Chapter 395 - 282: One Piece of Equipment for a Mercenary Corps’ Allegiance
The next moment, his consciousness was pulled away.
He entered neither the raging world of flames nor the dynamic world of air currents.
This time, it was as if he had sunk into a boundless expanse of thick, warm earth.
He couldn’t "see" anything, but he could "feel" everything.
He felt the eternal, unchanging stillness, the profound weight that supports all things, and an indestructible tranquility.
He had become the yet-unformed armor.
In this strange state of Human Armor Unity.
Every subtle structure of the armor, every point of inhibited energy flow within the materials—all of it appeared with absolute clarity to his "senses."
’So that’s how it is... The Spiritual Power particles of the Profound Turtle Shell are naturally arranged in a spiral structure that dissipates force.’
’And the fibers of the Earth Dragon Hide form a multi-layered, web-like cushioning structure...’
’But when they’re fused, the two different structures create an energy conflict, causing at least 15% of the Defense Power to be lost to internal friction.’
Countless inspirations and solutions erupted in his mind.
This time, he didn’t forcefully sketch Runes within the ball of energy with his Sword Essence as he had before.
’That was too crude!’
’What he was about to do was an act of genesis!’
In the state of Human Armor Unity, he was the absolute master of this mass of materials.
His Divine Sense became an invisible baton, beginning to conduct an exceptionally fine-tuned orchestration of the billions of Spiritual Power particles within the liquid mass.
’Spirit Gathering Array, form!’
Under his guidance, a portion of the free Earth Attribute Spiritual Power particles began to move slowly.
They automatically sought out optimal positions, linking with one another to form a minuscule energy vortex capable of spontaneously absorbing Spiritual Qi from the outside world.
’Vajra Array, form!’
Another group of particles from the Profound Turtle Shell, those embodying the ’Solid’ Trait, began to arrange themselves along profound trajectories.
They formed stable, diamond-shaped structures that linked together, creating an indestructible internal framework.
’Thick Earth Array, form!’
He then wove the resilient particles from the Earth Dragon Hide into dense, film-like Force Fields, layering them over the Vajra Array’s framework to absorb and channel impact forces.
...
This refining method was completely beyond the comprehension of any conventional Artifact Refiner.
He wasn’t "drawing" Runes on the armor.
Instead, he was making the Rune Arrays the armor’s "natural" muscles and bones!
Each Array was perfectly integrated with the material’s inherent Traits, as natural and flawless as the meridians and organs of a human body!
His craftsmanship was nothing short of divine!
The entire process placed a terrifying strain on his Spiritual Power.
Every second, a massive torrent of information washed through his mind.
The movement of every particle.
The restructuring of every component, all required his precise control.
Had it been any other Tier Three Rune Master of the Enlightenment Realm, their Spiritual Power would have likely been exhausted in less than ten seconds.
But at this moment, Han Feng’s 4100-hertz Spiritual Power seemed to split into billions of invisible, microscopic swords.
Each one precisely manipulated a single Spiritual Power particle.
They constructed this microscopic world with precision and efficiency, following an order that bordered on the Dao itself.
Time ticked by, second by second.
The form of the liquid mass in mid-air was constantly being fine-tuned and optimized.
The luster on its surface grew more subdued, while its internal energy structure became increasingly complex and intricate.
Finally, as the last node of the final Thick Earth Array was completed.
HUMMM!
Inside the armor, every Rune Array lit up simultaneously!
A perfect, self-sustaining Energy Loop had fully formed within the armor.
At that moment, it was as if the armor had truly come to life!
It was as if all the light in the workshop was being devoured by it.
The refining was complete!
The light from the furnace gradually faded.
A suit of heavy armor, ferocious in design and filled with a brutalist aesthetic, floated silently in mid-air.
Its entire body was a deep, inky black, its surface etched with faint, dark-gold patterns that pulsed with light as if breathing.
The pauldrons were broad and thick, modeled after the shell of a Profound Turtle. At its chest was a slightly raised relief of a dragon’s head, marking the location of the core Array.
The entire suit of armor bore no seams, appearing as if it had been formed as a single, perfect whole.
It simply floated there, yet it gave off the impression of a towering, majestic mountain.
Han Feng withdrew from his connected state and wiped the sweat from his brow, his eyes filled with a fervent glow.
"Identify."
[Item: Profound Turtle Mountain Armor]
[Quality: Quasi-Fourth-Order Spiritual Artifact]
[Materials: Deep Sea Profound Turtle Shell Extract, Earth Dragon Hide Fibers, High-Purity Black Obsidian Gold (Trace Amount)]
[Trait 1: Earth’s Pulse (While standing on the ground, restores 1% of Shield Energy and stamina per second.)]
[Trait 2: Solid Wall (Passively reduces physical damage by 30% and grants immunity to all Energy Attacks below Tier Three.)]
[Trait 3: Rebound (When taking physical damage, converts 30% of the force into an Earth Element shockwave that is reflected back at the attacker.)]
Han Feng looked at the stats on the panel and smiled, satisfied.
This was no longer "Artifact Refining"; it was "Creation."
For the first time, he felt with such clarity how the so-called "Flying Sword Resonance" and "Artifact Refining" were merging in his hands, setting him on an unprecedented path.
Quasi Tier Four!
He had used Tier Three Materials to forge equipment that surpassed its Grade.
Although it hadn’t reached the true Tier Four Spiritual Artifact Level—meaning it hadn’t produced an Artifact Spirit...
But with these stats, it could definitely withstand a few blows from a Tier Four Grandmaster.