BXBX NOVEL Chapter 207: Saint
Although it was only a shadow like a phantom, the human figure still had visible muscle lines and held unlimited power. What was more impressive was that this phantom created a huge pressure!
When Duren Burg saw the phantom, his bloodline power instantly activated, and his level 7 Demon Fighter warrior power filled his body. Tick, tick, tick, tick; He bit his teeth tightly together to resist the pressure from the phantom.
"This is soul power," Fabreidis said. "Qian Jin, warrior power isn’t just a tool for battle, it also has its own life. This might to too early for you to know, but since you already encountered it last time, it might slow down your improvements, you might continuously think of it and not be as concentrated."
"There are many different types of soul power, and there are many different ways to create soul power. I have named my soul power Explosive Fire Wolf King." Fabreidis continued as he looked up at the six-meters tall wolf-headed human figure: "Soul power can be divided into many levels. I won’t explain everything to you now, let me just show you what soul power is."
Fabreidis chopped down with his hand in the air and the red wolf-headed human figure that enveloped him moved! Without any control, Explosive Fire Wolf King held its fists together and looked like it let out a howl that went up the sky. It’s arms that were as thick as a tree moved. Its fists smashed into the ground in front of Fabreidis while piercing through the air and making loud wind noises.
Boom! With a loud sound, soil and mud flew everywhere. Qian Jin felt the land moving violently as if there was an earthquake or more than a few hundred heavy cavaliers charging, even the light grass was moving as the land shook.
Soil, dry grass, and chipped stones were falling back down to the ground like raindrops. A big circular hole that was about five meters in radius and a meter in depth formed in front of Fabreidis. The edges of the hole were so clean that it looked like they were dug out with sharp shovels!
Fabreidis just stood there quietly and didn’t move. Explosive Fire Wolf King also stood there like a devil without any further commands. The only thing that was changing was that the air was getting drier and drier.
Qian Jin carefully observed the surroundings of Fabreidis and that tall devil like Explosive Fire Wolf King. "So this is the so-called soul power? This is the destructive force of soul power? Even if I use Zhanmadao and level 9 Demon Fighter warrior power, I couldn’t deal this level of damage." He thought.
"This is the first form." Fabreidis lightly waved his hand, and Explosive Fire Wolf King that was huge in size suddenly shrunk rapidly and went inside Fabreidis’ body. However, Qian Jin felt like Fabreidis’ power didn’t decrease, instead, it got stronger as the soul power disappeared! It was more than two times stronger.
"It’s easy to release your soul power, but it’s way harder to take it back." Fabreidis lifted his right hand and suddenly squeeze his palm to form a fist, and red warrior power spurted out of the slits between his fingers. "This is the form that I was in when I battled at Clear Spring Mountain."
Qian Jin watched everything carefully and quietly. "Why would such a powerful warrior be a city guardian for such a small city like Oakland?" He thought.
"The next progress on top of soul power." Fabreidis said as he looked up at the sky and sighed: "Is to become a Saint! An ordinary warrior has never advanced to a Saint Warrior before!"
"Saint?" Qian Jin’s eyes shone. He read about it in books in the Qian Family. Even bloodline warriors weren’t guaranteed to become saints, bloodline warriors who only had a primary awakening had zero chance of becoming a Saint Warrior!
There were way more than ten types of bloodlines in the Zence Empire, but there were ten top bloodlines. These families weren’t in the top ten just because they have a lot of family members, their bloodlines were special and were easier to have awakenings and easier to advance to saints.
"Becoming a Saint..." Fabreidis restrained his soul power and sighed. "Hard... extremely difficult... Finding a soul weapon... too hard...."
"Soul weapon?" Qian Jin got close to Fabreidis and asked, "What is that?"
"Soul weapon..." Fabreidis laughed bitterly and said, "How should I put this? You know about warrior weapons, right?"
Qian Jin shrugged his shoulders, he didn’t learn anything while learning from old Blake. Warrior weapons were far superior to ordinary weapons. They were harder and had better warrior power conductivity. Normal people thought that warrior weapons were all the same, but there were actually many differences in warrior weapons, they were ranked into 9 levels based on the desired characteristics.
Skyreed Sword that Fabreidis had was a level 7 warrior weapon, and it was only less desirable than level 9 and level 8 warrior weapons. It was still a weapon that numerous people wanted to get their hands on.
"Soul weapons are weapons that are above warrior weapons." Fabreidis grinned and said. "They are even better in terms of warrior power conductivity and hardness. The most important feature is that they have a supplementary effect on soul powers. Soul powers and soul weapons have synergies together. They are more powerful together, like 1+1 equaling something greater than 2."
"In the legends, the Zence Empire had fifty Saint Weapons. They’re all soul weapons in some sense." Fabreidis directly sat on the ground and patted the ground beside him to tell everyone to sit down. "You could say that they were the most powerful soul weapons." He continued.
"Soul weapon..." Qian Jin made a mark of it in his mind. "I will ask and consult Blake about soul weapons when I get to the Endless World." He thought.
"Hey, Uncle Fabreidis." Duren Burg got close to Qian Jin and asked, "What is the connection between becoming saint and a soul weapon? Why did you talk about soul weapons when you were talking about advancing to a Saint Warrior? I mean weapons should only be an external support, right?"
"Soul weapons are not an external support." Fanta Kunge’s voice got everyone’s attention.
Fabreidis smiled at Fanta Kunge and encouraged him. "The kid from Fanta Family, say what is on your mind."
Fanta Kunge’s back straightened as he sensed Fabreidis’ encouragement. It was an encouragement from a soul-power warrior! The name of Fabreidis was mentioned to him by both his grandfather and father. A man that could be praised by his grandpa must be a great warrior.
"I heard that as bloodline warriors awaken their bloodline powers, their warrior power would create soul power instinctively. With more training and the special power in the bloodline, they would try to advance to a saint warrior." Fanta Kunge said as he recalled what he knew. "However, warriors who didn’t have bloodlines couldn’t do that. Compared with bloodline warriors, ordinary warriors’ warrior power aren’t pure enough. They must work hard to purify their warrior power before trying to create soul power. Even if the best warrior did that, the quality of soul power couldn’t compare with bloodline warriors, and that is why bloodline warriors are always at the top of the pyramid."
Fabreidis nodded his head as he listened. "The descendants of Fanta Family are powerful warriors, and they also have a lot of knowledge and understanding. No wonder they were the ‘Gods-of-wars Family’ in ordinary warriors’ eyes.
"Therefore, I heard that the warriors at Warrior Hall came up with a way so ordinary warriors would have a chance of becoming a saint!" Fanta Kunge’s eyes shone as he held his fists tight. "Soul weapons! Combining soul power with a soul weapon, a perfect merge! That’s right, it would boost the quality of the soul power and give ordinary warriors’ a chance of advancing to a Saint Warrior."
"Soul weapon..." Duren Burg bit onto the cigarette that he smoked half of. "Warrior weapons are already rare enough. How many soul weapons could there be? It’s easier to borrow a saint weapon..."
"How?" Fanta Kunge smiled bitterly as he shook his head. "Once soul power merges with the saint weapon, this saint weapon could only be used by this warrior unless he or she dies. Which family would let someone take their saint weapons? In terms of soul weapon, there are..."
Qian Jin quickly covered Duren Burg’s mouth with his hand and signaled Fanta Kunge to continue.
"Saint weapons are soul weapons, but not all soul weapons are saint weapons." Fanta Kunge laid back and supported his body up by placing his hands on the grasses behind him. He looked up at the moon and sighed as if he wanted to exhale away all the depressive feelings in all ordinary warriors’ mind.
"Saint weapons could merge with any soul power, but soul weapons couldn’t." Fabreidis continued where Fanta Kunge left off. "Soul weapons must share similar characteristics as soul power, and the two must have attractions with each other. If and only if these criteria is satisfied, the two could be merged. Therefore, even if a soul-powered warrior got a soul weapon out of luck, he or she might not be able to merge them..."
"Yeah..." Fanta Kunge sighed again. "Soul weapons, only Forge Grandmasters could forge them. How many Forge Grandmasters are out there? Also, the success rate for making the soul weapon is so low; making one out of a hundred tries would be considered lucky. But it is extremely difficult to find one set of material that could make a soul weapon that is similar to one’s soul power, who can find a hundred sets?"
"Forge Grandmaster?" Qian Jin relaxed his body then suddenly tensed it up again. "Kunge, what did you say? A Forge Grandmaster could forge soul weapons?" He asked.
"Yeah." Fanta Kunge nodded: "That’s what my grandpa said. He had found a Forge Grandmaster and found three sets of material."
"Three sets?" Fabreidis pointed out his thumb as he praised: "That’s the Fanta Family! Can actually find three sets of material."
Fanta Kunge shook his head and sighed. "So what? In half a year, that Forge Grandmaster failed twice and ruined two sets of material. When that Forge Grandmaster was facing the third set, he didn’t even have the courage to lift up the hammer. He ended up leaving Fanta Family all depressed... My grandpa said this Forge Grandmaster probably couldn’t dare to try to forge another soul weapon."
Fabreidis nodded as he showed he agreed with the grandpa’s view. Didn’t matter if it was in the Zence Empire or theLucifer Empire, a Forge Grandmaster had a high status. Even an emperor would give a Forge Grandmaster enough respect.
As time passed, every Forge Grandmaster had a high pride and honor. The fact of ruining two sets of precious material after getting paid a high fee to forge a soul weapon would be devastating for them. If this Forge Grandmaster had the guts of picking up the hammer and continue forging, he would be tough mentally.
"A Forge Grandmaster can forge soul weapons?" Qian Jin rubbed his chins. "If this is the case, then I’m in an exceptional condition compared with all other Forge Grandmasters! Old Uncle Blake knows how to forge soul weapons." He thought.
West Mountains! The West Mountains in Endless World was rich in minerals and metals. After collecting and mining them away, they would replenish themselves after some time.
"Three sets of material?" A smirk appeared on Qian Jin’s face subconsciously. If he knew what materials were required, thirty sets of materials were easy to find. Without exaggeration, it wasn’t hard to find three hundred set of materials!
Without the proper experience, it was natural to fail. However, if there was enough material, Qian Jin was able to practice numerous times and understand the key to forging soul weapons and know what mistakes to avoid. After all these trail and errors, he could definitely make a soul weapon with one set of material!
"Soul weapon..." Fabreidis sighed while looking at the moon; everyone there felt the Frbreidis’ unwillingness of letting his hope go. "I’m already at the peak of soul-power warrior as I can already pull my soul power back into my body. If I have a proper soul weapon, I could definitely become the first ordinary warrior who became saint!"
"Hey..." Qian Jin scratched his head and hesitated as he looked at Fabreidis. He said as he drew the attention of everyone. "Uh...maybe... If you can get all the material for a soul weapon... Then... I... I probably can forge you a soul weapon."
"What?"
Fabreidis stared at Qian Jin. "Forge a soul weapon? That is so bold! He seems serious and earnest normally, why did he say such a ridiculous thing?" He thought.
Torrent Ten Warriors all frowned. "It is good that a warrior has confidence, but it is different from being arrogant. No one liked an arrogant warrior and these warriors typically had limited futures. Killing a two-star soldier of the Dark Group and having the strength of a level 9 Demon Fighter was impressive, but if that brought out the arrogance, then this warrior wouldn’t go that far in life."
Cech Flet, Duren Burg, and Fanta Kunge stared at Qian Jin; they knew that Qian Jin was probably a Forge Master, but forging a soul weapon required a Forge Grandmaster! Didn’t matter if it was in the Zence Empire or the Lucifer Empire, there were only a few Forge Grandmasters. Forge Grandmasters were all white-haired and bearded. Forge Grandmaster was a title that talented blacksmiths spent their whole life chasing after, and not many of them can get it.
"Uh, how should I put this..." Qian Jin scratched his head continuously and said: "You guys might not believe this, I even have a hard time believing this, but it is a fact, although I haven’t been to the Blacksmith Union and pass the exam, I’m really a Forge Grandmaster..."
Tink...
Burg spear in Duren Burg’s head slipped out of his hands and got a lot of dust into the air. Under the dark sky, the sound of metal colliding with the ground was very clear.
Forge Grandmaster! Everyone felt like their heads were knocked by someone using a huge iron hammer! Their heads buzzed as they felt like the sky was spinning in their eyes.
"Such a young Forge Grandmaster?" Torrent Two Warriors looked at each other and thought: "How old is this Qian Jin? Has such an exceptional shooting skill, and the strength of a level 9 Demon Fighter. Those along was impressive enough! Forge Grandmaster... Let alone Forge Grandmaster, even if he is just a Forge Master or a level 10 Blacksmith is unbelievable."
Fabreidis looked at Qian Jin. "Forge Grandmaster... Forge Grandmaster! After two years of not seeing him, this kid actually became a Forge Grandmaster? The Forge Grandmaster that was almost at the peak of the pyramid in the entire Blacksmith industry? Is he also such a young warrior? Who did he learn from? Who is his master?" He thought.
"Qian Jin..." Farbedis took a deep breath. He who had the iron like will speak with a shaky voice for the first time. "You... you are telling the truth?" The tone was also filled with surprise and a strong hope.
"I’m a Forge Grandmaster." Qian Jin placed his hands on his thighs and said, "However, I have never heard of soul weapons before, and I have never forged soul weapons before."
"Ok, I believe you!" Fabreidis slapped his thigh and said, "I believe that you are a Forge Grandmaster. You never forged soul weapons before? That’s ok! I will gather the money and try to buy the handbook and notes of Forge Grandmasters who had forged soul weapons before on an auction."
"You can buy this kind of stuff?" Qian Jin raised his eyebrows and asked, "It’s not cheap, is it?"
"Although the notes might be rare, they aren’t that expensive." Fabreidis laughed. "There are only so many Forge Grandmasters in the Zence and Lucifer Empires. They are the only ones who might be interested in the notes of previous Forge Grandmaster. Other people can get no use out of the notes except them."
Qian Jin nodded and said, "But they can still buy them, right?"
"Why? Buy them to use as toilet papers?" Fabreidis’ tone was filled with mockery. "Every Forge Grandmaster as their specific field. Some people are Forge Grandmaster in terms of sword-making, and some people are Forge Grandmasters in terms of spear-making, but the Forge Grandmaster who wrote the notes on soul weapons might specialize in shield-making."
Qian Jin blinked and thought, "So after all, these Forge Grandmasters are just like the pharmacist like Grandma Medi. Grandma Medi doesn’t specialize in all fields, and these Forge Grandmasters also only mastered one field and not all weapons.
"Therefore..." Fabreidis opened his palms and concluded: "No Forge Grandmasters would spend a lot of money on the notes that don’t talk about their fields; they would save money and wait for the notes that talks about their fields to appear. After all, there isn’t only one Forge Grandmasters who specializes in sword-making; if notes on the sword field soul weapon appeared, the biting will be aggressive, and the price will be high.
Qian Jin lightly shook his head and murmured, "Without a firm foundation, one can’t be a Forge Grandmaster of all fields. That would result in a lower success rate when forging items. The forging principles for all items are somewhat connected. Knowing how to forge every item would connect all the knowledge about forging together and form a whole system. Specializing in one field might result in achievements and fast learning, but as the difficulty of the forging goes up, it would be harder to improve. These Forge Grandmasters had all chosen the wrong path."
Torrent Ten Warriors’ stared at Qian Jin and thought, "This young man has a big appetite and taste; he just said that he is a Forge Grandmaster and dare publically criticising the authorities in their fields and say that they are on the wrong path."
"You are saying... you know every field?" Fabreidis opened his eyes wide as if he just saw an undead creature. "An all field Forge Grandmaster?"
Qian Jin nodded as if that’s how it should be. He thought to himself, "If I’m not a Forge Grandmaster of all field, how would Uncle Blake let me pass the exam? That old blacksmith who doesn’t talk much doesn’t look like a teacher who would let me pass easily