NOVEL NEXT Chapter 147: Demon Vine Awakens
In fact,
This time, when Wang Wu applied the Deep Freeze spell to the Profound Iron Shield, he clearly felt something different, truly different.
That smoothness, only a hint of stiffness remained.
When his Ice Spiritual Qi was injected into the Profound Iron Shield, it was no longer inaccessible, no longer indifferent, no longer sluggish, no longer a dead object. It was as if the Profound Iron Shield suddenly came to life.
It could now respond with agility, albeit a bit clumsily, but you could feel that enthusiasm and affinity.
In comparison, even that Array Stone, once refined, was like Madam Niu.
This is the real sweetheart.
It could be manipulated at will, directly refined by hand.
Yet, Wang Wu still chose to strive for perfection. It was an attitude, more so a virtue. Since this Profound Iron Shield helped him block 237 Spirit Light Crossbow Arrows on the battlefield, he felt it fits like a glove, like it was destined to be his.
Alright, in simpler terms, it's finally like eating delicate bran.
True love indeed!
Therefore, he could not fail this Profound Iron Shield, could not fail this fateful encounter, ah, that irreplaceable feeling.
At this moment, Wang Wu held his breath, from head to toe filled with solemnity and grandeur, fully focused on circulating Ice Spiritual Qi, as if inspired, unprecedentedly condensing the ice structure of Deep Freeze.
This was truly the best state he had ever achieved.
A crystal snowflake, only a dozen centimeters in size, appeared in his Bear Claw, so beautiful, so pure.
Then, he slowly pressed this snowflake onto the Profound Iron Shield.
The snowflake silently merged in, vanished, but then there were crystalline, fine ice flowers spreading around, and instantly a thin layer of frost covered the surface of the Profound Iron Shield.
Wang Wu continued to inject Ice Spiritual Qi, until reaching 200 points.
It could have been more, but to maintain balance, it could only be this way.
Afterward, he then placed his other Bear Claw onto it.
With a slight shift of thought, 200 points of Red Flame Spiritual Qi immediately wrapped around it, and the moment the two forces of ice and fire touched, an immense pressure rebounded.
This time, however, Wang Wu was full of fighting spirit and clarity of understanding, because he knew what this pressure represented.
This was clearly a giant forging hammer!
No, the interaction between Ice Spiritual Qi and Red Flame Spiritual Qi wasn't a chemical reaction, at least not entirely.
At least over seventy percent of the process was a physical reaction.
The two forces squeezed and counteracted each other, like a giant forging hammer, continuously pounding, continuously penetrating and integrating the ice and fire forces into the Profound Iron Shield.
This was indeed a dangerous method.
But since Wang Wu's Red Flame Spiritual Qi and Ice Spiritual Qi weren't strong enough, essentially just beginners.
Also, he had already balanced the two forces in his bloodline, keeping each stable.
Moreover, he could neutralize them anytime with his powerful Qi Blood Vitality, so these two forces surprisingly achieved a relatively perfect balance, thus, rendering the Profound Iron Shield invisibly endowed with two extreme attributes...
Wang Wu didn't understand these taboos, but he recognized value, because the state within the Profound Iron Shield truly amazed him.
The pressure formed this time was still very large, but for some reason, Wang Wu could withstand it. Whenever he felt on the verge of collapse, it was instead the inside of the Profound Iron Shield that would take the lead, relieving him of some pressure.
So agile, so considerate.
As a result, the 1700 points of Vitality Wang Wu prepared for this refining were utterly unused.
This was very absurd.
However, Wang Wu also noticed that this actually reached its limit, implying that 200 points of Ice Spiritual Qi + 200 points of Red Flame Spiritual Qi were just enough to form a subtle balance within the Profound Iron Shield, even if he wanted to inject a little more Ice Spiritual Qi or Red Flame Spiritual Qi now, it would break this delicate balance, and then things would get out of hand.
Even without understanding artifact refining, he immediately realized how precious this delicate balance was.
So he decisively refrained from being greedy, it was just perfect like this.
He could even remove his Bear Claw, without having to control it, yet the 200 points of Ice Spiritual Qi and 200 points of Red Flame Spiritual Qi could still maintain this balance on their own, sustaining pressure comparable to a Cloud Burst Bomb, without leaking.
Of course, he didn't dare move significantly, fearing the balance might break, so he kept his original position, quietly waiting for nearly an hour.
When the pressure within the Profound Iron Shield was gradually absorbed by the shield itself, this subtle balance disappeared because the pressure was gone.
All the Ice Spiritual Qi, all the Red Flame Spiritual Qi, had become part of the Profound Iron Shield.
At this moment, in Wang Wu's eyes, no, under his Level 16 Danger Perception, the Profound Iron Shield seemed a bit gorgeous, a bit dazzling, like the afterglow of the sunset shining on an icy river, beams of light reflecting and twisting like spirit serpents, changing!
So flamboyant and agile.
But perhaps it was all an illusion.
Because the next second, this Profound Iron Shield seemed ordinary, plain in his perception, as simple as a pot lid.
What happened?
Wang Wu was stunned for a few seconds, hoping for an identification from the attribute bar, but this time, the attribute bar remained silent.
He waited and waited, waited and waited.
After almost two minutes, a few lines of information silently appeared.
"Your control over Ice Spiritual Qi has become more proficient."
"Your control over Red Flame Spiritual Qi has become more proficient."
"You have mastered the opportunity to allow the two forces to micro-circulate and maintain a delicate balance, increasing your Bloodline Evolution Level by 1%, currently at 40.7%, raising your growth potential once more."
"You successfully refined an Eighth-Grade Magical Artifact."
"Identification note: This is not an outstanding Magical Artifact; it still has many shortcomings, even disastrous aspects in some crucial areas, and lacks the core Power Rune for support. From the perspective of Human Race Cultivators, this can only be considered a semi-defective product. However, what is commendable is that this artifact can rapidly, seamlessly, and without consumption switch between Ice Spiritual Qi and Red Flame Spiritual Qi, offering stunning effects when used by someone with Ice and Fire Dual Spirit Roots."
"Temporary durability: 1200~2000 (requires actual combat to determine)."
Following these lines of information, Bear Mother's voice gently sounded.
"If you urgently need to enhance your strength, perhaps you can use it as your Lifebound Magical Artifact, but in doing so, you will only gain a Mortal Eighth-Grade Lifebound Magical Artifact."
"Actually, both Lifebound Magical Artifacts and Lifebound Demon Soldiers have varying levels of strength. The traditional standard of the Human Race and Demon Race divides them into Celestial Grade, Earth Grade, and Mortal Grade, with only a Lifebound Magical Artifact or Lifebound Demon Soldiers in a perfect state being called Celestial Grade."
"For example, your Ninth-Grade Lifebound Demon Soldiers need to accumulate 1000 points of Essence of Gold Qi to be called Celestial Grade."
"Accumulating 500 points of Essence of Gold Qi can be considered Earth Grade."
"Accumulating 10 points of Essence of Gold Qi only qualifies as Mortal Grade."
"Calculated as Mortal Grade, accumulating 50 points of Essence of Gold Qi is a Mortal Eighth-Grade Lifebound Demon Soldiers, while accumulating 100 points qualifies as Mortal Seventh Grade."
"You need to make your own decision on how to choose..."
——
Wang Wu calmed down from his joyful state. Initially, he was quite happy; who would have thought he could actually refine an Eighth-Grade Magical Artifact? But after identification, he realized how far he was from Human Race Cultivators.
Including Bear Mother's suggestion, which was great, it almost explained a question that has puzzled him for so long.
Why did his Lifebound Demon Soldiers' data not match the actual effect?
It turns out Lifebound Demon Soldiers also have rankings from upper to lower.
Celestial Grade is the strongest, Earth Grade is intermediate, and Mortal Grade is the weakest.
I wonder if Old Niu's horns can be considered Celestial Ninth Grade?
"Of course, I want to choose Celestial Grade. If I don't do my best, how can I enjoy the perks of being lazy and cowardly?"
Wang Wu naturally made his choice and wasn't planning to use this Profound Iron Shield as his Lifebound Magical Artifact, even though he didn't know how to make it one.
But it's okay, there's always time.
For now, the most important thing is to stay alive, act low-key, develop sneakily, and turn crises into opportunities.
That's right, without this war, could he achieve roast chicken freedom?
Could he obtain this Profound Iron Shield?
Next, Wang Wu had a good long sleep; sleeping can restore Demon Soul, otherwise, the attribute bar would always show a Demon Soul Weak status.
After waking up, he ate roast chicken, feeling full and drinking enough before sleeping again, then waking up to eat again; life was remarkably comfortable.
Until he was suddenly awakened from his sleep by surprise, feeling an intense itch on the back of his left front Bear Claw, as if he was going to scratch it open.
Initially stunned, he then rejoiced, as his Companion Demon Vine had finally awakened!
The next moment, that intensely aggravating itch disappeared, replaced by a cold sensation wrapping around his left front Bear Claw like several dozen tentacles.
At the same time, he sensed the flexible root system spreading from the back of his Bear Claw, stopping at the wrist, not crossing the boundary unless he allowed it.
A feeling of obedience and compliance.
Moreover, Wang Wu felt the vitality within him had increased slightly, and it felt really great.
However, given that this was the strangest accompanying phenomenon in both his lifetimes, he quickly opened the attribute bar.
He was astonished to find his own attribute bar unchanged, but at the very bottom, a tiny attribute bar had appeared.
Status: Companion Sixth-Grade Demon Vine Seedling (First Awakening Stage Complete)
Life: 1500/1500
Vitality: 500/500
Cyan Wood Spiritual Qi: 50/50
Talent: Paralyzing Poison (Demon King Level)
Maximum Poison Storage: 1000/1000 (can restore 50 poison storage points per day, provided vitality is not below 200 points)
Poison Effect: Injecting 1 point of Paralyzing Poison into a target causes 10 points of paralyzing poison damage and a 1-second paralysis effect. The current maximum active injection dose is 100 points.
Companion Talent: Damage Sharing, can forcibly share a maximum of 500 points of non-restraining poison damage with the host. This talent changes with the awakening stage.
Companion Talent: Damage Transfer, when the host suffers a fatal, non-exemptible attack exceeding the host's life limit, it can take 1499 points of damage once, but the Companion Demon Vine will sleep for six months unless supplemented with a large amount of vitality.
Companion Talent: Vitality Sharing, when the host falls into severe weakness, it can provide the host with up to 499 vitality points once, but the Companion Demon Vine will sleep for three months unless supplemented with a large amount of vitality.