الشطرنج الخالد - Book 05 Chapter 042
A vast fog covered Elite Hall’s territory, and the Heavenly Chen City Lord left.
Gu Hai managed to kill all of Feng Tonglao’s group quickly.
“Alright, Little Ming, I have already discussed it with Master. There is still another group of enemies. We will help you to find them as soon as possible,” Ensnaring Performance said to Zhengfa Ming.
Zhengfa Ming immediately knelt and kowtowed to Gu Hai thrice.
“Alright, get up. Ensnaring Performance’s songs are rather unique, and I am quite busy, so I do not have time to provide him with criticism. You can appreciate his songs and are good company for him. Let Ensnaring Performance teach you about cultivation in the future.” Gu Hai nodded.
Zhengfa Ming nodded back and stood behind Ensnaring Performance respectfully.
“Lin Shizi, thank you for everyone’s cooperation,” Gu Hai said as he looked at the dragons who had helped.
“The crown prince told me to listen to you before he left. Don’t thank us. If you have to, thank the crown prince,” Lin Shizi said, not appreciating the gratitude.
“Alright!” Gu Hai smiled while nodding.
“That is the Ice Fire Spirit Stone, a supreme treasure of the Supreme Ascendant’s line of inheritance. Experts of the Supreme Ascendant Dao will definitely come to take it back in the future,” Lin Shizi said.
“Let them come.” Gu Hai smiled.
After making arrangements for everyone, Gu Hai entered closed-door cultivation and took out the Ice Fire Spirit Stone. Earlier, his dantian seemed to have a faint reaction to it.
With the doors closed, Gu Hai placed the large Ice Fire Spirit Stone before him.
It was not the Spiritual Progenitor deity king that reacted in the dantian but the Karmic Energy Mending Heaven pool.
This thing is useful to the Karmic Energy Mending Heaven pool?
Gu Hai extended his right hand and placed it on the Ice Fire Spirit Stone. As he rested it there, he circulated the Worldly Sorrowful Endowment.
Buzz!
The Ice Fire Spirit Stone started trembling. As it trembled, it seemed to counterattack the suction from the Worldly Sorrowful Endowment, spewing out two streams of energy at Gu Hai.
“The Samādhi True Flame?” Gu Hai’s expression changed.
The two energy streams had opposite attributes: fire and ice; the fire-attributed energy was the Samādhi True Flame. The Samādhi True Flame poured into Gu Hai’s body. Were he someone else, the Samādhi True Flame would have burned him up, killing him.
“Humph!” the fire deity in the fire deity palace snorted coldly.
A suction immediately came from the fire calabash on its back, instantaneously pulling in the Samādhi True Flame.
The other stream of energy was cold energy. As it rushed into Gu Hai’s body, it tried to freeze his internal organs.
The clash between these two energies—one fire and one ice—should have caused a prodigious explosion in Gu Hai’s body. However, the fire calabash had collected the fire. As for the cold energy, the water deity in the water deity palace poured it into the ice mountain that had already shrunk.
Rumble…!
As the ice mountain absorbed the cold energy, it gradually grew.
As Gu Hai absorbed the fire-attributed energy and ice-attributed energy, the Ice Fire Spirit Stone melted, and a unique energy flowed into his dantian.
Buzz!
A nine-colored fog coalesced in his dantian, above the Karmic Energy Mending Heaven pool.
“The Ice Fire Spirit Stone can help me cultivate the Worldly Sorrowful Endowment?” Joy appeared on Gu Hai’s face.
After all, while the Worldly Sorrowful Endowment was incredible, it had not improved since Gu Hai reached the first layer. He had tried many methods to no avail. Now, this Ice Fire Spirit Stone seemed to nourish it, making it circulate quickly.
Gu Hai closed his eyes and calmly absorbed the Ice Fire Spirit Stone.
The Ice Fire Spirit Stone melted into a liquid and separated into three. The ice and the fire entered the water deity palace and the fire deity palace, respectively, while that unique energy flowed into the nine-colored fog shrouding the Karmic Energy Mending Heaven pool.
Gu Hai sat there for a day, absorbing the Ice Fire Spirit Stone.
Buzz!
Suddenly, a dull sound came from the dantian. The nine-colored fog instantly poured into the Karmic Energy Mending Heaven pool and vanished.
“Now that the colorful fog entered the pool, I should have reached the second layer, according to what the cultivation technique prescribed. The Worldly Sorrowful Endowment’s second layer?” Gu Hai said, feeling a little unsure.
The Worldly Sorrowful Endowment had advanced, but nothing seemed to have changed in his dantian. The Worldly Sorrowful Endowment did not seem different, and the Karmic Energy Mending Heaven pool was still the same. He did not notice any changes.
“That’s not right. There is some change?” Gu Hai felt slightly startled.
He saw the word for “disintegrate” on the Karmic Energy pool’s wall and the word for “assemble” on the Mending Heaven Energy pool’s wall.
Disintegrate? Assemble?
“The Worldly Sorrowful Endowment had records about this. Disintegrating objects into components and assembling components into objects? What does this mean?” Gu Hai pondered this.
After some silence, he took out a short sword from a storage bracelet. Then, he sent out some Veritable Energy to envelop the short sword and sucked the energy back, pulling the short sword along into his dantian. The Veritable-Energy-encased short sword appeared near the Karmic Energy pool.
“Now that the Worldly Sorrowful Endowment has reached the second layer, I can envelop objects with my Veritable Energy and send them to my dantian. However, what is the point of that?”
Gu Hai carefully placed the short sword by the Karmic Energy pool.
Buzz!
Suddenly, the Karmic Energy pool pulled the short sword in, and the “disintegrate” character shone golden. Then, the Mending Heaven Energy in the Mending Heaven Energy pool decreased somewhat as though consumed by the “disintegrate” character.
The golden light enveloped the short sword, and it strangely disintegrated, turning into ten-odd portions of metal and a clump of something black.
“This is bronze? This is iron? This is gold?” Gu Hai looked at the metals in shock.
“Disintegrating objects into components? That means reducing the object to its base materials? And the energy used for the disintegration process is Mending Heaven Energy?” Gu Hai’s expression changed.
“Then…this clump of black is…” Gu Hai felt a little confused as he activated the “assemble” character on the Mending Heaven Energy pool’s wall.
Buzz!
The ten-odd portions of metal immediately moved to the bottom of the Karmic Energy pool before appearing at the “assemble” character on the Mending Heaven Energy pool’s wall. Then, the “assemble” character shone golden, and the metals strangely reformed at a visible pace into the short sword from earlier.
“Assemble components into objects?” Gu Hai’s eyes lit up.
Gu Hai used his Veritable Energy to envelop that short sword and black substance, then spat them out.
Whoosh!
The short sword landed back in Gu Hai’s hands. The black substance gave off an incredibly unpleasant stench.
“This black substance is the impurities? The useless parts? Oh! This short sword’s quality improved significantly!” Gu Hai’s eyes lit up.
The Worldly Sorrowful Endowment’s second layer can further improve treasures? All it takes is Mending Heaven Energy?
“Wait, that’s not right!” Gu Hai showed a slightly startled expression.
He immediately took out large amounts of various metals from his storage bracelet—the metals that the short sword was made out of.
Then, he spat out some Veritable Energy to envelop those metals and sucked them in, bringing them to the Mending Heaven Energy pool in his dantian.
Buzz!
After draining some Mending Heaven Energy, the “assemble” character shone golden, and the metals quickly started merging in the same ratio as earlier. Soon, five short swords, some leftover metals, and impurities appeared.
Gu Hai covered these in his Veritable Energy and spat them out.
Clatter! Clang!
The five short swords, leftover metals, and impurities fell to the floor in a messy heap. Gu Hai could no longer be bothered with the impurities. Instead, he examined the five identical short swords.
When he compared them to the short sword in his hand, the six swords were identical.
“After the Karmic Energy pool disintegrates an item, the Mending Heaven Energy pool can follow the same blueprint to replicate the item endlessly?” Gu Hai’s eyes lit up.
“Does that mean that if I place a treasure into the Karmic Energy pool and disintegrate it into its component materials, I just need to find the corresponding materials, and I can replicate it as much as I want? All I use is Mending Heaven Energy?” Gu Hai suddenly stood up excitedly.
“Replication? It can replicate treasures?” Joy bloomed on his face.
A thought struck Gu Hai, startling him amidst his excitement. Can I replicate the Life Executioner Saber and the Life Ender Saber? Then, he showed a faint, bitter smile and said, “Disintegrating and assembling treasures require the use of Mending Heaven Energy. As for the Life Ender Saber? Forget it. Just fixing a crack already requires boundless Mending Heavenly Energy. Who knows how much I would need to assemble a new Life Ender Saber?”
“However…” Gu Hai went to the doors excitedly and opened them.
“Hall Master?” Mu Chenfeng said; he had been waiting outside the hall.
“Bring a Heaven Blasting Lightning over,” Gu Hai called out.
“Yes!” Mu Chenfeng soon brought a Heaven Blasting Lightning over.
Creak!
Gu Hai quickly closed the doors again, confusing Mu Chenfeng.
Once more, Gu Hai sent out his Veritable Energy and sucked it back in, pulling the Heaven Blasting Lightning into the Karmic Energy pool.
“Disintegrate!” Gu Hai called out.
Buzz!
Some Mending Heaven Energy drained. Then, the Heaven Blasting Lightning quickly disintegrated, turning into one hundred eight materials.
“Assemble!” Gu Hai called out again, and the one hundred eight materials started merging in the Mending Heaven Energy pool.
This result slightly startled Gu Hai. “This lives up to being a treasure that the Qian Heavenly Emperor forged. There are no impurities at all.”
Then, he tossed the Heaven Blasting Lightning back into the Karmic Energy pool.
“Disintegrate!”
Buzz!
The Heaven Blasting Lightning turned back into one hundred eight materials.
Whoosh!
Gu Hai spat the materials out. They landed before him, sorted properly.
“One hundred eight materials? Oh? I recognize only eighty-eight of them?” Gu Hai narrowed his eyes slightly.
After some silence, Gu Hai opened the hall’s doors once more.
“Hall Master, did you make a breakthrough?” Mu Chenfeng asked with a smile.
“Mu Chenfeng, there are twenty kinds of materials here. Go to the shops in the city and ask what they are. Then, buy more back. Buy as much as there is available,” Gu Hai said.
“Ah?” Mu Chenfeng felt slightly surprised.
“Split the work up between some men. Also, bring the Heaven Blasting Cannon to me,” Gu Hai instructed.
“Oh, alright!” Mu Chenfeng answered.
After giving Mu Chenfeng these instructions, Gu Hai had Ensnaring Performance contact the Han Nation’s Embroidered Uniform Guards hidden in the city to search for the materials as well.
In just two days, a large amount of materials had piled up in Gu Hai’s hall.
After another two days, Mu Chenfeng brought a group of trusted men into the hall. He was dumbfounded as he looked around the filled hall.
“This…this… There are eighteen Heaven Blasting Cannons?! Hall Master made seventeen?”
“These…these one thousand Heaven Blasting Lightnings…these are Heaven Blasting Lightnings that Hall Master made?”
The Elite Hall disciples exclaimed in disbelief.
“Hall Master, you really managed to forge Heaven Blasting Cannons? This…this thing can be copied?” Mu Chenfeng felt stupefied.
Gu Hai sighed as he looked at these Heaven Blasting Cannons. He could forge only so many. The materials were extremely difficult to find, particularly the one called Draconic Lightning Stone. Coincidentally, Heavenly Chen City had the most of it among the thirty-three cities. Furthermore, if the heavenly court’s cities had only this much of these materials, there would not be much of them in the world.
“Come, let’s go test them,” Gu Hai said, smiling.
——
Thirty minutes later:
Boom! A mountain exploded before the Elite Hall disciples’ expectant gazes. The impact shook the ground; even the entire Heavenly Chen City trembled.
——
City lord’s official residence:
“City Lord, the explosion came from Elite Hall’s territory. That should be the sound of the Heaven Blasting Cannon. City Lord, should we go and take a look?”
“What is there to look at? Even if they shoot again, no one is permitted to go over,” the Heavenly Chen City Lord said, feeling depressed.
Why is it Elite Hall again? Why are they firing the Heaven Blasting Cannon every few days?
——
Elite Hall’s territory:
“Hall Master, it works! It really works!” Mu Chenfeng said excitedly.
“Now, Elite Hall’s Metal Division, Wood Division, Water Division, Fire Division, and Earth Division only exist in name. It is time for a reorganization. The first one I form shall be the Heaven Blasting Battalion. From now on, you are the Heaven Blasting Battalion Commander!” Gu Hai said.
“Yes!” Mu Chenfeng said excitedly.