With Shangguan Bing Xue's departure, the workshop again fell silent with Bai Zemin and Lilith in her human form being the only two life sources inside.
"So, what do you think of this greatsword?" Bai Zemin asked as he lowered his Blazing Scale Greatsword to the ground carefully. The last thing he wanted was to self-destruct his own workplace. After all, the weight behind the weapon was not a joke.
"Not bad." Lilith nodded with a composed expression. She was currently touching the hilt of the greatsword so the details and information of the weapon flashed in her retina.
"What level is your Blacksmithing skill currently?"
"My Blacksmithing skill is an Unclassified passive skill level 3. To upgrade the skill to level four... It says here that I need to craft another Rank 1 piece of equipment."
"Oh? Not bad. To think that you managed to create a Rank 1 weapon almost at the top even though your Blacksmithing is barely level 3." Lilith praised honestly.
"What is this Rank 1? This is the first time I've seen something like this." Bai Zemin was quite puzzled about this so he could only ask her about it.
"As you know, the treasures you obtain, like your Xuanyuan Sword for example, are treasures that the Soul Record interprets by using some of the Soul Power of the enemies you defeat." Lilith calmly explained as she played with the greatsword as if she was picking up a toy. "Do you know why these treasures increase stats and grant some other advantages but don't increase the actual attack damage?"
Bai Zemin nodded naturally, "Of course. The treasures are made of Soul Power, it's only natural that they increase stats when we equip them."
How could a existence obtain stats? Absorbing Soul Power. Treasures were Soul Power in material form so it was only natural for them to increase stats.
Bai Zemin's Xuanyuan Sword, Cai Jingyi's Agarth Dagger, Shangguan Bing Xue's magic wand.... These were all clear examples.
"That's right." Lilith seemed satisfied with his sharp reply and continued, "To increase Tracking Stats such as physical attack power, magic, or one's defense, one needs to create weapons and equipment using precious materials that contain mana. Like this Blazing Scale Greatsword, for example."
"Now it all makes sense." Bai Zemin nodded and felt a new world open up before his eyes.
Lilith continued to slowly and calmly explain, "Items created from precious materials are divided into Ranks, with Rank 1 naturally being the lowest. The highest Rank is unknown, but so far only a few Rank 7 items have appeared due to the difficulty in creating them."
"Oh? Apart from the Blacksmith skill is there more in play?"
"Of course there is." Lilith nodded seriously. "In the creation of any object, the Rank of that object is affected by different factors aside from the level and Order of the Blacksmithing skill."
"To create a Rank 1 object you generally need to possess the Blacksmithing skill in First Order as a minimum, your case is special since thanks to your especially supernatural Mana and Magic you were able to strengthen the tools you work with while modifying the working materials."
"The Rank of an object is also influenced by the materials used. If you use the bones of an Unclassified monster you can't expect to produce a Rank 2, let alone a Rank 3 object; such a thing is foolish. "
Bai Zemin nodded in agreement. Materials naturally were important. If it wasn't for him using the precious scales of a First Order beast he definitely couldn't have made an item as good as the Blazing Scale Greatsword.
"Besides... There's also another thing that influences an item's Rank." Lilith sighed.
"What other thing?" he pursued quickly. Lilith's sigh somehow made him uncomfortable.
"Magical Rune Inscriptions." She revealed. "There is a skill called Language Mastery. This skill is only a First Order skill that can't even evolve but is unfortunately quite rare so only those especially lucky can acquire it.If by chance a person learns this skill and then, by chance, also acquires a Magical Runes Book and studies it carefully, then that person will be able to inscribe runes of different types on weapons or other objects, increasing their power and highlighting their special characteristics even more."
Bai Zemin's head began to ache. So many new things...
But Lilith wasn't finished yet.
"You already saw the special characteristic of this Blazing Scale Greatsword, didn't you?" She questioned with a smile.
Bai Zemin nodded. Indeed, his Blazing Scale Greatsword had a fire-type special characteristic.
"That special characteristic only appeared there because you were lucky and thanks to the fact that the scales of that First Order Flaming Snake still possessed some remaining fire-like energy in them. But if you had a Magic Rune Encryptor, that attribute could be more powerful and at the same time acquire more special characteristics. Even gaining an attached skill could happen depending on the skill of the Encryptor!"
This was the first time Bai Zemin came into contact with an object created from precious materials or monster materials so every word Lilith said was new to him. Even so, he paid close attention to everything that came out of her mouth, not wanting to miss the slightest detail.
After chatting for about thirty more minutes, Lilith finally shrugged her shoulders and praised, "As I said, this greatsword is undoubtedly great hehe... Even among Rank 1 armaments it ranks near the top as it narrowly reaches 1000 physical attack power. You should be proud of yourself."
Bai Zemin smiled slightly but did not comment on it. Although he was proud, he still had a long way to go. Item creation was another way to become more powerful, and he definitely couldn't fall behind with his Blacksmithing skill either. The higher the Rank of items he could create, the more power he could wield.
If only I could find a Magic Rune Encryptor... Bai Zemin sighed inwardly but soon shook off such a thought. Such beings with such ability could not be looked for, only fate could bring them to him if it willed it.
"So, didn't you say you were going to make an armor next?"
"Yeah..." Bai Zemin frowned and pointed quietly. "My Full Coat is a great treasure, there's no doubt about it... But anyway, normal sharp weapons can't get through my Bronze Skin, and normal bullets don't represent any danger to me either. Except for the +5 increase in all stats, the boost I get is no longer as much as in the past so I think it would be good to replace it with an armor."
His Full Coat protected him against smaller caliber bullets, but Bai Zemin's Bronze Skin passive skill also granted him such protection. While it was true that a penetrating bullet could injure and even threaten him, the Full Coat could not protect him against such ammunition.
While it was true that the Full Coat's +5 to all stats was amazing, for the current Bai Zemin it was no big deal to lose 5 points in each of his stats. He preferred to pass this treasure to someone like Fu Xuefeng or Zhong De, both of whom could get more out of it.
The higher the level of Bai Zemin and the more he advanced between each Order, the more insignificant the difference of 1 or 2 stats became. If he was facing beings of his caliber, then it was still fine; but against more powerful beings, such a tiny amount of Soul Power was insignificant and could not make any difference.
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Thanks a lot to all those who use their Golden Tickets to vote for BW <3