The four weapons in front of them were a straight sword, a magical staff, a spear, and a great axe.
“The great axe, of course,” John replied as he reached out and grabbed the handle of the battle axe. The great axe had a golden single sided blade, with a jade green shaft; the colors of the Jade Dragon Empire. The shaft had gold trimmings on it as well, making the entire great axe look quite impressive. The blade was two feet long, while the shaft was four feet long, making it possible to use both hands for attacks.
While not his primary weapon of choice, an axe had been John’s secondary weapon up to this point. His axe battle arts were not as impressive as his Divine Reaping Scythe, but scythes were much rarer weapons to come across, while axes were much more common.
John pulled up on the great axe, but the skeletal hand still clasped to the weapon held tight. He reached out and pried the hand off the weapon, claiming it as his own. The weapon swayed down slightly as he picked up it, not ready for its heavy weight. His arm muscles bulged with power as he steadied the weapon before him, using quite a bit of strength to do so. The weapon weighed over ten thousand pounds, and wielding it freely required immense strength.
‘The battle axe I obtained in the Divine Trial is made from incredible materials, but this one is just as durable and sturdy. However, the difference in power is immense, as the Divine Trial did not undergo its own Heavenly Tribulation, while this one did. Its aura contains a tinge of the heavens, and only that but the ancient Divine weapon does not have an artifact spirit, while this one shoul-“
As if reading his thoughts, a roar suddenly appeared in John’s mind, like that of a dragon’s roar. It shook his soul space, trying to overwhelm his mind and shatter his soul..
Expecting such a thing from his previous experience with his scythe, John’s Qi and soul power flared out against the power of the artifact spirit, while his indomitable will surged forward like waves. His powers slammed against the energy from the artifact spirit, as the battle within his body began.
‘Hmph, I subdued a Half-Step Heaven Tribulation artifact spirit back when I was in the Core Formation Realm. While you may be far more impressive than that pseudo-artifact spirit, you’re still far from powerful enough to make me submit,’ John communicated to the artifact spirit with his soul power, his voice and will commanding without question.
Roar!
The artifact spirit roared within his mind once again, as if it was a beast struggling for its life. For Heaven Tribulation Grade weapons and above, the higher grade ones were imbued with artifact spirits. Artifact Spirits were somewhat sentient, and treated the weapon as its body. Only those capable of subduing it would be worthy to wield it to its full extent.
While one could wield an artifact spirit weapon without subduing the artifact spirit, such a thing was not desired by the cultivator. Artifact spirits were the true owners of the weapons, and controlled the formations within.
Having the blessing of an artifact spirit would allow one to wield the weapon to its full might, while the artifact spirit aided with guiding the cultivators Qi through the weapon in the most optimal manner, resulting in the strongest attacks being unleashed. On the other hand, wielding a weapon without subduing the artifact spirit would result in the spirit resisting its use instead, struggling against the cultivator and lowering the overall power and efficacy of the weapon.
‘Submit!’ John’s soul power flared, while his essence Qi overwhelmed the artifact spirit in an instant. His message was clear. Submit, or be destroyed. The artifact spirit roared out one last time, before its power faded away and returned into the weapon. Clearly it had been subdued, and recognized John as worthy of wielding the weapon.
His aura faded away as he returned to normal, the artifact spirit successfully suppressed. He inspected the weapon carefully, his head nodding in satisfaction after a moment.
“This weapon is quite incredible,” John exclaimed, his gaze shifting to Adam who stood nearby. “Not only is it made from extraordinary materials, it’s artifact spirit is also quite amazing. It was as if the soul of a dragon was slumbering within this weapon. Do you know how artifact spirits are made?”
While John knew of artifact spirits, he had no idea about the creation process behind them, or how they obtained their sentience.
“Sure I do,” Adam replied, happy to show off his formations and artificing knowledge once again. “When a weapon’s quality and craftsmanship reaches a certain level, it invokes a heavenly tribulation. Artifact Spirits are created during the weapons tribulation, as the heavens blesses it with sentience. That’s why only Heaven Tribulation grade weapons and above have true artifact spirits. As for you explaining it was like a dragon spirit, thats easy to explain as well.
Each Heaven Tribuluation grade weapon requires a core to act as the body for the artifact spirit. The core is embedded in the very center of the weapon, and can be anything you want. It can be a rock, a flower, or even some piece from a dragon. The artifact spirit will take on a personality similar to the core that was used. That’s most likely what was used to create this weapon, something like a dragon scale,” Adam explained. “The higher quality the core, and the more skilled the weapon artificer, the stronger the artifact spirit will be.”
“I see,” John replied as he nodded his head in understanding as his gaze shifted back to the weapon in his hand. After a moment, he waved it around, the mere weight and force of the weapon causing the surrounding sand to be kicked up.
“Hey, test your weapon later,” Adam exclaimed, “we still need to get the other weapons. Don’t rebury them.”
“Fine, fine,” John obliged as he put the battle axe away. He reached out and picked up the straight sword, followed by the spear and the staff. The three other weapons all had similar gold and green designs like the battle axe, clearly all created by the Jade Dragon Empire. Since he didn’t inject any Qi into the weapons, the artifact spirits within were not roused into action.
After picking up the three weapons, John walked over to the others and stopped before them. He already knew which weapon would be best suited for each of them.
“Be careful when using these weapons,” John instructed before he handed them over. “If their artifact spirits are anything like the one within my weapon, you’ll be overwhelmed by them in your current realm. Wait until you reach the Heaven Tribulation realm before trying to suppress them.”
The three nodded their heads in understanding, although they already had such thoughts themselves. They had felt the artifact spirits power from John’s battle axe, and knew it was not something they could contest with yet.
“Good, then each of you are now proud owners of Heaven Tribulation grade weapons,” John said as he handed out the weapons. He handed the straight sword to Iris, the magical staff to Chase, and the spear to Adam.
While Iris specialized in daggers, the straight sword was the quickest weapon of the bunch, and the most like daggers. She waved the sword in her hands, getting used to the weight, before putting it away in her spatial ring.
“Thanks,” Iris said with a smile on her face, clearly happy with the weapon she had received.
“Thanks to you as well,” John replied. “Without you, we never would have found such amazing weapons.”
For Chase, his powers were summoning powers, able to summon plants and other vegetation with his Wood Constitution. A magical staff allowed once to amplify their summoning powers, which was perfect for Chase.
Chase grabbed the weapon, which was lighter than he had been expecting. However, magical staffs were not meant for direct combat, and so such a thing made sense. He inspected the weapon carefully, a large smile appearing on his face.
“I’ve always wanted a staff, but was never able to get one…this is beyond perfect!” Chase exclaimed happily.
Lastly, John handed the spear to Adam, who instantly began to inspect the craftsmanship of the weapon. He had no care for the weapon itself to be used in combat, but studying the weapons formations and craftsmanship would no doubt unlock new insights into his profession.
John’s gaze shifted back towards the corpses once more, seeing if he had missed anything. His gaze settled on their hands to see if any spatial rings were left behind, but all that remained were clothes and bones.
“We’re done here,” John said to the group, “lets head out. With the time we spent in the first town, as well as here, we’re most likely quite far behind most of the pack at this point.”
The others nodded their heads and put their weapons away, while Adam undid the formation he had set up. The group quickly flew to the top of the massive crater, their gazes locking with someone standing at the top, waiting for them.
