Chapter 309: Where My Blade Points, There Dawn Breaks!
Chiyue Town, top floor of Obsidian Skyscraper.
Flying transport vehicles made of B6-grade alloy slowly landed on the rooftop. Wu Zhuoqun, who had been waiting for a long time, directed hundreds of Martial Arts Hall Guard Corps disciples to carry large boxes onto the vehicles.
“Captain Wu, are we really just going to sell these Superconducting Electromagnetic Guns to every city like this? Is there really no problem?” Lin Yan looked at the storage boxes filled with Superconducting Electromagnetic Guns with a trace of worry. “All these Superconducting Electromagnetic Guns require learning Lightning Palm to use. If we sell these Superconducting Electromagnetic Guns, it means we also have to teach Lightning Palm. Once people in every city learn Lightning Palm, it will spread to everyone. These Superconducting Electromagnetic Guns are easy to make, and copying them is very simple. By then, the major powers in these cities may stop buying the Superconducting Electromagnetic Guns we manufacture.”
The Superconducting Electromagnetic Gun could be called a trump card of Obsidian Martial Arts Hall. It allowed martial artists to fight across realms; a group of martial artists wielding Superconducting Electromagnetic Guns even had a chance to take down a Bone Forging Realm Expert. It was an absolute ultimate weapon.
Until now, such a weapon and the method to learn Lightning Palm had been reserved only for grey-robed disciples and Martial Arts Hall Guard Corps members.
Now suddenly selling this trump card, while it could indeed deal a severe blow to the Red Moon Merchant Guild, also meant Obsidian Martial Arts Hall would completely lose a hidden card. In the future, when facing other factions, they would in turn have to guard against Superconducting Electromagnetic Guns.
For such a trade, if it was only to teach the Red Moon Merchant Guild a lesson, it seemed like a loss no matter how you looked at it.
“Lin Yan, you really underestimate the Hall Master. The Hall Master is playing a big game of chess.” Wu Zhuoqun looked at the worried Lin Yan and could not help but smile. “In the past, the Superconducting Electromagnetic Gun was indeed one of the hall’s major trump cards, but now it is nothing special to the hall. Even if a Bone Forging Realm Expert uses a Superconducting Electromagnetic Gun forged from C-grade alloy, at most it can injure a Bone Forging Realm Expert and provide some advantage. Even if outsiders fully master it, that is the limit.”
“Do you think our Martial Arts Hall would fear those Bone Forging Realm martial artists? As for people who learn Lightning Palm passing it on in private, that is probably exactly the outcome the Hall Master wants.”
“The outcome the Hall Master wants?” Lin Yan asked in confusion. “What benefit is there in that?”
Lightning Palm, although just an ordinary martial skill, had previously been exclusive to Obsidian Martial Arts Hall. Others could not learn it even if they wanted to. This allowed Martial Arts Hall Guard Corps disciples to suppress Bone Forging Realm martial artists by relying on the Superconducting Electromagnetic Gun. If they clashed with people from other factions, they had a huge advantage.
If all the major factions learned it, Obsidian Martial Arts Hall would lose this advantage. Aside from making some money at the start and getting back at the Red Moon Merchant Guild, there would not seem to be any real benefit.
“That is exactly where the Hall Master is brilliant.” Wu Zhuoqun said with deep admiration. “Although Lightning Palm is the core of the Superconducting Electromagnetic Gun, it is only a basic martial skill of the hall. There are many powerful martial skills in the hall that use Lightning Palm as a foundation, and there are even quite a few Sequence Extraordinary Level Martial Skills.”
“If people from the major factions get a taste of using Lightning Palm to fight across realms, then when they grow stronger in the future and want to continue fighting across realms, they will have to master more powerful advanced martial skills. But those advanced martial skills derived from Lightning Palm can only be learned by joining the hall.”
“This time, the Hall Master appears to be suffering a loss by selling Superconducting Electromagnetic Guns to each city, but in reality he is digging at the foundations of the major factions, and he is targeting their gifted martial artists. Ordinary martial artists are too weak and have no real demand for advanced martial skills derived from Lightning Palm. Selling these Superconducting Electromagnetic Guns to all the major cities can be considered the first step for the hall to absorb geniuses from every city. Striking the Red Moon Merchant Guild is only incidental.”
When Wu Zhuoqun finished, Lin Yan involuntarily sucked in a breath of cold air. She had not expected that Hall Master Lin Qi selling Superconducting Electromagnetic Guns was not primarily to deal with the Red Moon Merchant Guild, but to break the structure of the Wushan Region entirely and absorb talent from across the region for his own use. It was practically defying the heavens.
“Alright, the goods are loaded. Let’s get to work too.”
Looking at the loaded boxes, Wu Zhuoqun led Lin Yan and the others to pilot the flying transport vehicles away from Chiyue Town, heading directly to the major cities.
Obsidian branch hall.
Inside the intermediate gravity room, Lin Qi sat cross-legged alone, his fingers continuously tapping on the system’s player list, extracting cultivation methods from one player after another.
After the administrator permissions were raised to level three, the Merit-Based Admission Authority had also been upgraded.
Now, when he issued tasks, he no longer needed a smart watch. He could directly send announcements through the system to all online players. No matter where the players were, as long as they were online, they could receive it. It was equivalent to being able to issue tasks to all players anytime, anywhere, with the limitation of at most three uses a day.
In addition, the daily number of player extractions had increased from ten to fifteen. This to some extent eased the problem of needing to extract too many cultivation methods and martial skills and improving too slowly.
As Lin Qi completed the final extraction, a surge of memory poured into his mind, and he felt clear and refreshed.
“At last, the second level of the Body Strengthening Secret Technique has reached perfection!”
“Next, as long as I spend some time in the intermediate gravity room, I can raise my body to the Second Layer Perfection Realm.”
Looking at the system prompts, Lin Qi was overjoyed and curious about what effect achieving second level perfection of the Body Strengthening Secret Technique would have.
When he was still just a martial artist, the first level perfection of the Body Strengthening Secret Technique had already made his body toughness terrifying, in no way inferior to high-level monsters. His recovery power even surpassed that of high-level monsters, and his physical fitness had been comprehensively enhanced. His stamina alone had increased by 30%.
Now with the second level of the Body Strengthening Secret Technique reaching the Perfection Realm, even without mentioning other aspects, if his body toughness could reach the level of a high-level lord, then combined with the impact reduction of top-tier Tier 2 Battle Armor, he might be able to withstand attacks from high-level Blood Condensation Realm martial artists, comparable to those Catastrophe Level Monsters, without having to rely solely on Limit Breaking Level Martial Skills to desperately fight Blood Condensation Realm high-level martial artists.
Just as Lin Qi was about to cultivate the second level of the Body Strengthening Secret Technique, the system notification sounded again.
System: Congratulations to the host, the classification optimization of the three cultivation methods is complete.
System: According to the classification optimization of forty-two cultivation methods, the host’s three Super-level Bone Forging Realm Secret Techniques have been fused and optimized into three high-level Heavenly Human Realm Secret Techniques. Do you wish to receive them now?
“Three high-level Heavenly Human Realm Secret Techniques?” Lin Qi was briefly stunned by the system prompt, then said, “Receive them all!”
According to his estimate, from the forty-two cultivation methods he had collected, including the half-complete Blood Condensation Realm cultivation method obtained from the guard robot, if they could be fused and optimized into a Super-level Blood Condensation Realm cultivation method, that would already be a huge gain. After all, the methods obtained were all beginner and intermediate level, and even the Heavenly Human Realm methods were all beginner-level or incomplete beginner-level.
He had not expected the system to be so generous as to directly elevate the three Super-level Bone Forging Realm Secret Techniques into three high-level Heavenly Human Realm Secret Techniques. Cultivation methods of this caliber would probably not be found anywhere in the entire Wushan Region, or even in the Four Regions.
Secret techniques were different from simple cultivation methods; they came with matching martial skills best suited for use along with the cultivation method, allowing the method to yield even better results.
As high-level Heavenly Human Realm Secret Techniques, in terms of training efficiency they were definitely not inferior to those Super-level Heavenly Human Realm cultivation methods and were absolutely top-tier among Heavenly Human Realm methods. Anyone who practiced them to Heavenly Human Realm would be invincible at the same level.
After Lin Qi waited for a moment, a terrifying flood of memories rushed into his mind like a tsunami, surging for several minutes before finally ebbing away. His face went extremely pale, and blood gushed from his seven orifices.
Fortunately, with the first level perfection of the Body Strengthening Secret Technique, his recovery power was extraordinary. Within just a few seconds, Lin Qi’s color returned.
“So strong! These three cultivation methods are simply defying the heavens!” Lin Qi looked at the information in his mind, his heart filled with indescribable shock.
After fusion and optimization, the three cultivation methods had been significantly improved even at the Bone Forging Realm stage.
For example, Reverse Star Triple originally included Reverse Star Hand and Reverse Star Step, which at the Bone Forging Realm were only Super-tier Martial Skills. Now, not only had they been elevated to High-Class Super-Class Martial Skills, but when used in conjunction with the matching cultivation methods, their power could reach the level of Extreme Super-Class Martial Skills.
Once the three cultivation methods were practiced to the Blood Condensation Realm, their matching martial skills could be cultivated to the second level. At that point, the second-level martial skills would directly reach Extreme Super-Class level, and when combined with the supporting cultivation methods, their power would approach Limit Breaking Level Martial Skills.
Upon advancing to the Heavenly Human Realm, one could cultivate the third-level matching martial skills, whose level would be Limit Breaking, and when used with the corresponding cultivation methods, their power would approach the level of high-class Limit Breaking Level Martial Skills.
However, what made these three cultivation methods even more heaven-defying was that they reduced the difficulty of learning and cultivation.
If the previous cultivation methods had a learning and cultivation difficulty at Super-level Bone Forging Realm, which meant that without extraordinary comprehension or numerous trial-and-error attempts, very few could master them, then the reason the Guard Corps geniuses could cultivate them was largely due to relying on the meditation rooms. Otherwise, those who succeeded would have been extremely rare.
But now, in his judgment, the learning and cultivation difficulty of these three methods had dropped from Super-level to roughly advanced level, with difficulty comparable to normal high-level Blood Condensation Realm cultivation methods.
With this level of difficulty, even Martial Arts Hall Guard Corps disciples, if they used the meditation rooms, would have a good chance of mastering them. This would undoubtedly allow more Martial Arts Hall disciples to learn these three cultivation methods, and greatly increase the chances of producing cultivators in the Blood Condensation Realm and Heavenly Human Realm.
On this merit alone, such cultivation methods would be fiercely fought over by countless factions. True geniuses were far too few, and no faction could rely solely on one or two powerhouses to develop. Lowering the difficulty of cultivation methods would undoubtedly enable a faction to nurture more strong experts.
“These three cultivation methods can be tried by some members of the Guard Corps. If someone can master them, we can invest those Large Sausages and Big Bananas to cultivate them properly. In the future, they might even break into the Heavenly Human Realm.” Lin Qi looked at the three cultivation methods and felt this was an excellent opportunity to cultivate local disciples.
Previously, he had been unwilling to invest too many resources into their cultivation because the so-called geniuses selected from the Guard Corps were only average talents. Even with the hall’s functional buildings as support, many of them would be limited to the Blood Condensation Realm in their lifetime. While such an achievement was already impressive in the Four Regions, it would take them a lifetime to reach it. With sufficient resources, many might only reach Blood Condensation Realm at fifty or sixty, or even seventy or eighty years old. Such people were of no real use to him, not to mention that Blood Condensation Realm cultivation required Energy Blood Essence.
By then, even the players might not have enough Energy Blood Essence, so it was even less realistic to think about allocating it to local disciples.
However, if local disciples had a chance to advance to the Heavenly Human Realm, then it would be entirely different. With his resources fully supporting them, their growth speed could at least compete with the players, and they might even reach the Heavenly Human Realm before him.
As Heavenly Human Realm experts stood at the peak of a region and were local disciples, they could help him with a great many things. For instance, many of the Martial Arts Hall’s affairs, as well as negotiations with other factions, were currently handled by Wu Zhuoqun and others.
With that thought, Lin Qi left the intermediate gravity room, planning to quickly organize the three cultivation methods.
While Lin Qi was frantically organizing the three cultivation methods, Wu Zhuoqun brought Lin Yan and the others to the top floor of the Light Chasing Building in the City of Light Chasing, the place where City Lord Di Luoya conducted his daily work.
“City Lord, Wu Zhuoqun and others from Obsidian Martial Arts Hall seek an audience. They say they are representing Obsidian Martial Arts Hall to make a trade with you.” A three-eyed race youth wearing Tier 2 Battle Armor, whose strength had already reached Bone Forging Realm Intermediate Level, spoke respectfully.
“Obsidian Martial Arts Hall wants to make a trade with me?” Di Luoya was a bit surprised.
Currently, Obsidian Martial Arts Hall was one of the three major powers in the Wushan Region. They had opened training quotas, giving everyone a chance to learn Limit Breaking Level Martial Skills. In the Wushan Region, they were at their peak, and the city lords of all cities tried to curry favor with them. It was hard to imagine they would take the initiative to come to him, a City Lord at Initial Stage Blood Coagulation, for a trade.
“Could it be about the Smiling Skull matter?”
Di Luoya recalled a recent message: Smiling Skull had been enraged and had directly dispatched four of the Seven Guardians along with an army to purge all Obsidian Martial Arts Hall disciples within the Mountain of the Dead. Although he did not know who had leaked this news, he had confirmed from the Domain City that it was true.
Moreover, Smiling Skull’s purge of Obsidian Martial Arts Hall in the Mountain of the Dead was only the first step. Subsequent actions would target Obsidian Martial Arts Hall within the Wushan Region itself. This was extremely dangerous for the hall.
“Lord City Lord, shall we let them in?” the three-eyed race youth whispered.
“Let them come in.” After some thought, Di Luoya decided to meet Wu Zhuoqun.
A short while later, the three-eyed race youth led Wu Zhuoqun and Lin Yan into the room.
Di Luoya looked at Wu Zhuoqun and Lin Yan, who had once served in the City Guard. He could not help but feel emotional. The two who had originally been only advanced martial artists had now both stepped into the Bone Forging Realm and become core members of Obsidian Martial Arts Hall, trusted aides of Lin Qi. In terms of status, they were no longer inferior to him, the City Lord.
“Coming to me at a time like this, is Hall Master Lin hoping I will help deal with Smiling Skull?” Di Luoya said with a smile. “That is not a problem. Obsidian Martial Arts Hall rose from our City of Light Chasing, and Hall Master Lin has helped me a lot. I can help the hall once within my capabilities. However, I would like one training quota in return.”
With Smiling Skull’s army pressing in, if Obsidian Martial Arts Hall could not hold in the Mountain of the Dead, then the hall’s forces across the Wushan Region would all be attacked. That was an outcome Obsidian Martial Arts Hall absolutely did not want.
Since Bone Forging Realm martial artists would not make much difference, Di Luoya assumed that Lin Qi could only turn to Blood Condensation Realm experts to support the battle in the Mountain of the Dead.
“City Lord Di Luoya, you misunderstand.” Wu Zhuoqun shook his head and said respectfully, “Today I have come by order of the Hall Master to make a trade with City Lord Di Luoya.”
“A trade? What kind of trade?” Di Luoya looked at Wu Zhuoqun curiously, not understanding what he could possibly offer that would attract Obsidian Martial Arts Hall.
“Our Martial Arts Hall intends to sell a batch of weapons to the entire City of Light Chasing. With this batch, the city’s overall strength will improve significantly, and it could even resolve the monster tide in the wilderness this time.” Wu Zhuoqun said with a smile as he took out a Superconducting Electromagnetic Gun made of B6-grade alloy from his lower back. “This is the weapon we intend to sell.”
“A handgun?” Di Luoya looked at the Superconducting Electromagnetic Gun, which resembled a handgun, full of doubt. “Are you sure this thing can deal with monsters?”
Thermal weapons were not unheard of in the city, but bullets lacked the penetrating power to pierce monsters’ muscles. Although higher-grade alloy bullets could do it, forging such bullets from rare alloys was far too wasteful, and the kinetic energy from gunpowder was too low. At most, they could deal with monsters below high-level, making them far less cost-effective than cold weapons made from the same materials.
Therefore, handguns in the city were mainly used to maintain public order among ordinary people and against martial artists. Using them against monsters was pure fantasy.
“This is indeed a gun, but not an ordinary gun,” Wu Zhuoqun explained. “It is a Superconducting Electromagnetic Gun. As long as it is activated with a special martial skill, it can easily pierce the flesh and blood of high-level monsters, and it can even threaten lord monsters. At most, the user only needs to be a martial artist.”
“Is what you are saying true?” Di Luoya immediately stood up, eyes filled with surprise and excitement. His qi and blood involuntarily surged, causing the pressure in the room to increase.
A weapon that allowed a mere martial artist to injure lord monsters could change the fate of a city. It might even allow the city’s martial artists to proactively attack monster lairs.
“If City Lord does not believe it, you can test its power on a Tier 2 Battle Armor.” Wu Zhuoqun nodded.
“Alright, Wako, you try it.” Di Luoya looked at the three-eyed race youth in Tier 2 Battle Armor beside him.
“Yes!”
The youth named Wako replied respectfully, then stepped forward to stand before Wu Zhuoqun. A faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, as if saying “you may begin,” showing not the slightest worry about the test.
Tier 2 Battle Armor was standard for Bone Forging Realm martial artists and was generally made from C2-grade alloy. However, his particular armor was different, forged from higher-grade C4 alloy, much tougher than lord-level monsters.
The City Lord had chosen him for the test likely because he suspected Wu Zhuoqun was exaggerating and wanted to tease him a bit.
But before Wako could say anything more, the gun in Wu Zhuoqun’s hand flashed with a scorching white light.
One beam… two beams… three beams…
Bang, bang, bang!
Three beams of white light in quick succession. Standing less than two meters away, Wako did not even have time to react before he was blasted back several steps and slammed heavily into the wall, stunned.
On Wako’s Tier 2 Battle Armor, three dents had appeared. The deepest was over a centimeter. Although it had not quite been penetrated, the sight made Di Luoya suck in a sharp breath.
A Tier 2 Battle Armor made of C4-grade alloy had actually been dented. If this weapon were used against lord monsters, or even high-level lords, it would pose no problem.
And such a weapon only required a martial artist to operate. If this story were told, few would believe it.
“City Lord Di Luoya, what do you think?” Wu Zhuoqun asked with a smile.
At the side, Lin Yan looked at the dazed Di Luoya, a faint smile on her lips. She was not surprised at all by this reaction.
She knew Di Luoya’s expression all too well. When she had first witnessed this terrifying power, her reaction had been exactly the same.
Astonishment.
Shock.
And fascination.
Di Luoya took a deep breath. His gaze toward Wu Zhuoqun burned with unprecedented intensity. “Tell me. What do you want?”
