My Artifacts Can Upgrade Infinitely

Red Willow Lane seemed to spring to life all at once.

Lei Zhen saw Shen Yunjiao’s sudden appearance and waved his hand. Two Cultivators at the Qi Cultivation Fifth Layer immediately moved to surround and kill her, just as planned.

The other four scattered, on guard against a potential second person hiding in the shadows.

The entire battlefield was split into two zones. Lei Zhen’s men coordinated with flawless precision, and before long, Shen Yunjiao was locked in a difficult battle. Still, she kept smashing ceramic vials, occasionally flinging a handful of ochre-colored poison powder toward Lei Zhen.

Although she was being brutally suppressed, she wasn’t in any immediate, grave danger.

Zhao Zuo held his breath, watching the battlefield for a chance to strike. The pressure on him was immense; he had to face four enemies at once, and there was one whose aura he couldn’t read. ’Still,’ he thought, ’since Shen Yunjiao dared to charge in by herself, it must mean there isn’t a second Qi Cultivation Sixth Layer among them.’

’I can’t drag this out any longer.’

Zhao Zuo crept slowly through the shadows of the buildings until he could no longer remain concealed. The Mana in his body erupted, and the muscles in his legs tensed and swelled as he lunged toward the nearest target.

"Attack together! I’ll pin him down!" Sun Erhen shouted.

Sun Erhen’s four-man team frequently hunted Cultivators together and possessed superb coordination. Even though they could see Zhao Zuo was only at the Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer, they didn’t dare let their guard down. After all, the depth of a Body Refining Technique couldn’t be discerned by the naked eye.

The four quickly confirmed their objective. Sun Erhen moved to block Zhao Zuo from the front while four Magical Artifacts took aim at him. They shot forth from four different directions, targeting his head, heart, and abdomen.

Most importantly, the four attacks came from completely different directions, leaving him no room to hide. His only option was to endure them with a Vajra Talisman.

Zhao Zuo sidestepped two paces to his left, dodging the Magical Artifact aimed at his head. He slapped a stack of Vajra Talismans from his robes onto his body, activating them and conjuring an unprecedentedly thick golden barrier in front of him. The other three artifacts struck its surface, sending out countless ripples... but the golden barrier held.

"I’ll provide cover! Retrieve the Magical Artifacts! His Talismans won’t last long!"

Sun Erhen immediately issued the command and quickly put some distance between them. He knew the brawny man before him had to have a Body Refining Cultivation, so he cautiously backed away, giving his opponent no chance to get near.

As Zhao Zuo gave chase, Sun Erhen casually activated several Sharp Arrow Talismans to impede his movements. The four men coordinated flawlessly, always maintaining a safe distance and denying Zhao Zuo any chance to close in, effectively neutralizing his powerful Body Refining Cultivation!

Zhao Zuo’s scalp tingled as they pinned him down. He knew that if his Talismans ran out, the enemy would soon riddle him with holes, and he would die on the spot.

’I have to break this stalemate,’ he thought. He watched his opponents and did his best to dodge their Magical Artifacts, trying to delay the shattering of his golden barrier as much as possible.

As if in a trance, Zhao Zuo calculated the number of hits he could take and the moment the golden barrier would shatter. Gazing at the ever-dimming golden shield, he once again entered a state akin to a flow. The soul power sealed deep within his mind suddenly stirred, giving birth to a wisp of Divine Thought.

Zhao Zuo felt as though he had grown a third eye, allowing him to perceive all the movements of the enemies around him. A moment of thought was all it took to form a plan, and he charged straight at Sun Erhen, who had been directing the others.

His heart pounded, his legs pumped... faster and faster!

He didn’t even try to dodge when Sun Erhen activated a Sharp Arrow Talisman. His eyes bulged with a do-or-die ferocity, but his Mana secretly flowed toward the pouch at his waist.

Zhao Zuo took great strides, covering about five meters with each step. He was already very close to Sun Erhen. His right leg lunged forward while his left leg rooted to the ground in a deep stance. He clenched his right fist, and in the next instant, swung his entire arm like a Warhammer, smashing it straight toward the enemy’s face.

BANG!

A brilliant Golden Light flared, blocking Zhao Zuo’s full-force blow.

The three men behind him immediately sent their Magical Artifacts striking the golden barrier. Two were repelled, but the remaining blade-shaped artifact sliced through the air, stabbing straight for the back of Zhao Zuo’s heart.

Zhao Zuo dropped into a sudden squat. The enemy’s Magical Artifact tore through the clothes on his back, grazing his skin before embedding itself in the ground. The miss, by a mere hair’s breadth, had been the difference between life and death.

While crouched, Zhao Zuo’s eyes shone ever brighter. He powered up through his legs and waist, spinning around and pouncing on the enemy behind him like a tiger stalking its prey. Simultaneously, the Sky-Breaking Saber at his waist flew from its sheath, aimed not at the man he was pouncing on, but at Sun Erhen, the one who had been commanding the battle all along.

The pounce was just a feint. Sun Erhen’s only mistake was getting too close.

A flash of black light vanished in an instant, and the golden barrier shattered with a loud CRACK.

Sun Erhen instinctively tried to activate another Vajra Talisman to save himself, but the Golden Light had barely materialized before the Sky-Breaking Saber pierced right through it. He hadn’t even had time to register that the Talisman had activated.

The next second... he was beheaded!

Zhao Zuo immediately aborted his lunge, hopping back twice. He circulated his Mana, and the Sky-Breaking Saber flew back to its hidden clasp at his waist. He then took out a Spirit Revitalizing Pill with his right hand and swallowed it.

The first exchange was a complete victory for Zhao Zuo.

For some reason, Zhao Zuo noticed his opponents’ eyes were bloodshot, and they looked like they were trying to suppress something. He recalled the ceramic vials Shen Yunjiao had thrown before the battle and had a thought.

’Spring Breeze... Spring Breeze... isn’t that the kind of thing only a rapist would carry?’

Zhao Zuo regulated his condition while considering his next move. It was dark, and during that explosive moment, his enemies should have only seen the golden barrier shattering. They wouldn’t have guessed that he possessed a Middle Grade Magical Artifact.

In other words, the Sky-Breaking Saber could still be used as a trump card.

Not far away, Shen Yunjiao was still liberally applying more Spring Breeze... Her fighting style could only be described as crude but effective. Even surrounded by three people, she appeared relaxed and at ease.

Of course, Zhao Zuo couldn’t afford a standoff; unexpected things could happen at any moment tonight. He quickly selected a target and moved in. Without Sun Erhen’s commands, the remaining three, while still showing some coordination, lacked a crucial leader, which was a grave disadvantage.

They were no longer a match for Zhao Zuo. It wasn’t long before he managed to get close to one of them, seizing a golden opportunity. The man had run out of Vajra Talismans, his fragile body now completely exposed to an iron fist.

Zhao Zuo dug his feet into the ground, kicking up two shallow pits in the snow. He lunged forward like a savage Demon Beast and swung his right fist, still aiming for the enemy’s head.

The other two immediately rushed to provide support, falling right into Zhao Zuo’s trap. His all-out punch was just a feint, meant to conceal the true killing move: the Sky-Breaking Saber.

The black light tore through the air to kill. The enemy sensed the attack, but his body couldn’t react in time.

With the sharp edge of his Sky-Breaking Saber, Zhao Zuo claimed another life!

The condition of the remaining two men deteriorated due to the poison. Clearly, their Antidote Pills were no match for the effects of the Spring Breeze. Their minds were clouded with distracting thoughts. This, combined with the unerringly successful surprise attacks from the Sky-Breaking Saber, allowed Zhao Zuo to become a grim reaper in the dark, swiftly harvesting their lives.

Zhao Zuo quickly collected the four Magical Artifacts and the few remaining Talismans, then swallowed a second Spirit Revitalizing Pill. He looked up to see that Shen Yunjiao had already slain Lei Zhen and his subordinate. It wasn’t that they weren’t powerful... it was that her tactics were just too dirty.

A double dose of Spring Breeze, poison powder to the face...

.....

P.S. Please add this to your library, vote with your monthly passes, and leave a recommendation!

I was stuck on this part of the story for a long time. On one hand, I was worried about making the protagonist too powerful and breaking the balance. On the other, I didn’t want him to become a background character with no room to shine. And I also didn’t want the villains to be so stupid that they just feed kills... It’s all very difficult.