My Artifacts Can Upgrade Infinitely

"What’s the plan?" Zhao Zuo asked, his right hand gently fiddling with the fabric of his sleeve.

"Here’s the plan... I’ll handle the main assault, and you look for an opportunity to launch a sneak attack. If I can’t beat him, find a chance to get away immediately. Don’t worry about anything else," Shen Yunjiao concluded.

Zhao Zuo immediately understood the true nature of her plan. Shen Yunjiao was taking on the vast majority of the risk, leaving him as a wildcard who could engage or disengage freely without much danger to himself.

"So... do you have anything to add?" Shen Yunjiao asked.

"I can’t accept a plan like this," Zhao Zuo said, shaking his head. He felt no pleasure at the prospect.

"Then what do you have in mind?"

"We strike together. We do everything we can to critically injure him in the first moment, then finish him off as quickly as possible. If that doesn’t work, we coordinate and fight him together."

Zhao Zuo spoke, then took out a vial of Mixed Poison he had prepared from his Storage Bag.

"Apply this poison to the blade of your Magical Artifact. The moment it draws blood, it will kill the enemy in an extremely short amount of time," Zhao Zuo explained. "If we both use it, we increase our chances of poisoning him by at least fifty percent."

"That’s a great idea," Shen Yunjiao said, taking the porcelain vial and shaking it gently.

"Then we’ll have to stop him from taking an Antidote Pill," Zhao Zuo said.

"Right. And we’ll add the Spring Breeze Tactics," Shen Yunjiao added.

With a premeditated ambush against an unsuspecting target, their chances of success were already quite high. And even if they were outmatched, the poison would create an opportunity to retreat.

"Alright," Zhao Zuo said with a nod.

After a simple lunch, they returned home to adjust their conditions. Zhao Zuo placed his Vajra Talismans, Ice Talismans, and Divine Wind Talismans where he could grab them instantly, and kept his Antidote Pills and Spirit Revitalizing Pills within easy reach.

Shen Yunjiao, meanwhile, adjusted her own state by absorbing Spirit Stones, doing her best to satisfy the Taotie Giant Beast within her so that she could rouse it during the coming battle.

「Deep into the night.」

The streets of Moyun Workshop were silent, save for the occasional hushed conversation. Zhao Zuo and Shen Yunjiao, now dressed in black, activated a Divine Wind Talisman and darted through the shadows, quickly reaching the border of the Workshop’s core district.

In a flash, they were in the forest, leaping swiftly from branch to branch.

The Demon Cultivator was hiding in Green Tile Lane, five streets away from Qingni Lane. It was a street bordering the forest at the edge of the four major districts, perfectly situated for a quick escape into the Yunlan Mountain Range. He had likely prepared it as his getaway route.

Zhao Zuo and Shen Yunjiao didn’t approach his residence too closely, worried about hidden Restrictions and defensive measures they might not be able to detect. Instead, they chose to set their ambush in the shadows of the trees lining the road.

Hidden in the shadows, the two of them controlled their heartbeats and the flow of their Qi Blood, waiting patiently.

Before they knew it, midnight arrived, but their target had yet to return.

Zhao Zuo glanced towards Shen Yunjiao’s hiding spot, about five meters away. Both were growing worried that something unexpected had disrupted their plan.

Finally, after more than an hour had passed, a dark figure appeared at the end of the road.

From her position nearby, Shen Yunjiao gave the prearranged signal. Even from over a hundred meters away, she could sense the vast, chaotic torrent of blood within the man’s body and the terrifying power it contained.

Seeing the signal, Zhao Zuo immediately pulled on his Spirit Silk Gloves and applied poison to his Sky-Breaking Saber and Black Flame Saber.

On her side, Shen Yunjiao had already opened several large porcelain jars at her feet. The Spring Breeze Tactics were now in motion.

About ten seconds later, the man entered the designated kill zone. In the moonlight, Zhao Zuo got a clear look at him. He wore an unassuming gray Taoist Robe and had a slender build. His hair was tied back with a cloth strip, and he appeared to be around thirty years old.

This was none other than the Inner Sect Disciple of the Blood Stream Sect, Wu Fadu.

SWOOSH.

Shen Yunjiao unleashed her Mana, her body becoming a crimson blur as she shot toward the target ten meters away. She swung her longsword in a wide, horizontal arc to maximize the area of attack.

"Tsk, tsk. You think you’re worthy of ambushing this Daoist master?" A smirk touched Wu Fadu’s lips. He casually took three steps back, dodging Shen Yunjiao’s initial assault, then pulled out an Antidote Pill and tossed it into his mouth.

"Die!"

Shen Yunjiao was unfazed. Pivoting on her left foot, she spun her body, gripping her longsword with both hands. The momentum extended her reach as she slashed out, unleashing an arc of crimson sword light.

"Heh."

Wu Fadu sneered and retrieved his own Magical Artifact from his Storage Bag. It was a blood-red saber that radiated an overpowering stench of blood. Faintly, wailing spirits seemed to coil around the blade as wisps of ominous, bloody qi rose from it.

This was a Defiled Blood Saber, a weapon refined by Cultivators of the Blood Refining Path using their own Essence Blood. Its blade could secrete a blood-toxin that, upon cutting an enemy, would destroy their natural healing ability and cause them to bleed nonstop until they died.

"Little lady, I started using aphrodisiacs to set traps when I was a teenager. You didn’t really think your little tactic was that clever, did you?"

The Defiled Blood Saber clashed with the longsword, and two torrents of blood-red energy erupted outward.

Zhao Zuo activated his Breath-Concealing Ring to diminish his presence. He used the Sutra of Calming the Mind to control the flow of his Qi Blood as he silently closed in on the enemy, his footsteps as light as a cat hunting in the night.

One step. Two steps.

When the distance between the three of them closed to about five meters, Zhao Zuo pushed his Breath-Concealing Ring even further. Then, like an arrow released from a bow, he shot forward, leaning low and accelerating to his maximum speed in an instant.

Simultaneously, the Sky-Breaking Saber launched from a hidden clasp at his waist, flying straight for the vital point in the center of the target’s back.

"Well, well. So you have a partner," Wu Fadu remarked, genuinely startled for a second. He hadn’t sensed anyone approaching; the newcomer was like a formless, silent shadow.

Outwardly, however, he tried his best to maintain a calm and unbothered facade.

"Ghost Slayer Shield."

A shield engraved with a skull abruptly materialized. Gray Evil Qi radiated from it, and the faint sound of wailing ghosts and howling wolves echoed from within the hideous skull.

This was Wu Fadu’s second Upper Grade Magical Artifact, giving him one for offense and one for defense.

It was precisely because of this that he was able to stand out among the disciples of the Blood Stream Sect, reaching the pinnacle of combat prowess among those in the Late Period of Qi Cultivation and... becoming the commander for this current operation.

PING.

The Ghost Slayer Shield and Zhao Zuo’s Black Flame Saber clashed, their powers locked in a struggle. Without a moment’s hesitation, Zhao Zuo activated the saber’s special effect. A massive black dragon of fire erupted, its spreading flames like a demon unfurling its wings.

The black flames relentlessly burned away the Evil Qi on the surface of the Ghost Slayer Shield. The aura of Evil Qi thinned at a rate visible to the naked eye... In terms of sheer power, the Ghost Slayer Shield was being overwhelmed by the Black Flame Saber.

Tendrils of fire slithered past the shield’s defense, flicking like a viper’s tongue toward the vital point in the center of their target’s back, about to strike home.

"Blood God Barrier!"

A dense, crimson light radiated from Wu Fadu’s body, a mixture of Mana and blood. Empowered by this light, the might of both his Defiled Blood Saber and Ghost Slayer Shield rose to a new level. The sound of wailing ghosts and howling wolves assaulted Zhao Zuo’s ears once more, like a demonic chant boring into his mind.

The black tendril of flame from the Black Flame Saber was stopped in its tracks, unable to advance another inch.

But after unleashing such a powerful technique, Wu Fadu’s face turned pale. A hint of weakness emanated from him; clearly, that last burst had taken a heavy toll.

"Damn it, damn it!" Although Wu Fadu had managed to stabilize the fight, he knew that if this kept up, he would be the one to die. Both the woman attacking from the front and the man from the rear were clearly elites among those in the Late Period of Qi Cultivation.

The Ghost Slayer Shield suddenly erupted, a blast of gray Evil Qi forcing Zhao Zuo back two steps.

At the critical moment, the black fire on his Black Flame Saber coalesced into a shield of its own, meeting the blast of gray Evil Qi. The two forces clashed... and neutralized each other.

As a result, Zhao Zuo was completely unharmed.

"This can’t go on!"

While his blood light had blocked the Black Flame’s assault, high above—where he had failed to notice—a streak of azure light was plummeting at incredible speed. It was the Sky-Breaking Saber, which Zhao Zuo had launched long ago!

......

PS: Please vote with your monthly tickets. Thank you all for your support.