“A top-tier smith possesses an unparalleled understanding of items and tools. Now, you have abilities you haven’t yet discovered and will surely be amazed by. When you have accumulated rich experience and crafted glorious equipment in your hands, you will receive a gift from the heavens. In your eyes, all items are combinations and reflections of materials. In your hands, all materials can have infinite possibilities. So, moving forward, use your mind and body to change the stars and the universe.”
Ye Zhongming was stunned, replaying these words in his mind. He was utterly captivated.
He had upgraded abilities to their highest levels before, such as the Super Elimination Technique, Soul Refining Technique, and Scorching Flame Technique, but none of them had ever been explained profoundly like this.
This gave Ye Zhongming a sense of solemnity and legacy.
Of course, what was most shocking were the implications hidden within these words.
What did it mean that all items were combinations and reflections of materials? What did it mean that all materials in his hands could have infinite possibilities?
Was the “gift from the heavens” referring to the meaning behind these two sentences?
If he understood correctly, did this imply two hidden abilities? One was the ability to analyze any piece of equipment’s structure and material composition, and the other, even more extraordinary, was the ability to create various pieces of equipment without blueprints, using only existing materials.
Just thinking about it made Ye Zhongming excited.
He quickly took out Wind and Lightning and examined them carefully, even using his mental energy.
He felt something but couldn’t discern anything specific. Eventually, Ye Zhongming felt a wave of dizziness and had to put the blades down.
He hadn’t been able to see the structure or material composition, and his mental energy was significantly drained.
What was going on?
Ye Zhongming pondered. Could it be because this equipment belonged to the Blue Secret Realm?
After putting away Wind and Lightning, he took out the Energy Crystal Gun and examined it closely. Again, he felt a vague sensation, as if the weapon were decomposing, but he still couldn’t see anything specific, and his mental energy continued to drain rapidly.
Was it not about the origin of the equipment? Was it because the level was too high?
Ye Zhongming didn’t bother with gold or blue-grade equipment. Instead, he took out the lowest-grade grey equipment, calmed his mind, and focused on it.
The effect was better this time. Ye Zhongming could vaguely sense a familiar aura. He awkwardly compared it to the numerous materials in his memory and finally identified one, but the image forming in his mind suddenly shattered.
The dizziness in his head was more intense than before, and when Ye Zhongming reached up to touch his nose, he found a trickle of blood.
The lower-grade equipment had shown some effect, but he had ultimately failed.
After resting for a while, Ye Zhongming revisited the passage, paying attention to phrases such as “when you have accumulated rich experience” and “when you have crafted glorious equipment in your hands.”
Was this a hint that this ability also required extensive practice and the creation of more equipment to understand more materials before it could be fully utilized?
Since Ye Zhongming couldn’t yet discern the composition of the equipment, he took out several materials he was very familiar with and placed them in front of him. He wanted to see if he could create “true” equipment without relying on blueprints, using only his crafting skills.
He phrased it this way because the equipment he had previously crafted relied on Strengthening and Enchanting, which didn’t fully utilize the potential of the materials.
For example, the equipment he had made using Ghost Metal and Ocean Drill Gold didn’t come close to reaching the upper limits of what these materials could achieve.
After staring at them without any new insights, Ye Zhongming decided to try it.
He examined the materials again, decided what kind of equipment he wanted to create, and then began the process, using his previous experience in crafting equipment and his forging skills.
At first, things went smoothly. The materials transformed as he envisioned, even beginning to take shape.
But at a certain point, the energy became chaotic, the crafting failed, and the materials were completely destroyed.
Undeterred by the failure, Ye Zhongming continued experimenting. Each time, he used the same materials he was most familiar with, and each time, he tried to create the same type of equipment, constantly tweaking the process to correct possible mistakes.
Yet, he continued to fail repeatedly.
Given Ye Zhongming’s usual success rate, he couldn’t fail so many times in a row. This could only mean he hadn’t mastered creating equipment solely from materials without blueprints.
Ye Zhongming felt deeply frustrated.
It was like a starving person staring at a delicious cake but unable to open the packaging.
By the time he had exhausted all the materials, Ye Zhongming had no choice but to admit defeat.
As he calmed down, he realized that he had already consumed more than half of his mental energy in such a short time!
Ye Zhongming wouldn’t expend this much mental energy even in a high-intensity battle unless he used equipment like the Soul-Shattering Bone Staff!
It seemed that these abilities, which weren’t written down and could only be gradually understood through practice, came with a heavy cost.
Ye Zhongming began repairing the golden shields after resting for some time.
With Restoration Technique, as soon as he held the shields, he could sense where the damage was and what materials were needed to fix it.
This clarity was something he hadn’t experienced before.
Ye Zhongming took out some Ghost Metal and a few other materials and slowly began the repair process.
A faint glow enveloped the equipment as one material after another fused into it. The cracks on the Door God Shields were the first to be repaired, and the images of the door gods gradually stopped cracking.
Ye Zhongming knew the repair was nearing completion.
Perhaps because it was gold-grade equipment, the materials required for the repair were precious, the mental energy demand was high, and even the required demon crystal energy was substantial. Five seven-star demon crystals had been consumed in a short repair process.
Just before completing the repair, Ye Zhongming suddenly had an idea. Whether it was an inspiration or a feeling from the Restoration Technique, he thought he could freely enhance the power of the two door gods that could be summoned from these shields.
He opened the special container and picked out one life egg.
After looking at the shields, Ye Zhongming gritted his teeth and took out a second life egg.
He slowly enveloped the two life eggs in his mental energy and attempted to integrate them into the equipment.
Things went smoothly at first. The two life eggs quickly transformed into dense energy and entered the shields. But before Ye Zhongming could celebrate, he felt his mental energy draining like a burst dam, pouring into the shields. At the same time, the demon crystal consumption, which had stopped, resumed at an alarming rate!
Enduring the sensation of being drained like a vampire sucking blood from an artery, Ye Zhongming continued to pull out seven-star demon crystals to meet the equipment’s energy demands, his eyes red with determination.
One, five, ten… In just a short time, over thirty-seven-star demon crystals had been consumed. Ye Zhongming had run out of seven-star crystals and had to resort to six-star ones.
The lower-level crystals were consumed even faster, with each six-star crystal lasting no more than two seconds before turning to dust.
Ye Zhongming cursed inwardly. If this failed, the losses would be enormous!
The golden equipment became extremely unstable as the energy poured into the shields. Ye Zhongming struggled to maintain control. Suddenly, the shields jerked violently, and Ye Zhongming lost his grip. The energy in his hands exploded with a loud bang, leveling the entire building to the ground instantly!