Lin Feng was unaware that he had inexplicably gained a 'master' in others' speculations. His mind was completely occupied with the matter of repair. After hurriedly returning home, he took out the materials and piled them all on the table, then eagerly brought out that longsword.
This was the highest-grade treasure tool among all the magic treasures he had prepared, and also his favorite one. Therefore, he decided to repair it first.
"Whew…" Taking a deep breath, Lin Feng held the longsword and the repair materials in his hands with anticipation, murmuring softly, "Repair."
Boom!!
In an instant, a faint explosion erupted before Lin Feng, and a ball of blazing flames suddenly appeared, startling him.
—That's right, flames! Real flames!!
When the Repair Art was still at the 'Apprentice' level, repairing magic tools only produced a red glow resembling flames. Now that the skill had upgraded to 'Novice' level, repairing treasure tools actually conjured real flames directly!!
Manipulating the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to draw out flames from nothing required reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, having a formed spiritual root, and converting true qi into true essence before one could achieve it. Lin Feng was only at Qi Refining Stage Nine and couldn't do it yet. Moreover, he hadn't even thought of doing so; he had merely used the skill, and it had automatically condensed a ball of real flame!
Strangely, this ball of flame was right in front of him, even enveloping his hands, yet he felt no burning sensation at all. Even his clothes remained unaffected. If not for the wave of scorching heat hitting his face, he might have thought the flame was an illusion.
This situation astonished Lin Feng. He hadn't expected the upgraded Repair Art to have such changes. Calming down, his heart swelled with even greater anticipation. The thought that he could soon equip himself with a full set of treasure tool-grade gear excited him immensely.
…
Time slowly passed, but Lin Feng's brows gradually furrowed. Watching the flames still churning before him, he thought with inner alarm, "Repairing a high-grade treasure tool… takes this long? Moreover, the true qi consumption is enormous… I can barely maintain it!"
Repairing magic tool-grade equipment had always been quick before. Even when he secretly repaired that top-grade magic tool of the Spirit Light category while dealing with He Yuan in the cave on Chiyan Mountain, it had only taken a moment. Now, repairing this high-grade treasure tool had already taken a full twenty minutes and wasn't finished yet. Lin Feng's originally full true qi was almost depleted.
Just as Lin Feng began to worry whether his current true qi reserves were insufficient to repair a high-grade treasure tool, the situation finally changed.
Hum…
A soft hum suddenly came from within the flames, and a strange sensation he had never experienced before surged into Lin Feng's heart. Before he could carefully perceive it, a tremendous suction force abruptly emanated from the longsword in his hand, as if trying to suck his entire soul into it!
Boom!!
The next instant, an explosion erupted violently. Lin Feng saw flames bursting everywhere, while a powerful force struck him, sending his whole body staggering backward. Simultaneously, the longsword flew from his grasp and fell.
Thud, thud, thud! Lin Feng stumbled back several steps, only stopping when his back hit the door. Then, a soft sizzle sound reached his ears. Raising his head, still shaken, he saw the longsword embedded deep into the floorboards, hilt-deep!
"...What happened?!" Lin Feng stood dumbfounded for several seconds before finally letting out a sigh of relief, his heart still pounding. He muttered to himself, "Is repairing treasure tool-grade equipment really this strenuous? Did it succeed or not…"
Not bothering to recover his almost exhausted true qi, Lin Feng quickly stepped forward, bent down, grasped the hilt, and pulled with all his might!
Clang!!!
As the sword was drawn, a flash of cold light instantly filled the entire room, forcing Lin Feng to close his eyes momentarily. A clear, bright sword hum echoed, pleasant to the ear yet filled with a sharp, cutting sensation.
Looking at the brand-new, gleaming cold steel sword in his hand, Lin Feng's eyes flickered with both excitement and confusion.
"What a strange feeling…" Lin Feng murmured to himself, instinctively focusing his mind.
Equipment Damage: 2% Cannot Repair.
But upon seeing this, Lin Feng was immediately stunned. "Cannot repair?!" he exclaimed in disbelief. "What's going on?!"
Equipment damage at 2% – that should have been caused by losing control at the critical moment just now. But why had it become unrepairable?!
After being stunned for a moment, Lin Feng suddenly thought of a possibility. His eyes instantly filled with incredulity as he questioned in shock, "'Cannot repair'… means my Repair Art level isn't high enough?! Did the skill level drop? Unlikely. Then that means… the equipment's grade increased?!"
To test his speculation, Lin Feng immediately took out a mid-grade treasure tool. After checking it, he confirmed it could still be repaired, just like before. This meant his guess was correct—the longsword's grade had indeed increased!
Originally a high-grade treasure tool, it had now upgraded to a level even his 'Novice' level Repair Art couldn't fix. So that meant… a spirit tool?!
"A spirit tool?! Is that possible?! The 'Novice' level Repair Art can actually upgrade equipment grade?! Isn't that too overpowered?!"
Lin Feng's heartbeat skyrocketed, and he couldn't suppress his excitement. He glanced at the mid-grade treasure tool armor on his left hand, then suddenly swung the longsword in his right hand down at it!
Swish!!
After a light sound, Lin Feng felt almost no resistance. The longsword sliced through the armor as if it were tofu, cutting off a corner!
"It really is a spirit tool! Absolutely a spirit tool!!"
Lin Feng was ecstatic with joy. Even damaged mid-grade treasure tool armor couldn't be sliced through so easily by a high-grade, or even top-grade, offensive treasure tool. Only a higher-level spirit tool could achieve this!
"Is the 'Novice' level Repair Art really this heaven-defying?! Isn't it a bit too exaggerated?"
After being excited for a while, Lin Feng also felt it was somewhat too incredible. Frowning slightly, he thought for a moment, then first put down the longsword. He picked up the cut mid-grade treasure tool armor and found the necessary repair materials.
"Repair."
Issuing the mental command, boom, a ball of blazing flames appeared before Lin Feng, enveloping the armor and materials.
Approximately five minutes later.
Repair Complete. Equipment Damage: 0. No Repair Needed.
The flames before him vanished, and the message of repair completion echoed in his mind, leaving Lin Feng slightly dazed.
This time, it had only taken a few minutes. There was none of the strange feeling he had experienced while repairing the longsword, and the true qi consumed was much less.
Looking at the brand-new armor in his hand, Lin Feng's brows furrowed again, a trace of disappointment flashing in his eyes—it was clear this armor's grade had not changed.
"Indeed, it couldn't be that exaggerated. So… was it only a one-time 'special case'?" Lin Feng pondered internally, then suddenly his eyes lit up. He muttered to himself, "Or perhaps it can be understood as… a 'reward' after the skill 'upgraded'?"
"That's very likely. Meaning, perhaps every time the skill upgrades in the future, I'll get one such 'reward' opportunity? If the skill later upgrades to 'Master' level, I should be able to repair spirit tool-grade magic treasures. Would I get another 'reward' opportunity then? Could I upgrade a spirit tool into a dao tool?! And if that's possible, what about beyond that?!"
The further he thought, the more excited Lin Feng became. However, he couldn't be 100% certain of his speculation yet; he'd have to verify it during the next skill upgrade. But regardless, the fact that he had just transformed a high-grade treasure tool into a spirit tool was undeniable.
"Hah, thankfully the first equipment I repaired after the skill upgrade was this sword. If I'd casually repaired some low-level magic tool back then, I would have regretted it immensely."
Thinking this with relief, Lin Feng put down the armor and picked up the spirit sword again.
"It's not an illusion. Is this the so-called 'spirituality'? A characteristic of spirit tools and above…"
The moment the sword entered his hand, that strange feeling reappeared. Lin Feng actually sensed a 'familiar' intention emanating from the sword, as if there was a spirit within it. Although this 'spirituality' wasn't particularly strong, it undeniably existed. He couldn't help but extend his consciousness towards the sword, wanting to 'connect' with it more.
Zheng…
However, just as Lin Feng did this, the sword in his hand suddenly erupted with dazzling silver light, emitting a sword hum that sounded almost joyful. It felt like some kind of connection had been established, and a string of information abruptly appeared in Lin Feng's mind!
It was information about the longsword in his hand. It came from nowhere, yet appeared as if it were the most natural thing, leaving Lin Feng dazed once again.
"A flying sword… a flying sword?!" After a long moment, Lin Feng's eyes widened in disbelief as he exclaimed, "Not only did it upgrade to a spirit tool, but it also became a true flying sword! And… attacks inflict soul damage?! What does that mean?"
The information suddenly appearing in his mind told him: the sword in his hand could be wielded as a flying sword! Furthermore, its attacks could also inflict damage on an enemy's soul!
This far exceeded Lin Feng's expectations, even surpassing his understanding, leaving him momentarily unable to accept it.
"That shopkeeper said the original creator of this treasure intended to forge a flying sword but failed, only producing a mid-grade treasure tool. So was that really the case? I repaired it, upgraded its grade, and thus completed the part that the original artificer failed at, turning it into a flying sword. That makes sense… But what about the soul damage on attack? I've never heard of a flying sword having such an overpowered ability… Could it also be because of the Repair Art? Is this actually the key point of the 'upgrade reward'? An additional effect?"
Lin Feng's brain raced, piecing together his speculations. Finally, he arrived at the most probable conclusion: the 'reward' for the first repair after the Repair Art 'upgraded' was even richer than he had initially thought. It could not only upgrade the grade and power of the magic treasure but also bestow additional abilities!
"Big harvest, such a big harvest… Haha!"
Lin Feng looked at the flying sword in his hand with a grin, feeling like he'd been hit by a pie falling from the sky—who would have thought that upgrading the Repair Art would grant him such a 'grand gift'? It was truly worth the months of anticipation!
"So, does this mean I can fly on a sword now? Wouldn't that be incredibly cool? Haha! Awesome!"
Thinking this with delight, Lin Feng couldn't help but want to try if he could wield the flying sword. But the moment the thought arose, he felt dizzy and lightheaded. Only then did he remember that after the two repairs earlier, his true qi was almost completely exhausted.
He had no choice but to suppress his excitement, calm his mind, and begin cultivating to recover.
Once he entered the cultivation state, Lin Feng temporarily forgot everything. Unbeknownst to him, most of the day passed. When he finished his cultivation, he realized it was almost evening.
However, Lin Feng wasn't too concerned about the time. The first thing he did was take out the flying sword again, filled with anticipation to try if he could wield it…