The Divine Ability of Weapon-Body Refinement

Divine abilities such as the Heavenly Eye, the Heavenly Ear, and the Mind-Reading were common in the annals of legend. The Undying Art and others like it were rarer. As for legendary abilities such as Metamorphosis, Time Control, and Extreme Speed—those were rarer still.

Xiao Chen had broken through to the Spirit-Treasury realm. The ability to smelt weapons into his own flesh and refine his body was undoubtedly a rare and great divine ability, the most suitable and unique method for him.

The Spirit-Treasury realm was the gradual unlocking of the body's sealed doors, excavating the hidden treasures within. All the divine abilities of legend required bitter cultivation to slowly awaken.

The first divine ability had given Xiao Chen a pleasant surprise. He looked forward even more to the abilities he would gain in the future.

The dark broken blade transformed into a blade aura, like the rolling Yangtze, like a mighty river, turning into a clear stream that churned within Xiao Chen's body. With a thought, the broken blade flashed and appeared in his hand.

Of course, Xiao Chen was still far from having the power to completely melt the broken blade. If his cultivation were deep enough, he could dissolve the blade into his flesh, and from then on, the broken blade would no longer exist in the world—a part of his body would replace it.

Swish! Light flashed, and the broken blade sank into his left palm. He lightly swung his left arm, and a brilliant blade-light slashed diagonally outward, letting out an eerie howl. A surging blade aura sprayed forth, forming a dazzling white curtain of light that was unstoppable, directly cutting through the rain curtain between heaven and earth!

Although he could not dissolve the broken blade, his left palm now concealed the dark iron blade. It was as if he held an iron knife in his palm—he would not fear the hacking of divine weapons, and he could injure enemies invisibly.

The body was a universe. One could refine all things into the body. At the highest level, it would not be limited to various divine weapons—even a Primordial Demon Mountain could be refined and stored within the body. Even rivers, lakes, and seas!

This was the ability Xiao Chen had obtained upon breaking into the Spirit-Treasury realm and opening the first sealed door. It was an absolutely rare and formidable great divine ability.

Unable to refine the broken blade for now, Xiao Chen went into the house and took an ordinary sharp dagger. With a slight thought, he drew it into his left palm. The moment he willed it, the dagger completely dissolved into his flesh. He lightly cut at a wooden rafter, and it was severed instantly.

The dagger had been completely melted. Xiao Chen felt that his right palm now possessed the sharpness of a dagger. This was beyond imagination—if he could melt many divine weapons into his body, wouldn't he be a human-shaped weapon, a mobile armory? This divine ability was far too monstrous!

Next, Xiao Chen melted several more swords and knives, and the result was as he had speculated—they dissolved entirely into his flesh.

The pitch-black sky was oppressive beyond measure. In the boundless darkness, a sharp howl suddenly rang out, shaking the entire Heavenly Emperor City. The howl was so abrupt, as if it descended from the Nine Heavens above or had torn through the void from an ancient, chaotic age.

Then, thunder exploded, and massive bolts of lightning appeared across the dark sky. Heaven and earth were illuminated. A divine halberd and an iron seal burst with dazzling radiance above Heavenly Emperor City, charging and colliding. Countless phantom shadows shattered in an instant—they were the figures of ancient warriors clad in age-worn armor. Visions? No one knew.

The Heavenly Emperor City suddenly shook violently, as if a giant living being had sighed. Then all the thunderous light plunged into the earth and vanished into the city.

When the lightning gradually dimmed, Xiao Chen saw clearly. All the faint phantoms of ancient people solidified again, then transformed into streaks of light flying toward Heavenly Emperor City, merging into the ancient city within the night.

The violent wind and rain ceased. On this pitch-black night, there had indeed been inexplicable phenomena in the sky. But compared to the scene at Dragon Island's Dead City, it was nothing—neither terrifying nor mysterious. However, that was only on the surface. Xiao Chen deeply felt that Heavenly Emperor City was shrouded in an immeasurable, unfathomable force, no less than the Dead City of Dragon Island. This showed that the ancient city left over from a bygone age concealed a great secret unknown to men. Otherwise, the great killing weapons—the Golden Divine Halberd and the Black Iron Seal—would not have soared into the dark sky. They were spirit-recognizing ancient artifacts and must have sensed something momentous.

Torrential black light flickered. The Black Iron Seal fell from the dark sky, hurtling toward the Seven-Colored Sacred Tree atop Keke's head.

The snow-white little beast, though usually muddled, was actually quite alert. It had witnessed the iron seal's power before and feared it would smash down heavily. With a whoosh, it turned into a white light and fled the area.

The Black Iron Seal did not come crashing down as expected. It seemed to take the Seven-Colored Sacred Tree as a temporary resting place, slowing more and more until it hovered in the courtyard.

Keke looked at it curiously, then joyfully dashed over in a streak of light, wanting to collect the seal. At that moment, Xiao Chen's heart stirred, and he called out, 'Keke, wait a moment.' The little creature landed in confusion, staring at Xiao Chen uncomprehendingly. 'Let me try,' Xiao Chen said.

Having just realized the great divine ability of Weapon-Body Refinement, Xiao Chen wanted to test whether he could refine this ancient killing weapon into his body.

With a thought, the black light shimmered. The iron seal did not resist and directly sank into Xiao Chen's left palm. Almost instantly, Xiao Chen felt as if his left palm had shattered. The excruciating pain nearly made him cry out. Then, his bones emitted cracking sounds as the bones of his palm re-knit themselves.

At the same time, the dark broken blade in his left palm was forcibly expelled from his body. The daggers, longswords, and other weapons that had been melted into his left hand slowly re-condensed in his body and were then all forced out, but when they fell to the ground, they had become piles of scrap iron, all shattered. The seal was overbearing—with it present, no other mortal weapon could be tolerated. Even the dark broken blade was expelled.

In the center of Xiao Chen's left palm appeared a fingernail-sized imprint of the Black Iron Seal.

The Golden Divine Halberd's killing intent soared to the heavens. It left a trail of blazing golden light like a heavenly fire across the sky, then streaked through the void like a meteor falling to the earth, trailing a long tail of light as it plunged into the courtyard.

It seemed to have sensed the aura of the Black Iron Seal, quivering between the Seven-Colored Sacred Tree and Xiao Chen. The dazzling divine light was blinding. The immense pressure seemed to freeze Xiao Chen, Keke, and the Little Defiant Dragon in place, bearing down with unimaginable force.

Xiao Chen gritted his teeth and steeled his heart. He activated the Weapon-Body Refinement ability once more and reached out toward the Golden Divine Halberd. The blazing divine light flashed continuously. Xiao Chen again felt the sound of his right palm shattering and his bones re-knitting. The searing pain covered his head in sweat.

Golden divine light flickered. Finally, all the light converged. In the center of Xiao Chen's right palm, a mark of the Golden Divine Halberd appeared.

He had absorbed two ancient sacred artifacts into his palms. This was indeed a bold attempt for Xiao Chen. However, he was startled to find that it was very difficult to control these two great killing weapons, and he could no longer smoothly retrieve them. To dissolve the two sacred artifacts into his flesh was impossible—at least for now, he could not. And to unleash the power of the two great killing weapons, he also found it very difficult. After several attempts, Xiao Chen discovered that he could hardly draw out the divine power of the Golden Divine Halberd and the Black Iron Seal. However, his hands had become as hard as divine weapons and precious blades.

It was certain that unless it was against such ancient sacred relics as the halberd and the seal, ordinary divine weapons would hardly damage his hands in the slightest. Even if he were to face the Basde Ancient Spear, it probably could not pierce them.

'Ya-ya...' Keke cried out in dissatisfaction. It jumped onto Xiao Chen's shoulder, grabbed a lock of his hair, and blinked its big eyes in displeasure.

Xiao Chen laughed. 'What do you want those two fierce weapons for? It's better to keep them on me—at least they can be of some use. In your treasure tree, they're just pure collectibles.'

The little creature snorted in displeasure, then stretched out its furry little paw and waved it twice in front of Xiao Chen. Xiao Chen understood what it meant—it wanted two rare, top-grade spiritual herbs in exchange.

'Hehe, all right, no problem.'

Throughout, the Little Defiant Dragon had been watching from the side. When the thunder and lightning faded, it had already returned to its calm and aloof demeanor.

Xiao Chen tried again to melt ordinary swords and knives. The result was that he could draw them into his body, but if he tried to melt them, they would be forced out as scrap iron. With the ancient sacred artifacts present, no other mortal weapon could be melted into the body—they could only be stored. Ordinary weapons were too fragile before the two sacred artifacts.

Xiao Chen laid out all his odds and ends: Keke's Seven-Colored Jade Eggshell, the Dark Broken Blade, Suiren's Burial Shroud, the chain binding the white-shelled turtle, the Phoenix Sacred Feather, and Suiren's Fire-Drill. These were all very important items that could not be lost.

After careful experimentation, five of the six items could be stored in his body but not melted. If he tried to melt them, they would be forcibly expelled. Fortunately, they were not shattered like the ordinary weapons. The most surprising thing was Suiren's Fire-Drill—this sixth item could actually be melted into Xiao Chen's body without being rejected by the Golden Divine Halberd and the Black Iron Seal. This showed that it was a sacred artifact of the same level!

Xiao Chen endured the excruciating pain of his bones shattering to refine it into his left foot, where a small imprint of the fire-drill appeared in the center of his sole.

It was somewhat unbelievable. The fire-drill, which seemed neither stone nor wood and looked utterly ordinary—if thrown into a pile of rocks, no one would notice it—could hold a place in Xiao Chen's body alongside two great ancient killing weapons. Xiao Chen became more and more certain that the sacred artifact used by Suiren when he attained the Dao was far from simple on the surface. Everything was because his cultivation was not yet deep enough to understand the power of this stone drill.

Of course, the 'refinement' spoken of now was not true dissolution of the three sacred artifacts. This was only an initial stage. To truly dissolve them into Xiao Chen's flesh would likely remain only a dream for many long years.

The clouds parted and the rain stopped. Starlight scattered across the sky. It was as if those celestial phenomena had never occurred.