High Martial: I Use Everything as Swords

However, when he tried to put it on, a Spiritual pressure as heavy as a mountain instantly pressed down on him.

He was an expert at the Enlightenment Realm Seventh Layer, yet he felt his breath catch in his throat.

It was as if he were shouldering an invisible mountain.

Only with Long Xiao and Lei Hu’s help did he slowly manage to don the Heavy Armor, called the Profound Turtle Mountain Armor.

The moment the dragon-head clasp on the chest clicked shut...

Lei Xiao shuddered violently!

He felt as if he were no longer just standing on the ground, but had completely merged as one with the boundless earth beneath his feet!

A steady, boundless, and heavy power surged from deep within the earth, flowing up through his feet, into the armor, and circulating throughout his entire body.

The True Qi within him resonated wonderfully with this power, its circulation speed inexplicably increasing by thirty percent!

"This feeling..."

Lei Xiao was so excited he could hardly contain himself. He could feel that as long as he stood upon the earth, this Armor would provide him with endless support.

"How is it?" Han Feng asked.

"It’s powerful! Unbelievably powerful!"

Lei Xiao swung his arm. The Heavy Armor felt exceptionally nimble on his body, not at all cumbersome.

He looked at his younger brother with excitement.

"Ah Hu, come on!

Hit me with your strongest move!"

"Big Bro, I..."

Lei Hu hesitated.

His strongest Combat Skill was his ultimate, life-saving trump card, powerful enough to severely injure an opponent of the same realm. He was afraid one strike might damage this treasure.

"No more excuses!"

Lei Xiao roared. "I told you to hit me, so hit me!"

Han Feng spoke calmly from the side.

"Go all out. If it breaks, it wouldn’t be worthy of the name Quasi-Fourth-Order Spiritual Artifact.

Besides, I’d like to see its limits myself."

Hearing Han Feng say so, Lei Hu no longer hesitated.

He took a deep breath, unleashing all the True Qi in his body.

The Tier Three Battle Saber in his hand let out a high-pitched hum as a frenzied, three-meter-long saber gleam instantly took shape!

"Big Bro! Watch out!"

"Mountain-Splitting Slash!"

With a thunderous roar, Lei Hu leaped high into the air and, with all his might, brought the frenzied saber gleam crashing down on Lei Xiao’s chest!

The air tore apart wherever the saber gleam passed, letting out a piercing shriek.

Long Xiao instinctively took two steps back, his expression turning grave.

That slash was already on par with a full-powered strike from an expert at the Enlightenment Realm Middle Stage!

Yet Lei Xiao, clad in the Profound Turtle Mountain Armor, stood his ground. He didn’t dodge or evade, not even bothering to assume a defensive stance.

The next moment...

BOOM!

The frenzied saber gleam slammed squarely into the chest plate of the armor.

The thunderous clang of metal on metal that everyone expected never came.

It was as if the saber gleam had struck a sponge capable of absorbing anything.

Then, the saber gleam silently collapsed and shattered, transforming into a chaotic torrent of energy that scattered wildly in all directions, sending the shop’s shelves tumbling.

And at the center of the blast, Lei Xiao stood completely unmoved.

Only a faint white mark remained on the armor’s chest.

A moment later, the dark-gold patterns on the armor flared brightly, and the white mark vanished at a speed visible to the naked eye, leaving it pristine once more.

Meanwhile...

*SPURT!*

Lei Hu, the one who had launched the attack, felt as though he had been struck head-on by a prehistoric behemoth.

He was sent flying back seven or eight steps.

The Tier Three Battle Saber flew from his grasp and clattered to the floor.

"How is that possible?"

Lei Hu clutched his throbbing chest, disbelief written all over his face.

Long Xiao was dumbfounded.

’What the hell kind of defense is that?’

’The attacker is the one who gets hurt?’

’That’s insane!’

A deathly silence fell over the shop.

Lei Xiao looked down at the unscathed armor on his chest and felt the power still surging within him. His mind went blank.

He turned to look at the young man, who had remained perfectly calm from start to finish.

Excitement, shock, gratitude, awe.

He thought of the brothers who had died horrible deaths because their gear wasn’t good enough. He thought of the countless nights he’d jolted awake from nightmares of his own powerlessness.

A whirlwind of emotions washed over him, eroding his pride as a powerful expert.

He opened his mouth, but found that words were utterly inadequate.

In the end, all these emotions coalesced into a single, primal, solemn gesture.

THUD!

This expert of the Enlightenment Realm Seventh Layer, a formidable figure in the Black Market, slammed his knees hard onto the stone floor with a sickening thud.

"Di... Divine Artisan! You are a true Divine Artisan!"

Lei Xiao’s voice trembled violently with extreme excitement, and his eyes even began to redden.

This wasn’t just a piece of equipment; it was their greatest guarantee of survival in the coming Dragon Abyss Blood Sea!

This armor from Han Feng wasn’t just compensation; it was a second life for the two of them.

Han Feng could have easily fobbed them off with an ordinary piece of Tier Three defensive gear, but instead, he had forged a Quasi-Fourth-Order item.

It was a kindness he could never repay. All he could do was kneel in gratitude.

Han Feng took a step forward and slightly raised his right hand. A gentle yet irresistible current of Wind Attribute energy lifted Lei Xiao’s heavy body.

"Rise."

His voice was still calm, yet it carried an undeniable authority.

"I gave you this armor so you could stand and kill your enemies, not so you could kneel and thank me."

His gaze swept over the ecstatic Lei Brothers and the stunned Long Xiao as he continued,

"The Jade Scroll is worth far more than this armor.

So in this trade, I’m the one who came out ahead. You don’t owe me a thing."

"Today, I give you this armor. In the future, I may need you to risk your lives in exchange for things of even greater value.

Think carefully. Once you choose this path, there’s no turning back."

Lei Xiao did as he was told and rose, his back ramrod straight.

He carefully caressed the smooth dragon-head relief on his chest, feeling the endless power connecting him to the earth. The excitement in his eyes gradually settled into an unprecedented resolve.

He remembered his Deputy Commander, who had been torn to pieces by a Tier Three Demon Beast while covering his escape on their last mission.

He remembered the brothers who fell just before the dawn, all because their gear wasn’t good enough.

That feeling of powerlessness was the nightmare that had jolted him awake, night after night.

But now, the armor he wore was the sharp blade that could finally sever that nightmare!

’How could this be considered an even trade?’

’This was giving their entire corps a brand new path—a path to survival!’

He looked at Han Feng. The young man’s eyes were as calm as a deep abyss, as if forging such a divine artifact was a trivial matter for him.

This display of unfathomable power and vision completely extinguished any trace of wishful thinking he might have harbored.

"Master, you’ve shown us great respect. After you’ve said all this, I, Lei Xiao, wouldn’t be a man if I were still hesitant!"

Lei Xiao took a deep breath and slammed a fist against his own chest plate, producing a heavy THUMP.

"I’m not one for empty platitudes.

Before, I, Lei Xiao, led my brothers through a life on the edge, trading our lives for paltry resources, only to be rewarded with the grief of burying our comrades time and time again."

He took another deep breath, slammed his fist against his chest again with a heavy THUMP, and his eyes grew as sharp as an eagle’s.

"But today, you have given the Mad Blade Mercenary Corps a path forward—a path to survival!

From this day forward, my life, and the lives of every brother in the Mad Blade Mercenary Corps, will be the sharpest, fastest blade at your command!

If you point east, we will never go west!

Whether it’s in East Sea City or the Dragon Abyss Mist Sea—the dirty jobs, the hard jobs, the deadly jobs—you just have to say the word, and my brothers and I will get it done!

Even if it’s a den of Tier Four Demon Beasts ahead, we’ll carve a path through for you!"

Beside him, Lei Hu clutched his still-aching chest and nodded along, his eyes filled with a fanatical light.