Volume One, Chapter Seven: Ever-Shifting Transformations
[Spirit Weapon "Thousand Blades" kills a first-rank Celestial Hound, experience +75.]
[Mutual Advancement Activated! Host experience +75.]
Only when the system’s voice sounded did Jiang Huan finally exhale in relief.
He collapsed onto the ground, gasping for air.
Sweat drenched his hair, and the blood of the Celestial Hound splattered across his body and face.
At this moment, he resembled a bloodied warrior demon.
Only he knew how perilous the battle had just been.
After a long while, he finally stood up.
He looked at the uneven wrist guards on his arm and couldn’t help but smile with relief.
“Seems like even the stronger first-rank beasts aren’t something I can mess with right now.”
Jiang Huan rested briefly, then rose to begin cutting off the Celestial Hound’s fangs, spine, and fur.
These were valuable materials, indispensable to him!
Just as he was about to strike, something caught his attention about the Celestial Hound before him.
“This one seems weaker than the previous one, and it’s skinnier too…”
Jiang Huan flipped it over and pressed lightly on its chest. A stream of milky white liquid sprayed out.
“It’s lactating.”
Instinctively, Jiang Huan glanced toward the abandoned rest area behind him, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
Grasping his long blade, he walked steadily toward the rest area.
In the corner of the rest room, four Celestial Hound pups were hidden beneath overgrown weeds.
Without hesitation, Jiang Huan plunged his long blade down.
[Spirit Weapon "Thousand Blades" kills an unraked Celestial Hound pup, experience +35.]
[Mutual Advancement Activated! Host experience +35.]
Moments later, all four pups lay dead beneath Jiang Huan’s blade.
His gaze involuntarily shifted back to the spirit weapon interface.
At this moment, both "Thousand Blades" and his own experience had risen to 30%.
“Looks like after hunting a few more beasts, both the spirit weapon and I will advance…”
Jiang Huan swiftly gathered materials from six Celestial Hounds before diving back into the ruins.
He did not venture deeper into the ruins this time.
Instead, he circled the outskirts.
His battle with the Celestial Hound had clarified his own combat power.
Facing a first-rank beast head-on, though he could kill it, was far too risky at this stage.
The unraked beasts, often scorned by spirit masters, were actually his best targets.
Their materials might not be very valuable, but for Jiang Huan, they were the fastest path to advancement!
At the boundary where Colorful Cloud City met the ruins,
the unraked beasts, seldom swept up by spirit masters, were about to face their doom.
[Spirit Weapon "Thousand Blades" kills an unraked Bloodthirsty Rat, experience +15.]
[Mutual Advancement Activated! Host experience +15.]
[Spirit Weapon "Thousand Blades" kills an unraked Long-Tongued Frog, experience +10.]
[Mutual Advancement Activated! Host experience +10.]
…
[Spirit Weapon "Thousand Blades" kills an unraked Blue-Tailed Hawk, experience +20.]
[Mutual Advancement Activated! Host experience +20.]
This slaughter stretched on without end, and the experience for "Thousand Blades" surged rapidly.
At dawn, many spirit masters emerging from the depths of the ruins paused in surprise at the outskirts.
Every five steps lay a beast’s corpse, every ten steps a pool of blood.
“Wow, what’s wrong with these unraked beasts? Why are they all dead?”
“Did a high-rank beast come from the depths and wipe them out?”
“No, this looks like a person’s doing! Who’s so bored they spent all night slaughtering trash beasts? What’s the point?”
That day, the biggest gossip in Colorful Cloud City was about the maniac who had ravaged countless unraked beasts.
Yet, the instigator, Jiang Huan, remained at the edge of the ruins, hunting beasts far from the city.
[Spirit Weapon "Thousand Blades" kills a Red-Eyed Unihorn Beast, first-rank beast, experience +85.]
[Mutual Advancement Activated! Host experience +85.]
When another first-rank Red-Eyed Unihorn fell beneath Jiang Huan’s blade, the familiar system voice rang again in his ears.
[Experience sufficient. Initiate spirit weapon tempering?]
[Experience sufficient. Host, do you choose to advance?]
Jiang Huan chose without hesitation.
A subtle yet overwhelming power surged from within him, flowing through his hands into the broken blade.
"Thousand Blades" rose into the air without warning. Jiang Huan could clearly feel it, like parched earth greedily consuming the energy pouring from him.
During the tempering process, the vast spiritual energy seemed interwoven with unknown elements, continually merging into the broken blade.
Gradually, under the pull of this immense energy, the broken blade lengthened by more than three feet.
In an instant, what had been a mere one-foot fragment now stretched to four feet three inches.
[Tempering successful. E-grade spirit weapon "Thousand Blades" has advanced to D-grade spirit weapon. Affinity +10.]
[Spirit Weapon "Thousand Blades" awakens second effect: "Myriad Transformations" — the blade will shape itself according to the host’s will.]
No sooner had the tempering finished than Jiang Huan slipped into a state of complete absorption.
His own advancement began anew.
The overwhelming spiritual energy continued to temper his body, and Jiang Huan seemed to hear something shatter inside him.
[Host level increased from Zero-Rank Seven-Star to First-Rank Two-Star. Physique greatly enhanced.]
[Congratulations on breaking through to First Rank. Reward: Martial Skill "Backstab." After executing one attack, the host can instantly appear behind the opponent to perform a second attack.]
The immense spiritual energy within Jiang Huan gradually calmed. He instinctively clenched his fists.
“My physique has improved again. I wonder how much it is now.”
With a thought, Jiang Huan summoned his data panel.
[Host: Jiang Huan]
[Level: First Rank Two-Star]
[Experience: 1%]
[Ability: Mutual Advancement]
[Martial Skills: Stealth, Backstab]
[Physique: 395]
Jiang Huan’s eyes widened, staring incredulously at the data before him.
“395?? That’s almost on par with a third-rank spirit master…”
In Jiang Huan’s understanding, barring special constitutions, the standard for third rank was a physique reaching 500.
Yet, he was only a first-rank two-star…
And yesterday, he had been a mere ordinary spirit master with a physique of 5!
Calming himself, Jiang Huan then noticed a faint azure glow dancing nearby.
Perhaps sensing his gaze, the light orb quickly fluttered over to him.
Only then did Jiang Huan clearly see that it was his spirit weapon, "Thousand Blades."
The broken blade had undergone tremendous transformation.
The battered blade had been fully restored, with no trace of wear remaining.
The only constant was the star-like fissures scattered across the blade’s surface.
Those irregular patterns gave it a unique and captivating beauty.
A ghostly figure emerged from the longsword. Jiang Huan slowly raised his head, beneath his weathered bamboo hat revealing a pair of resolute eyes.
This time, Jiang Huan saw his face clearly.
The fatigue had vanished from his expression.
Though not handsome, his face was covered in stubble.
His once somewhat solid frame now seemed even more substantial.
But Jiang Huan also sensed a strong aura of the martial world from him.
Perhaps it was his imagination, but within that calm visage, he even perceived a trace of gratitude.
[Spirit Weapon: Thousand Blades]
[Quality: D]
[Effect One: Sudden Cold Edge]
[Effect Two: Myriad Transformations]
[Experience: 1%]
[Affinity: 57]
[Tempering Count: 2]
The ghostly image of "Thousand Blades" gradually faded, finally returning to the longsword, which softly settled back into Jiang Huan’s hand.
This time, Jiang Huan felt a fierce killing intent emanating from the blade, bold and unrestrained.
His heart swelled with an excitement he could scarcely contain!
This was the fastest progress he had made in all these years!
Suddenly!
A faint sound of footsteps caught Jiang Huan’s attention.
He furrowed his brow, swiftly hiding in nearby bushes, holding his breath as he quietly peered toward the source of the sound.