Chapter 96: When Qi Flows, Spirit Awakens—Add Spirit, and You Transcend!
Jiang Lin repeatedly reminded Xiao Yi Xian to follow Old Yao's supervision, to reform herself diligently—no, to survive a bit longer, so that Jiang Lin would have enough time to find a cure.
Afterward, he returned with Ying Jiang to the Forging Valley, where he spent three days forging five sets of Dual-Blade Feather Sheath Wings. He had used up all his previous materials, and many parts had to be crafted by hand, which was time-consuming. Otherwise, he could have completed it in a day.
"Did I give Mu Yun's team too much time? Learning a low-tier Huang class flying Dou Technique in half a month… meanwhile, I made five Dual-Blade Wings in just three days."
Inside the workshop, Jiang Lin looked at the five folded wing devices hanging on the wall. There were still over seven days left, not enough to begin his Six-Blade Wing research, and once he started that, he was likely to get hyperfocused and lose track of time.
"One week… Pei Xuan should be able to forge the Mystic Qi Umbrella. With the first attempt behind me and all the materials ready, a week should be more than enough."
Since there was time, Jiang Lin took out the materials prepared for the Tier-Three Mystic Qi Umbrella and began crafting it based on his previous restoration experience.
After a week, he held in his hand a grand, elegant, yet low-profile black umbrella—crafted with Thunder Rhino hide as the canopy, rhino horn as the frame, rhino tendons as thread, and other Tier-Three materials from the Magic Beast Mountains.
"Pei Xuan, hold the umbrella. Over there. Activate your Dou Qi."
Pei Xuan looked nervously at Jiang Lin, who had promised to protect him, now pulling out the Black Feather Bow: "..."
Crack!
In the Forging Valley, Jiang Lin fully drew the heavy bow. Crimson-gold Dou Qi flowed along intricate channels carved into it, forming a shimmering energy arrow on the bowstring.
On the opposite side, Pei Xuan opened the black-gold umbrella and channeled Dou Qi into it. The golden patterns on the surface lit up, forming a thin, rotating reddish Dou Qi film—elegant and mesmerizing.
Whoosh!
The moment Pei Xuan was ready, Jiang Lin released the arrow. It sliced through the air and struck the umbrella directly. What happened next shocked him—just like a laser bouncing off a mirror, the umbrella's surface dented slightly, then flexed and redirected the arrow, sending it crashing into a tree nearby, where it exploded with a loud bang!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Excited, Jiang Lin fired three more shots in rapid succession. All were deflected. He noticed that as his attack frequency increased, the red Dou Qi film spun faster—and Pei Xuan's Dou Qi depleted faster, too.
Buzz…
Jiang Lin stopped the rapid fire, took a deep breath, and began pouring Dou Qi into the bow like opening a dam. As the Forging Fire Technique circulated within him, his internal Dou Qi quickly recovered. His body grew hot as he slowly reached the bow's energy output limit.
This was the same method he had used to fire the shot that saved Xiao Yan's "little brother" by shooting Mu Yun.
After three minutes of charging, he let the bowstring loose.
Boom!
The crimson-gold arrow struck the umbrella. It folded in slightly, then rebounded with dramatic force, launching the arrow into Ying Jiang's nest and blowing it apart.
Gu gu!!! Gu gu gu!!!
Ying Jiang, watching nearby, freaked out when its nest was destroyed. It stomped and fluttered angrily next to Jiang Lin—adorably furious.
Jiang Lin ignored it and ran to Pei Xuan. Looking at the flawless, fully restored Tier-Three Mystic Qi Umbrella, he couldn't help but grin.
"This thing is nearly perfect. Except for not literally making me invincible, it's pretty much a magical artifact prototype. The energy inscriptions alone are worth a deep study!"
He was thrilled. The Black Feather Bow at full charge combined with his improved Mid-Tier Xuan Technique, Crimson Feather Arrow, could unleash attacks on par with a full-powered Da Dou Shi.
Yet Pei Xuan, a mere one-star Dou Shi, had deflected it using this umbrella. That meant Jiang Lin could likely use it all the way to Da Dou Shi level himself!
"Tier-Three magical beasts often use ranged Dou Qi attacks. I'm basically invincible now!"
Originally, flying magical beasts posed the greatest threat to him, especially with their long-range attacks. But now, with this umbrella, most of those attacks were rendered useless.
"The umbrella's inscriptions cap out at Tier-Three… probably because the Xiao Clan's forger wasn't strong enough. If I can improve it further, those patterns might yield even more power."
"Tier-Three… that's still at the Huang Tier of forging. At this level, it's all about basic energy manipulation. I was able to forge Tier-Three gear by pushing the limits of Huang-Tier principles."
"But I'm stuck now. To advance further, I'd need to use Tier-Four materials just to make pseudo-items with Huang-tier effects."
"That's why the Guild has stronger materials, but still only produces Tier-Six Dou Devices. Anything stronger becomes a pseudo-Xuan-tier item."
The moment Jiang Lin touched Tier-Three, he hit a wall.
True Xuan-Tier smiths had a qualitatively different understanding of Dou Device materials than Huang-Tier ones. Realizing this also made the gap between Xuan and Earth-Tier smiths clear to him.
"All things have Qi. At the Huang Tier, if you guide Qi properly, you get a usable weapon."
"At Xuan Tier… perhaps it's about the 'Ling' in 'Qi flows, and Spirit awakens.' Only gear with 'spirit' can carry the 'laws' associated with the Earth Tier."
"Looks like I really do need to visit the Blacksmith Guild."
Jiang Lin glanced around the Forging Valley, packed his essentials into his bone ring, left Pei Xuan behind to guard the place, and, with a still-angry Ying Jiang in tow, flew off toward Wutan City.
(END CHAPTER)
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