Chapter 22 The Battle Style of the Heavenly Master
The Qingguang cleanses.
The various mysteries of spirituality and co-spirit unraveled swiftly before Gu Jinlai.
In that instant, it was as if he had immersed himself in the Grand Sun Nine Refinement Visualization Method for eight or ten years of intensive research.
The kind that he couldn't bear to cease, day or night, without rest.
After ten seconds had passed, the information carried by the deep purple light sphere changed.
Grand Sun Nine Refinements Visualization Method: First Refinement entry-level → Second Refinement Small Achievement.
...
"Good fellow, worthy of the Heavenly Master Dao that is easy at first but difficult later on, directly enhanced by one refinement," Gu Jinlai remarked.
He carefully sensed the changes.
Each advancement in the Grand Sun Nine Refinements Visualization Method draws more from the spirit within the soul, and improves the co-spirit frequency. Moving from the first to the second refinement, the enhancement effect was quite significant.
His co-spirit frequency was extremely high. Once the intensity of his spirit increased, even if the duration was less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, he could rapidly complete the first refining of the Treasure Armor.
In addition, his spiritual sense was exceptionally pure, carrying less "burden" on his Divine Thought. At this moment, with the advantage of his realm, his flexibility had also grown.
He was like a giant whose movements were slow, but if he was a hundred meters tall, taking a step every few seconds, he could still outpace ordinary people.
"In other words, spiritual sense might be able to guide others in Qi Refinement to True Qi just like Divine Thought does, but it requires a very high realm," Gu Jinlai concluded.
Gu Jinlai made a rough estimate.
Once he cultivated the Grand Sun Nine Refinements Visualization Method to the seventh layer and derived a Primordial Spirit from it, he would inevitably achieve the effects of Refining God's Thought.
Every magic skill in the Heavenly Master Dao is easy at the beginning and difficult later.
A Heavenly Master who has cultivated a Primordial Spirit is revered as a Heavenly Monarch. A hundred years ago, during the most glorious period for Heavenly Masters, the number of Heavenly Monarchs did not even match the current number of Primordial Spirit True Monarchs in Daqian, which shows the difficulty of the Heavenly Master Dao.
"One step at a time," Gu Jinlai said as he settled his mind and turned towards the Treasure Armor.
The first attempt at refining armor was awkward, and out of caution, it took him five days to complete the initial co-spirit with this piece of Treasure Armor.
He could continue to tap into the potential of this Treasure Armor, which was made of High-carbon Steel, but the consumption of time that followed would cause the cost-effectiveness to significantly decrease.
...
At this moment, in the courtyard, Gu Jinlai was wearing the new War Armor he had forged.
Before him, Nian Buwang held a sword with one hand and kept attacking.
"Ding ding dang dang!"
The sounds of the sword blade colliding with steel echoed continuously in the courtyard.
Several times, Nian Buwang unleashed True Qi, but he only managed to push Gu Jinlai back, causing his blood to surge.
This was still because Gu Jinlai did not activate True Qi for defense.
If he had protected himself with True Qi, he almost could have been immune to over ninety percent of Nian Buwang's attacks.
"That's enough," Gu Jinlai stated.
"Patriarch, this War Armor hasn't reached the standard weight for heavy armor yet, but its defensive capability is comparable to that of a top-grade Treasure Armor. Body Refining Martial Artists in the Qi Refining Realm would find it difficult to hurt someone wearing it. If increased to fifty kilograms, a hundred kilograms, it could resist the slashing of Sword Gang below that of a Treasure Sword," said Gu Chaoyang excitedly.
Top-grade Treasure Armor, ah!
Even if its classification as steel armor meant it affected flexibility and its price couldn't compare with lining-type Treasure Armor, its price could definitely reach sixty thousand taels.
If used in a charge, ten warriors wearing this armor could form a Gang Condensation formation and break through a siege of tens of thousands of soldiers.
"Not bad," Gu Jinlai responded.
His estimation of the price was about the same as Gu Chaoyang's.
Fifty or sixty thousand taels.
In fact, if this were a lining-type top-grade Treasure Armor, the selling price would definitely be over three hundred thousand.
It wasn't that Gu Jinlai did not know how to refine lining-type Treasure Armor.
Anti-stabbing Suit, nano armor.
Nano armor requires an incredibly long time for co-spirit. Setting that aside for now, take the Anti-stabbing Suit as an example—it doesn't hinder flexibility and can provide defense against blades and spears that's not inferior to Low Grade Treasure Armor.
However, the equipment like this, which requires Kevlar composite fibers, is expensive to make and complex in its craftsmanship, consuming a long time for co-spirit. Gu Jinlai, in pursuit of quickly amassing enough capital to complete the training of the Gu family's one thousand elites, naturally eliminated this option for now.
He was looking for cost-effectiveness.
For an armor like this, he could fully accelerate the process, managing to refine one piece every three days.
Given its low cost, these armors could bring him a profit of 500,000 taels in a month, six million taels in a year.
What a staggering sum that was! It was almost comparable to the annual tax revenue of cities like Changjun City, Lingxiao City, and Sunset City in Star State.
"Go and buy more Artifact Refining materials, and do not slack off on your training either. In three months, the one who has made the fastest improvement in cultivation will receive a piece of Treasure Armor as a reward," Gu Jinlai instructed.
Gu Chaoyang and Nian Buwang had already witnessed the strong defense of the War Armor just now. Upon hearing Gu Jinlai's words, they all became invigorated.
"I will not disappoint the Patriarch."
"Go ahead."
Gu Jinlai acknowledged with a word, donning the Treasure Armor as he proceeded to the martial arts arena in the backyard.
After instructing Su Nanxing to keep a close watch on the courtyard gate, he once again took his place at the center of the martial arts arena.
"Next, it's about the combat power of Heavenly Master."
While reviewing the Grand Sun Nine Refinements Visualization Method these days, Gu Jinlai wondered if the Yin God of a Divinity Transformation Immortal could command flying swords to slay enemies, why couldn't a Heavenly Master?
Was the Spiritual Sense too "heavy"?
Then, was there a way for Heavenly Masters to manipulate objects against foes, similar to Divinity Transformation Immortals?
There certainly was a way; it was just that the lineage of Heavenly Masters had only been through a great change for about a hundred years and the solution had not yet been devised.
If others couldn't think of it, then what about him, Gu Jinlai...
As someone who experienced the information explosion era of modern times, his mind, the mind of Gu Jinlai, would surely come up with a solution.
"Qing Lian."
Gu Jinlai identified the direction.
The martial path of the Heavenly Master.
In the next instant, Qingguang washed over, and within Gu Jinlai's mind, information regarding Heavenly Master's spiritual nature, Refining God's Thought, Divinity Transformation, Artifact Refining, and Beast Taming flashed like lightning.
Suddenly!
He caught onto something!
In the next moment, he contained all his Qi, allowing the forty-kilogram Treasure Armor to weigh upon him.
At the same time, his Spiritual Sense dissipated, and in an instant of sudden enlightenment, it took less than a second for him to achieve a Co-spirit State with the Treasure Armor.
It was nearly a one hundred percent Co-spirit Frequency.
In this state, he once again felt the life within the Treasure Armor.
It was like an infant that had just become self-aware or just awakened from slumber, eager to communicate with him.
"Flesh is weak, unite spirit and body, mechanize as one..."
Through Co-spirit, Gu Jinlai and the Treasure Armor became fully integrated.
"You're already a mature set of Treasure Armor; you should learn to stand on your own and protect your master. Don't keep the burden of over a hundred catties pressed upon your master. Look at the Divinity Transformation Flying Sword next door, it only needs a Yin God to lead the way, and it can travel ten li away to break through enemy formations and slay enemies..."
Gu Jinlai conveyed his Spiritual Sense.
He felt his thoughts and the Treasure Armor merging into one entity; he was a living being, and so was the Treasure Armor.
People never feel that bouncing and hopping around with their own hundred-plus catties "object," the body, is heavy.
At this moment, he almost couldn't feel the weight of the Treasure Armor either.
Gathering his strength, without moving his True Qi, the eighty-catty Treasure Armor felt as light as nothing on his body.
"Hum!"
Qingguang faded away.
The next moment, the Co-spirit Frequency between Gu Jinlai and the Treasure Armor greatly decreased.
He immediately recovered from the state of unity between the two, once again feeling the burden of the Treasure Armor on his body.
But...
He felt a force sharing that burden with him.
Spiritual Sense!
It was the Spiritual Sense!
The Spiritual Sense, like the Yin God controlling objects, manipulated the Treasure Armor, turning it into an extension of his own limbs and significantly reducing its weight.
"Indeed, if the Yin God can control a sword, the Spiritual Sense can also control objects. The Yin God sword flies swiftly as lightning, ever-changing, while the Spiritual Sense doesn't need many divine mysteries, it has only one function! Awaken the Treasure Armor with Co-spirit, let it bear its own weight with its 'spirit,' and thereby… make it lighter!"
Gu Jinlai maintained this state. His thoughts super boosted, seeing through everything: "This lightness is relative to the person in Co-spirit State; in reality, the weight still exists. In this way, wielding a thousand-catty heavy sword will be as easy as wielding a ten-catty sword, breaking through the sound barrier and resulting in vastly different damage."
In less than a minute, he stopped.
His Spiritual Sense was largely consumed.
This state greatly drained the Spiritual Sense.
He had just become a Heavenly Master, and his Spiritual Sense was too weak.
The Grand Sun Nine Refinements Visualization Method was not a skill; advancing to the Second Refinement only increased his Co-spirit efficiency, success rate, and extraction rate. To strengthen his Spiritual Sense, he still needed time to accumulate it.
His gaze fell on the little person within his spiritual world, his consciousness.
A new orb of light materialized there.
Spiritual Explosion: Entry-level.
It was a light blue color.
Gu Jinlai looked at the orb: "The light blue color doesn't matter, forming a skill is good enough. With this skill, the Heavenly Master has their own way of fighting."
He looked at the Treasure Armor on his body.
He set a small goal for himself.
"Su Nanxing, tell Gu Chaoyang to forge a thousand-catty War Armor and a thousand-catty War Sword."