Chapter 83: Chapter 65 Iron Beast Armor! The Storm is Coming!_2
After bidding farewell to Yan Song, Su Changkong felt burdened with concerns, “Although I act under the identities of Wen Tai and Ghost Face, there is no wall in the world that doesn’t leak air. Not to mention all sorts of unpredictable accidents. If Shi Zijian comes knocking on my door, that would be dangerous. I must prepare early!”
While Su Changkong was fairly confident in his ability to triumph over Shi Zijian in a one-on-one fight, Shi Zijian was not one to fight alone; he had several hundreds, almost a thousand, disciples at his command.
So many fierce and elite martial artists—not to mention Su Changkong—could potentially besiege and exhaust even an ordinary martial artist in the Qi-Blood Realm to death!
Su Changkong was under no illusion that he could sweep through an army single-handedly and face a thousand opponents alone!
Therefore, he had to prepare well in advance!
Boiling Blood Scatter, I’ll try my luck at the Ghost Market when it opens in the middle of next month!
Besides, when facing multiple enemies, stamina is secondary. The most important aspect is defense.
After all, if you are beset by dozens or hundreds of attackers, you can defend against an attack from one direction but might not be able to withstand assaults from other angles. It’s easy to dodge an open spear, but a hidden arrow is hard to defend against.
Even though Su Changkong wore a golden thread chain mail, it could only protect his upper body. Vital areas on his head and lower body were still vulnerable!
“I need to forge a suit of armor… a suit that can protect the whole body!”
Su Changkong clenched his fists, realizing defense was more important than attack!
Though the enemy had not yet come knocking at his door or might not even know his identity, no one knows what will come first—tomorrow or an accident. It is essential to be prepared for danger in times of safety!
With these heavy thoughts in mind, Su Changkong quickly returned to Black Iron Manor and conveyed his request to Director Liu, “Director Liu, I’m in need of money recently and would like to work overtime in the afternoons and evenings to earn some extra cash.”
When Su Changkong had previously worked on the crossbow, he also worked during his rest time. Hearing Su Changkong’s similar request this time, Director Liu was only slightly surprised before he smiled and nodded, “Of course, the Manor Lord said there’s no need to bother him with minor issues.” “Thankyou, Director Liu!” Su Changkong nodded his thanks as well. To forge a suit of armor, he would naturally need to use the workshop at Black Iron Manor.
“I want to forge a piece of multi-layered heavy armor, with a strong defense!”
Su Changkong returned to his room and began drawing the blueprints. Daily forging had been a longtime commitment for him, similar to eating. His forging skill was on the verge of profound mastery, and Su Changkong was capable of realizing some of his ideas.
As he began drafting the blueprints, he envisioned armor that could withstand blunt blows as well as sharp slashing and stabbing. The weight would undoubtedly be significant, but as a martial artist who had reached Body Refinement Great Achievement, he could move freely even when clad in heavy armor, allowing him to tailor-make the armor for himself.
After spending over an hour making alterations, the blueprint for a suit of armor emerged on the paper.
The gauntlets, arm guards, helmet, leg guards, breastplate… these components were no different from ordinary armor, but Su Changkong’s design was ingenious. He employed folded steel techniques like those used in sword forging, dividing the armor into three layers. The middle layer could be filled with materials like cotton and resin. This way, even if struck by a heavy hammer, the impact would be greatly reduced by the buffer of three layers of armor. Naturally, this would make the armor exceptionally thick and heavy, wearable and usable only by martial artists with astounding physiques!
“Additionally… add spikes to prevent close-range attacks,” Su Changkong was still not satisfied and made further changes, drawing spikes on the blueprints.
Knees, gauntlet joints, elbows, breastplates, helmets—all these parts were equipped with sharp barbs, making them like a hedgehog. If anyone tried to engage him in hand-to-hand combat, they would find no easy way to attack, and the barbs on these parts could also be used offensively.
“Let’s get to work!”
In the afternoon, when all the forging masters had left the workshop and gone to rest, Su Changkong in the workshop started energetically to forge the heavy armor he envisioned.
Su Changkong had experience forging armor when he was with the White Jade Gang. Now, his forging skills had reached far beyond that level, allowing him to complete all stages of armor production alone.
“Clang, clang, clang!”
Su Changkong wielded the heavy hammer like a tireless machine, carefully and repeatedly hammering each piece of iron, forging it into steel.
This was battle armor forged by Su Changkong for himself, so naturally, he gave his utmost attention and skill, meticulously completing each step!
Su Changkong first created the gauntlets, arm guards, and other larger pieces. Since it was inconvenient to store such large armor at Black Iron Manor, each time he completed a piece, he transported it to a cave a few miles away from the manor. The cave also held a batch of crossbows previously forged and collected by Su Changkong.
To forge this suit of battle armor, Su Changkong cut back on his rest time, which was also the time he practiced the Turtle Breath Technique. Anyway, even if he devoted himself to practicing the Turtle Breath Technique all day, he wouldn’t achieve a qualitative change in a short time, so it was better to proceed slowly!
Working overtime, with Su Changkong’s forging skill and efficiency, he was ten times faster than an ordinary person.
Even so, making this suit of battle armor took nearly a month!
More than twenty days later, in a deserted mountain cave a few miles away from Black Iron Manor, Su Changkong uncovered the protective straw covering the armor pieces, revealing various parts of the suit.
Su Changkong took a deep breath and started to wear the armor—gauntlets, leg guards, breastplate.
Minutes later, after getting fully dressed, a tall figure emerged in the cave.
