area51novel Page 173
Page 173
He first pointed to a tall, upright figure who was busy at work.
Qiu Rang was shirtless, revealing his well-defined muscles, but the focus of his attention was on a ruler that hovered in front of him, slowly rotating. It was as smooth as jade, yet gleaming with a cold metallic light—his core magical artifact, the Jade Ruyi.
[Magic Item: Jade Ruyi (Mid-grade Mysterious)]
[Crafted by divine craftsmanship (inherited from Ma Xianhong), it can be large or small, change at will, and integrates offense and defense.]
It is the signature magical weapon of Qiu Rang, a descendant of those with superior innate talent and those who have honed their skills through countless trials.
"Ruyi, it can be big or small, its changes are at your command!"
Qiu Rang let out a low shout.
Upon hearing the sound, the jade ruyi suddenly extended, transforming into a long staff. With its swing, it created afterimages and a whistling wind.
The next moment, it instantly shrank, transforming into a sturdy shield the size of a palm, steadily blocking the full-force hammer blow from the mechanical arm controlled by a villager on the other side, producing a loud "clang" like a great bell, yet the shield remained completely still.
Ma Xianhong proudly explained:
"Brother Chou Rang was originally just an ordinary person, but he was good at his craftsmanship and was destined to be with my Divine Strategist!"
In his hands, this jade ruyi could be both hard and soft, combining offense and defense! Ordinary extraordinary people would find it difficult to even get close to him!
Moreover, he has already become my successor in the Divine Craftsmanship.
Immediately afterwards, Ma Xianhong pointed to the corner.
A villager who had volunteered to cooperate stood in front of Bi Yuan.
"Old Bi's skill lies not in fists and feet, but in the space between the fists and feet, in 'control'."
Ma Xianhong said meaningfully.
Bi Yuan flicked his fingers, and several faint, almost invisible streaks of dark light flashed and disappeared—these were his Ghost Needles.
[Magic Item: Ghost Needle (Lower-tier Mystic Grade)]
Originally a sophisticated medical technique/weapon, now only a Yellow-grade magical artifact.
However, after Ma Xianhong refined it using his weapon-forging techniques, its precision and power surpassed all before, delivering a devastating blow in silence and killing without a trace.
As the Ghost Needle entered the body, the villager opposite him trembled slightly, his eyes instantly became vacant, and then, like a puppet on strings, he began to make various stiff but precise martial arts movements.
"My Ghost Needle can determine life and death, and can also control words and actions invisibly."
Bi Yuan's tone was calm, yet it carried a chilling undertone: "One needle is enough to make him speak his mind; another needle will make him willing to die for me."
Ma Xianhong added:
"Old Master Bi's Ghost Needle was already exquisite, but after I refined it using the methods of weapon forging, its precision and power are even greater than before! To hear thunder in silence, this is the art of killing without a trace!"
Zhang Yunyuan stared at the tiny silver needles in Bi Yuan's hand, and the image of another person appeared in his mind.
Gong Qing, the acting leader of the Quanxing Sect, who had recently died by his own hand.
In the original novel, it was Bi Yuan's Ghost Needle that killed Tian Jinzhong.
Bi Yuan was Gong Qing's lay master.
Presumably, Gong Qing's ability to contact Biyou Village was partly due to his efforts.
This adds another reason to the massacre of Biyou Village.
Zhang Yunyuan's gaze swept over the other corners of the workshop:
A short, stocky man was adjusting a pair of metal boots. With a light step, he slid into the hard ground like a fish, using a magic tool for burrowing underground.
Beside a silent man, several throwing knives seemed to possess a life of their own, circling and dancing on their own with unpredictable trajectories, clearly objects crafted using special techniques.
Further away, a figure exuded an ominous aura of blood, clashing with the high-tech feel of the workshop.
Ma Xianhong spreads his arms wide, as if displaying his most prized work:
"Did you see that? I'm not teaching them to practice Qi, I'm giving them better tools!"
It was through the divine craftsmanship that a new and more convenient path to heaven was opened up for those of them who originally had limited potential!
Physical bodies suffer weakness, but magical artifacts ascend to immortality! This is true 'education for all'!
These people, each with a powerful aura and unpredictable methods, would be enough to become a powerful force in the martial arts world.
However, in Zhang Yunyuan's all-knowing perception, these so-called "superior talents" revealed a fatal commonality.
Although their Qi is powerful, it is based on a weak foundation and is impure and mixed.
The feeling was like a magnificent palace forcibly built with countless precious materials, which looked splendid but whose internal beams and pillars had long been hollowed out by insects. It would collapse with just a slightly stronger gust of wind.
Their power did not come from their own arduous cultivation.
It's more like... it was forcibly created and instilled by some powerful external force.
Zhang Yunyuan's understanding became increasingly clear.
It seems that the true core of Biyou Village is neither Ma Xianhong himself, nor his unpredictable and divine abilities.
Rather, it's that thing that can transform ordinary people into "experts" in large numbers...
Just then, his gaze paused slightly on a figure sitting alone under the eaves not far away.
It was a girl wearing a hoodie, her head down, her face obscured, making her stand out from the villagers around her who were beaming with contentment.
But what stirred Zhang Yunyuan's heart was not her aloofness, but the small section of her wrist exposed outside her sleeve.
The skin on that wrist did not have a healthy sheen; instead, it had an unnatural, sallow color.
Upon closer inspection, countless dark lines, finer than a hair, seem to appear and disappear beneath the skin, slowly wriggling like living things, exuding a chilling aura of death and decay.
Furthermore, an extremely faint yet highly refined and pure aura, like frozen venom, emanated from her body, creating a strange contrast with the village's vibrant life.
"Such strange Qi... It's neither poison nor poison, neither a Gu nor a Gu, yet it can fuse extreme 'destruction' with a twisted 'vitality'... Is this girl Chen Duo?"
Zhang Yunyuan thought to himself, but his face remained expressionless as he quickly averted his gaze.
He buried this observation deep in his heart, keeping it as a marker that needed to be explored.
At the end of the tour, Ma Xianhong led him to a huge underground space located in the very center of the village, protected by numerous mechanisms and formations.
He pointed to the enormous creation in the center of the underground space, which was slowly rotating and emanating a terrifying energy fluctuation that made one's heart tremble, and a smile of compassion and fanaticism, like that of a god, appeared on his face.
"Brother Li Fei, look."
"This is the true core of our Biyou Village."
"This is also the divine artifact I will use to change the entire landscape of the supernatural world!"
Chapter 207 Before the Cultivation Furnace, Kunlun Reappears
It was a colossal creation that defied description.
It stands quietly in the very center of this vast underground space.
A massive shadow loomed over everything, creating a chilling, almost tangible sense of oppression.
It is like a silent giant god who has emerged from a long-forgotten ancient myth, silently looking down on the mortals who have entered this place with its cold, metallic body.
Its main body is cast from an unknown metal that shimmers with a dark golden luster, with no visible seams on the surface, making it appear as a single, seamless piece.
The furnace body is engraved with countless intricate runes and array diagrams, enough to dazzle any array master.
The lines seemed alive, not just rigid engravings.
They flowed and flickered slowly, like breathing, accompanied by the low rumble of the furnace.
Each flash seemed to be expounding a profound and difficult-to-understand principle of the universe.
Dozens of pipes, as thick as a child's arm and made of some kind of unknown transparent crystal, connect to the furnace body from all directions like the blood vessels of a prehistoric behemoth, forming a sophisticated and massive circulation system.
Inside the pipe, a colorful, viscous, liquid-like energy flowed.
The energy flowed slowly within the pipes, making a "gurgling" sound, as if it possessed its own life.
At the very core of the furnace, several huge, uncarved pieces of raw jade are inlaid.
The interior of those jade stones did not have the usual jade texture.
It seems to seal away a vast and deep starry sky.
Countless tiny points of light appear and disappear within it, forming magnificent yet eerie star maps, emanating a terrifying energy fluctuation that is chilling and seems capable of easily distorting spacetime.
The entire creation is filled with the ancient, profound, and mysterious aura of ancient weapon-making techniques, while also possessing a precision and eeriness that transcends this era and is almost like science fiction.
It is the ultimate artifact that Ma Xianhong painstakingly crafted, combining the legacy of divine craftsmanship with countless ingenious ideas, and is capable of overturning the existing order of the entire world of supernatural beings—
The system panel displays information about the body-cultivating furnace:
【Magic Artifact: Body Cultivation Furnace (High-Grade Earth)】
A creation that combines the theories of Divine Refinement and the Immortal Refinement School's "Immortal Pivot Creation".
It can transform ordinary people into extraordinary individuals, and ordinary extraordinary individuals into heroic extraordinary individuals.
Its core energy source involves advanced laws, enough to overturn the order of an entire realm.
Due to its instability, significant risks, and reliance on the Immortal Realm for its core technology, it was not included in the Heavenly Rank.
"Brother Li Fei, how are you feeling?"
Ma Xianhong slowly turned around and stood in front of the huge cultivation furnace, opening his arms as if to embrace his creation and the future he was about to create.
His face held an undisguised fervor and pride, like that of the most eccentric artist showing off his most perfect work to the world.
"It is the cornerstone for me to realize my dream!"
"With it, I can empower all those who are willing to follow me to protect themselves!"
"Then I can truly create a world of extraordinary people, free from discrimination and oppression, where everyone is equal!"
His voice resonated throughout the vast underground space, filled with the unique passion and unparalleled appeal of an idealist.
At this moment, Li Fei's face revealed extreme shock and fervor.
He seemed to be completely captivated by the miraculous creation before him, and his body staggered forward a few steps uncontrollably.
He reached out his hand, as if to touch this creation that should only exist in mythology, but stopped in mid-air, out of awe and not daring to profane it.
His voice trembled violently with extreme excitement, each word seeming to be squeezed out from between his teeth.