vajra Gauntlets. The movement continued until every part of Ja Sun's body was covered by the strangely glowing array. In the dim room, Ja Sun's thin, slightly sculpted body made him look especially scrawny at the moment. Usually, his robes would have heavier cloth so he wouldn't really look too shriveled. Even Xie Xan's body was built with more meat despite his agile movements.
After a few seconds, Ja Sun confirmed that the array was built perfectly over his body, and only then did he pick up the crystal of War God's Essence.
"Hmm?"
A soft sigh suddenly echoed within Ja Sun's ears and his body shuddered.
"Well, come on then."
---
In a world of pure serenity, a sky without clouds, surrounding sea without a ripple, and an island without any tree or bush but uniformly lengthened green blades of grass, Ja Sun found himself standing in front of a bronze-skinned man. Short dark hair, a body with both mass and grace. A sculpted body with aesthetic vascularity. He wore a simple grey pair of trousers with a small, seven-inch unadorned knife floating beside him.
There was nothing else.
"Confused?" A deep voice emerged from the being in front of Ja Sun as he nodded plainly. For a moment, the man glanced at his right arm. It was still covered by Vajra Gauntlets but he seemed to be able to see through anything with his dark pupils.
Just like him, even Ja Sun had his torso exposed and wore a pair of grey trousers.
"I can sense the misunderstanding. Body Forging with war god's essence... my essence is not as simple as it may look. Man and Weapon as one. It needs a test. Whether you are worthy to be your weapon's partner and whether the weapon is worthy to be yours."
Bowing slightly, Ja Sun spoke calmly, "Please speak clearly, Senior."
"There are many metals capable of enhancing a physique. Each one is as rare as immortal herbs. The two also complement each other. But to use the essence generated with my being in the world, it clearly means that the forging of the body will not be completed by an array or a dangerous, suppressing location. But a battle. The winner leaves with my essence, permanently gaining the quality of an overbearing physique and an overbearing weapon. The loser leaves his life."
"We have to battle? How?" Ja Sun inquired. As for the threat of death? His heart was utterly calm and peaceful about it. What was painful about dying twice? Just that next time he lives, he will be a completely different individual.
"Ordinarily, the success would have also marked you as a qualifying successor to my divinity. But that is no longer possible. As for battle? How else? I have a knife and my body. You have your gauntlets and your body. Spirit energy and mental energy cannot be mobilized in this space. Every injury will be the same as injuring one's body and equally painful."
"Senior, does that mean that you will fight me with your strengthened body?" Ja Sun inquired.
"Yes," the floating knife finally landed over the man's outstretched hand as he gripped it and suddenly shot forward.
'If it's just the body...' Ja Sun narrowed his eyes and shot forward himself. They both had different weapons. A knife can act as a medium-range and short-range weapon but as this God of War hinted, he also had a body that could allow him to use various fighting techniques.
*Swish*
While running, the God of War flicked his knife out as Ja Sun only felt a cold flash. Calmly twisting his body with the full use of Storm Steps, he felt a thin scratch over the base of his neck but without any hint of panic, Ja Sun's body disappeared midair and instantly, a punch zoomed towards the God of War's throat.
'Impressive,' the God of War's large eyes lit up and he stretched his palm, unfazed by Ja Sun's fist but it was then that the punch changed into a stab of palm. And not a single stab.
*Fwip*
*Fwip*
*Fwip*
Ja Sun only managed to knock on the base of the palm of his opponent three times but before he could affect his wrist, the man snorted and instantly rotated with a brazen movement as the back of his knuckled flew out to counter Ja Sun's fingers.
*Tap*
*Tap*
*Tap*
*Bang*
Ja Sun felt weightless before he was pushed back.
The grass beneath swayed wildly as the God of War stared at Ja Sun with a cold expression.
His left arm limping slightly.
Meanwhile, Ja Sun continued to match the man's gaze with a calm expression. The fingers of his right palm bent back in a blood-curdling manner alongside the gauntlets while the side of his palm was caved in as thin hairline crack spread across the surface of the gauntlet.
"My name is—"
Ja Sun shot forward in this instant. His right hand was ruined but there were plenty of his body parts waiting to be used.
In a battle of death, Ja Sun couldn't really care about names.
"Get on with it, then!" The tanned man snorted and waved his palm. Instantly, Ja Sun jumped and twisted midair while a flying knife sliced against three of his left toes.
'My balance will be affected,' Ja Sun's expression turned cold, and instead of running, he landed and extending into a roll before pushing his strength against his right foot and jumping forward as the knife stabbed into the ground where he just rolled through.
'Like I would give you that chance once again,' the man sneered and slapped both his hands towards Ja Sun's head. The undulating pressure rolling off of the man's body clearly indicated his killing intent when Ja Sun smiled coldly and suddenly, he released his own killing intent.
The once serene world turned bloody. The water gave off a shade of crimson and the sky grew dark maroon.
And at this moment, Ja Sun felt his own strength rising momentarily.
What happened?
Thoughts grew in the minds of both parties. But one of them was stunned by the creeping sense of death and the change in surroundings and one wasn't.
Ja Sun's left hand instantly knocked against the throat of the man before he instantly used gentle tactics several times over his torso and retreating past him as the knife came flying back.
"You!" Furious and shocked, the man released his own baleful aura but much to his horror, it was suppressed by the completely pure and serene killing intent.
Ja Sun wasn't going to stop releasing it now. His strength had risen strangely. Something that never occurred in the real world. But this was good.
The moment he turned to attack the stunned enemy's exposed back, the knife came flying and Ja Sun retreated without hesitation once again with a frown.
"What did you do?" The man slowly turned back but Ja Sun flashed away. This time, the opponent wasn't standing and he followed Ja Sun with an astonishing speed and brandished the flying knife. Barely dodging the attack by changing directions without losing momentum, Ja Sun shot towards the pool as the man chuckled, "This is my world! You can only move on this island—"
*Splash*
Ja Sun jumped into the crimson sea and for the first time, the God of War paled and he quickly shot into the water himself.
The moment he entered the water, he found his vision stifling and a cold pressure bearing over his body. With a snort, he bit the handle of the knife while a dark-red baleful aura covered his body, stabilizing his situation.
But as if a moth attracted to fire, Ja Sun continued to swim towards the glowing pillar of light connected towards the base of the island.
In reality, Ja Sun didn't know if it would work but with one hand useless and one leg partially useless, he had to try going into the waters. Previously, he wouldn't have. But the moment his killing intent affected this region, Ja Sun already realized that this world wasn't only in the control of the opponent. He could affect the world around himself, too.
While the water made the god of war uncomfortable, for Ja Sun, it felt like he had entered a cool and refreshing bath. Seeing the prominent pillar of light, Ja Sun, of course, shot towards it without a hint of leisure.
The closer he grew to the pillar, the more comfortable and energetic he felt.
With bloodshot eyes, the man saw Ja Sun entering the pillar and instantly disappearing while the golden pillar of light itself dimmed until it flickered out of existence.
*Tremble*
The water turned clear once again as the God of War snorted internally, his knife moving and shooting towards the location of the pillar of energy. Previously, the control of his knife within the sea was extremely weak, now, however, it had changed for the better and the knife suddenly dispersed into golden specks of light that congealed into a glowing pillar.
'We... didn't even complete our introductions! That bandit!' The God of War seethed. The robber was robbed!
---
In the real world, the brown crystal in Ja Sun's right hand instantly revealed a golden brilliance before it willingly started to fuse with the streams of spirit energy molded into the array. As if infected from his right hand, a brown-gold brilliance began to flow through the connection of the array, turning the snowy white spirit energy into brown-gold essence as it melted into the Vajra Gauntlets and Ja Sun's body.
The array crumbled into nothingness in this very instant but unconscious, Ja Sun couldn't absorb back the spirit energy and it dispersed in his surroundings.
*Weng*
*Weng*
*Weng*
The soft, beating sound slowly echoed through Ja Sun's body.
In the past few months, Ja Sun's physique had already gone through a very extreme tempering. However, it was all disconnected. His blood would alleviate the position of his body by nurturing his organs but his defenses were lackluster. After being washed by poison from Bibi Dong, his physique strengthened naturally and when he ate the fruits he gained by defeating Ah Yin, his body toughened up but all of it lacked unity. These were individual enhancements and the only reason Ja Sun could display his strengths was that he was capable of displaying his potential without any extra training.
But right now, the hair on Ja Sun's body began to fall off. Head, face, pits, chest, limbs, and pubes. Every strand fell naturally as the pores of his skin tightened and closes. The beating of his heart grew stronger. Forceful.
His blood rushed through every part of his body but this time, every part of his body save for his circulation gave a dark golden luster. Even his skin gave a similar glow and soon, his skin seemed to have turned translucent with the veins of his body being exposed and the shadow of his dull beating heart turning prominent through his translucent skin and muscles.
The white-gold Vajra Gauntlets, at this moment, spread extreme temperature. Their bodies turning red as the metal began to melt. But instead of hurting Ja Sun's arms, it started to enter Ja Sun's system instead. Mixing with his blood!
The only thing they left was a dark golden dot on both of Ja Sun's wrists.
Finally, the dark circulatory system of Ja Sun's body also began to give a beautiful shine similar to every other part.
*Creak*
Only when the Man and the Weapon connected did all the warm energy coursing through his body began to fuse with him. His bones gave a creaking sound and his skin grew tough and elastic at the same time, shedding off his previous physical weaknesses. His body grew at the pace visible to the naked eye.
The shape of his muscles enlarged, storing explosive energy which would need years to cultivate. But even when Ja Sun's shoulders broadened and his muscles grew sculpted, his nimbleness wouldn't be affected.
Finally, as the glow of his physique started to turn dull, his eyebrows grew back, straight and slightly thicker with one end tilted up that gave him a naturally fierce expression. His eyelids grew slightly longer than before and looked luscious from a distance. Then, from his sideburns, the hair on his head grew back. Pitch-black. This time, they didn't hold the shine he gained after the bath of poison but his hair seemed to be slightly unreflective instead of dull.
Ja Sun's breathing finally grew natural and his eyes opened at this moment.
From the middle of his brows, a thin ray of light shot out and started to form into a three-dimensional model of a scroll.
He has completed the mission.
"Easiest S-ranked mission. Period." Ja Sun mumbled and was surprised by the slightly coarse voice.
His vision seemed particularly clear at this moment.
Thinking for a moment, Ja Sun decided to first inspect the internal changes.
Low expenditure of spirit energy and even the Sigh of Immortal wasn't used. His mental energy and Bright Goddess seemed unaffected, too.
Revolving the Revitalized Blood Qi Art, Ja Sun found that the slightest bit of improvement in his blood improved his body simultaneously!
This was the greatest change. But with this, the speed of the technique had undoubtedly slowed down.
Instead of focusing on blood alone, the absorbed energy would be divided into his body equally. In fact, this wasn't the effect of the technique but his body would siphon the energy itself, forcefully cultivating alongside his blood to maintain the sense of unity.
Ja Sun also found something strange about his blood.
Opening his eyes, he gazed at his hands.
As if reacting to his will, dark golden liquid gushed out of his wrists and swiftly covered both of his forearms into sleek dark golden gauntlets, the quality of which was better than the previous Vajra Gauntlets by a far amount. The previous Vajra Gauntlets gave a feeling of softness with how it was made.
But right now, the dark-golden dull Vajra Gauntlets gave a dangerous metallic glimmer and felt as such but only Ja Sun knew that these were lighter and more comfortable than silk gloves.
He could keep them on however he wants. But the weapon cannot be changed at all.
He cannot make two daggers out of these instead.
Thinking for a moment, Ja Sun's pitch-black hair turned silver and his body grew by another notch. His ears turned fuzzy and finally, his palms stretched out in talons as silver fur grew around his arm and reached towards his chest before leaving the space in the middle.
"Finally..." Ja Sun sighed.
The dark golden gauntlets turned into sharp dark golden talons. They still covered his hands. The function was the same even if the shape changed slightly.
***
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