Chapter 123

Chapter 123: Weapon Core

"Weapon Core?"

This was yet another entirely new term for Lou Yun, one he had never heard before.

"This is the key to why common weapons can also possess the special abilities of magical weapons. Weapon Cores are formed by combining spiritual crystals with beast souls."

"Oh!" A sudden understanding dawned on Lou Yun. No wonder moments earlier, Beichen Ming had clearly held both spiritual crystals and a beast soul, yet they ended up as a single piece. They had merged together.

"So how do they combine?"

Lou Yun thought to himself that Beichen Ming couldn’t possibly have just brute-forced two entirely different things together!

"Using fire!"

A small flame sprang to life on Beichen Ming’s open palm. Evidently, just now, while smelting the common weapon in the Tiger Head Cauldron, he simultaneously melted the spiritual crystals and beast soul in his hand, fusing them together!

This mastery of performing two delicate tasks simultaneously, dividing his focus, earned Lou Yun’s silent admiration. Yet, he still didn’t fully grasp how the Weapon Core enabled a common weapon to gain magical abilities.

Beichen Ming chuckled. "The high-level ability of the magical weapon is armor. Why don’t you give it a try now? Infuse your own spiritual energy into this common weapon."

Lou Yun catalyzed the spiritual energy within his body, channeling it into the common weapon in his hand. Simultaneously, he closely monitored the weapon’s interior with his spiritual awareness.

He saw the spiritual energy enter the weapon and flow directly into that Weapon Core. Instantly, a brilliant light burst forth from the core, while a vastly amplified surge of spiritual energy—several times stronger and near-ferocious in intensity—erupted from the opposite side of the core, flooding the interior of the common weapon in an instant.

"Now, increase your spiritual energy!" Beichen Ming barked sharply.

Lou Yun swiftly obeyed, continuing to pour in his spiritual energy. The interior of the weapon was already saturated with energy; each new influx of spiritual energy entered the Weapon Core only to be amplified severalfold before surging back into the weapon’s body.

With a distinct "whoosh" sound, the space inside the common weapon, pressured by the ever-increasing flood of energy, abruptly expanded. As the internal space swelled, the light from the Weapon Core began to shine through the sword itself. Shrouded in this radiance, Lou Yun watched as the common weapon in his hand started to warp and shift.

Shwhump! Its volume rapidly expanded to at least ten times its original size. It transformed into a large sheet-like structure that rolled back onto Lou Yun’s body, covering him.

Lou Yun looked down. The common weapon had become armor!

Incredulity washed over Lou Yun’s face. Though he had personally experienced the transformation sequence, he still couldn’t fathom precisely why it had happened.

Beichen Ming watched him with a smile. "Well? Figured it out yet?" Hope and anticipation filled his tone.

Lou Yun closed his eyes, meticulously replaying the entire process in his mind. A moment later, he opened his eyes, a flash of delighted realization crossing his face. "I understand!"

"Explain it to me!"

Excitedly nodding, Lou Yun gathered his thoughts before speaking. "First, the material you used to smelt this common weapon must be capable of stretching and altering its shape."

Magical weapon bodies were formed from condensed spiritual energy – more a gaseous state than solid matter – allowing them to freely change shape. Common weapons, however, were solid objects incapable of such transformation. For this change to occur, their material must inherently possess the ability to expand and contract.

Beichen Ming smiled approvingly. "Correct. To grant a high-grade common weapon this ability to morph into armor, precisely this kind of deformable material is essential. And then?"

Encouraged by Beichen Ming’s confirmation of his first deduction, Lou Yun continued with greater confidence. "Then there’s the Weapon Core. I observed it closely just now. Inside that core… it possesses the earth attribute of the five elements. Spiritual crystals themselves are neutral, lacking any elemental attribute; only the beast soul has an elemental property. You fused the beast soul with the spiritual crystal… precisely to imbue the Weapon Core with the five-element earth attribute."

"Among the five elements, earth represents the pinnacle of defense. Transforming a common weapon into armor serves a purely defensive purpose. Consequently, I infer that the five-element attribute infused into the Weapon Core must be deliberately chosen to match the specific capability you wish the common weapon to possess!"

Beichen Ming’s smile grew even broader. "Anything else?"

"Well… yes, but I’m less certain about this part," Lou Yun hesitated. "Although I haven’t yet grasped the exact mechanism of the Weapon Core… based on my personal sensation earlier… I believe the diamond shape of the weapon core might be designed to massively amplify the user’s spiritual energy—by multiple times—thus enabling the transformations in the common weapon."

Having listened to Lou Yun’s analysis, Beichen Ming nodded with deep satisfaction. "Child, my eyes did not deceive me. You possess keen intellect, meticulous attention, and your forging skills have reached a commendable level. Just by witnessing my demonstration once, you deduced the essence of granting common weapons magical abilities. I can tell you – you are entirely correct. There are, admittedly, minor nuances you haven’t considered yet, but that’s hardly surprising."

Beichen Ming then embarked on a detailed exposition, meticulously guiding Lou Yun on how to actually smelt special common weapons imbued with magical abilities.

First, raw material selection. The material must be chosen according to the specific magical ability desired. For instance, to achieve a shape-shifting armor function, one absolutely required materials capable of stretching and deforming. Conversely, if the goal was flight capability, ordinary materials would suffice.

Second, the Weapon Core. Its function aligned precisely with Lou Yun’s deduction: amplifying spiritual energy—multiplicatively—to empower the common weapon. This amplification hinged on several factors: the core’s geometric shape, the grade of the spiritual crystals and beast souls fused into it, and crucially, their attributes. Determining the optimal combinations fell entirely to the skilled weapon maker, honed through relentless practice.

Moreover, Lou Yun’s insight about the five-element attributes was correct. Every Weapon Core must possess a five-element attribute. Spiritual crystals offered none inherently, necessitating the integration of a beast soul. Naturally, the specific attribute needed (e.g., earth for defense) directly corresponded to the desired special ability sought for the common weapon.

Beichen Ming lectured with intense focus, even producing several spiritual crystals and beast souls. He personally demonstrated the core fusion process multiple times. Lou Yun observed with rapt attention. After several attempts, Lou Yun managed to successfully melt and forge Weapon Cores himself. However, achieving a geometrically perfect shape proved difficult, leading to slight deficiencies in the amplification of his spiritual energy.

Despite this, Beichen Ming was thoroughly pleased. For someone to go from completely ignorant of Weapon Cores to successfully forging one within a single day… Looking across the entire Spirit Weapon Star—forget witnessing it—such a feat was utterly unheard of! He himself had once prided himself on his aptitude, yet his very first Weapon Core had taken three arduous months to create, and even then, its quality hadn’t matched Lou Yun’s early attempts.

At this point, Lou Yun had fundamentally mastered the core smelting process. What remained lacking was pure hands-on familiarity, an expertise requiring nothing more than relentless practice.

That evening, Lou Yun returned home to his small courtyard feeling richly rewarded. Sinking into a chair, his mind replayed the lessons learned that day. Starting today, his Forging Skills had undeniably vaulted to a significantly higher level.

At that precise moment, after a prolonged absence of seven days, Chang Xiang’s voice abruptly resonated within Lou Yun’s mind: "Kid, I found a way!"

Lou Yun froze for an instant before registering the voice. "Brother Chang?! What way did you find? Where did you vanish to for those seven days? By the way, today, Elder Bei taught me how to forge common weapons capable of manifesting magical abilities!"

Chang Xiang’s voice conveyed profound exhaustion. "I know. But set forging aside for now. Your immediate priority must be rapidly increasing your strength."

"I know! I am still cultivating weapon techniques and physical conditioning. But without finding Divine Heavenly Weapons, my magical weapon realm is capped! That directly hinders my overall progress!"

"No!" Chang Xiang interjected firmly. "I’ve discovered another pathway. One that doesn’t require devouring Divine Heavenly Weapons, yet still allows breakthroughs in your magical weapon realm! Admittedly, its effectiveness doesn’t match devouring those ultimate weapons… but worry not! In the future, you will still devour Divine Heavenly Weapons!"

Lou Yun felt utterly bewildered. "Brother Chang… what on earth are you talking about? Previously, you explicitly stated that raising the major rank of my magical weapon realm required devouring something as supremely high-grade as a Divine Heavenly Weapon! How has that changed now? Could it be… can I now devour ordinary common weapons?"

"Breaking through minor stages within a realm still requires devouring ordinary common weapons," Chang Xiang clarified. "However, ascension to a new major realm… that demands consuming other critical resources. What I found is a substitute for Divine Heavenly Weapons!"

"A substitute? What substitute?"

"Heavenly Fire!"

"Heavenly fire?" Lou Yun’s mind reeled. A barrage of questions followed: Make his magical weapon devour heavenly fire? How would that be feasible? Was he even capable? Would the fire just incinerate his weapon? Crucially… the Devour Weapons technique mandated absorbing weapons—how could heavenly fire possibly stand in?

"Yes, precisely: devouring heavenly fire," Chang Xiang confirmed unequivocally. "It’s documented within the knowledge your master left you. Honestly, I don’t know which texts you reviewed, but you clearly missed this!"

Perplexed, Lou Yun questioned, "I never encountered any reference to heavenly fire within the Devour Weapons techniques, Brother Chang… How do you know? Could it be… these past seven days… you devoted yourself entirely to studying my master Mr. Commoner’s knowledge deposits?"

Indeed, that was the truth. Chang Xiang had relentlessly struggled to find any method capable of accelerating Lou Yun’s growth, especially given the extreme scarcity of Divine Heavenly Weapons. Ultimately, as desperation mounted, he pinned his last hopes on the enigmatic legacy Bequeathed by his Master.

Regardless of world’s apparent ignorance of Mr. Commoner, Chang Xiang remained profoundly certain of the former’s godlike stature. It followed that he must have known of the Devour Weapons technique—and perhaps left behind crucial insights for its cultivation..

Sharing Lou Yun’s spiritual energy as a bound spirit, Chang Xiang possessed the unique ability to access the transferred knowledge vaults directly. Previously, he had chosen not to delve. However, the urgency now forced him to plunge—uninvited—into those vast oceans of knowledge, scouring relentlessly for relevant clues.

Hard work pays off. After seven exhausting days, his diligence yielded fruit. Mr. Commoner not only knew of the Devour Weapons method, but had personally experimented with its cultivation! Though he eventually abandoned the incomplete path for reasons unknown, he retained unique, profound insights into its potential and deviations, carefully documenting it.