Chapter 1133: Ancient Soul s.h.i.+p
Spiritualist a.s.sociation’s holonet, the Confidential Archives.
This virtual archive looked like a traditional library, with rows of shelves four meters high, each one filled with countless, neatly arranged tomes. On the lowest floor were cataloged for users’ guidance and ease of access to what each shelf contained.
Xia Fei casually tapped on a book t.i.tled ‘Dark Energy Conversion Theory’, and then a very thick book appeared in Xia Fei’s hand. He could feel the quality of this book, which was not any different from a real book in an actual library.In fact, its simulated scent was set to imitate the smell of paper.
“Looks like the Spiritualist a.s.sociation is rather sentimental, to have even produced virtual copies of books from the olden days to a T,” Xia Fei chuckled.
[To read ‘Dark Energy Conversion Theory’, 1,700 points are required. Would you like to proceed?] Just as Xia Fei was about to open the book, this prompt leaped into his view.
After he nodded to affirm, the system informed: [We are sorry. You do not have enough points.]
Xia Fei frowned. He tapped in the air to check his ident.i.ty profile; according to what was displayed, he should be an anonymous user with super high clearance. No one could track him, but the points he had to his name were actually a big fat zero!
Xia Fei was rendered speechless. Never in his wildest imagination did he expect that, although Fuchen possessed this anonymous ID with super high clearance, it would be so poor it did not even contain a single point!
He immediately transferred the 200 points from his temporary ID to this anonymous account so that his balance would look a bit better. Still, this much was not enough for Xia Fei to read ‘Dark Energy Conversion Theory’.
Xia Fei felt very disappointed. Energy was the foundation of everything, and Dark Energy was of an even higher grade. Just how was it discovered and how many methods there were to convert it? These things had never been carefully explained to Xia Fei before, so he was very interested in knowing.
From the moment he started on the path of a warrior, Xia Fei had not come to where he wasnow by chance. He was not only talented but also enjoyed learning and comprehending all sorts of strange and weird things.
Roaming the Confidential Archives once, he came upon plenty of information that had piqued his interest. Unfortunately, he could not afford the reading fee for even a single one of the virtual tomes. As all of these books contained crucial data, the lowest was priced at 1,000 points. The balance in Xia Fei’s account only amounted to a paltry sum of 200 points, so he was really far off.
Frowning, Xia Fei left the archives and went to the trade sector. He was hoping to earn some points by trading some items. This virtual world was no different from reality; without any currency, there was no way for anyone to survive out here in the simulated world.
“You should be able to earn a fair bit of points by selling some of your forged healing soul weapons,” Radix said with a twinkle in his eyes. The sight of the numerous soul weapons and resources being traded here excited him endlessly.
Xia Fei shook his head. “Are you kidding me? The reason we’re currently accessing the system using an anonymous ID card is to avoid revealing any personal information. If I were to sell healing soul weapons, many people out there would be suspicious of my ident.i.ty. We need to keep a low profile right now and do our best to avoid attracting any attention.”
The trade sector was incomparably huge. Aside from allowing barter, there was a job-allocation area. Xia Fei came to a stop and stood in front of a pair of short gloves.
This soul weapon was called Four-star Buffeting Winds. It had a very interesting activation method: As a close-combat soul weapon, the pair of metal gloves had four star-shaped protrusions, and as long as someone wore them and ball their hands into fists, the punches that would land could send an enemy’s soul flying out!
Close combat was a rather risky business. Without superior strength, few Spiritualists would dare to engage in a melee fight. Of course, the speedster Xia Fei was an exception. Distance meant nothing to him, and this was all because his movement speed was heaven-defying.
“This item is rather interesting. It seems to have been made a long time ago, and the damage it incurred isn’t anything minor. In fact, the cracks look like the result of this soul weapon’s deterioration over a long period,” Xia Fei said with a hand under his chin.
All the soul weapons that could be found in the trade sector were damaged goods. As long as the Spiritualists had the ability to repair them, they would surely be paid handsomely for their services.
“Indeed, this really is a soul weapon from eons past. Soul weapons deteriorate over time as they’re used often. As such, those precious soul weapons are used sparingly and strictly controlled, and this is to ensure that those can be pa.s.sed down through generations.”
“Just take your White Dragon’s Screech; it’s always been kept in the Aurora Clan’s hidden warehouse the entire time back then. I’m afraid that the number of times it was used then since its inception can’t compare to how much you’ve used it in the recent year,” Radix said.
Xia Fei nodded in acknowledgment. Primeval soul weapons were very different from the soul weapons made in the current age. The item grade of White Dragon’s Screech was only a rough estimation, and even if the apex Spiritualists of today might be unable to reconstruct another White Dragon’s Screech; this would be due to the lack of the forging materials required for making it.
Additionally, primeval soul weapons lacked any of the distinguis.h.i.+ng features to pinpoint their exact grade. Everyone only had a rough idea of the White Dragon’s Screech’s grade as a soul weapon, but no one could give an exact number, and the same could be said for the Four-star Buffeting Winds; it was also a grade-less primeval soul weapon.
“Want to give it a shot? If you succeed in repairing it, you’ll earn 10,000 points,” Radix suggested.
*Whoosh*
Xia Fei exited the holonet and went to find Ulan in the greenhouse, asking to borrow some points to make a deposit.
To accept this job worth 10,000 points, Xia Fei must first put forth the same points as insurance. This was the threshold set to prevent others from taking away the soul weapon and not returning with it.
“How much do you wish to borrow and what for?” Ulan, who was busying about a very strange snake-like aquatic lotus root, asked.
“I need 9,800 points as insurance so that I can repair a soul weapon. Fuchen’s ID is good in every way except that it lacks even a single point.” Xia Fei shrugged.
“Ha! That old rascal is still as stingy as ever.” Ulan laughed.
As the Spiritualists of Botany’s leader, Ulan was rich. He immediately transferred 10,000 points to Xia Fei without so much as another word. However, he did look at Xia Fei with a hint of playfulness in his eyes, almost as if he did not believe this young man could accomplish a repair job worth 10,000 points.
Xia Fei entered the holonet again and paid the insurance.
*s.h.i.+ng*
A bright light shone and a pair of silver gloves appeared in that small transference station beside the simulation helmet. It was none other than the primeval soul weapon, Four-star Buffeting Winds.
The Spiritualist a.s.sociation had a comprehensive spatial transference network; Ulan depended on this system to survive in his paG.o.da. From what he said, it had been many years since he took even a single step out of the paG.o.da. He mainly relied on the spatial transference system to send him his every need. The a.s.sociation had truly gone the extra mile in ensuring that their Spiritualists would be able to concentrate on research and cultivation with peace of mind.
This actually made it very convenient for Xia Fei. No doubt that he would raise suspicions if he retrieved or returned items with his unfamiliar face. Utilizing this spatial transference system could circ.u.mvent any of such potential problems.
Xia Fei began to inspect the Four-star Buffeting Winds closely once he got the pair of gloves.
There was still quite a bit of difference between the simulation and the actual item. This was similar to how antiques worked. One would never be an antique connoisseur if their only interaction with the item was through books or photos. Only by having the real thing could anyone truly feel the uniqueness and the aura antiques radiated.
“Seems like soul weapons made by the ancients are a lot cruder, completely forged through inspiration and done overnight.” Xia Fei’s eyes shone as he talked to himself.
This was when Master Ulan entered the room, sighing. “In ancient times, there’s no such thing as complete diversification unlike what you see today. The Spiritualists in the present day and age first map out the entire process—what embryonic vessels to use, the forging method, what grade the final product should be, and the soul weapon’s function—before forging a soul weapon. Every step must be outlined in advance.
“As for the ancient Spiritualists, they all fought alone, making their own vessels, probing their way forward when forging soul weapons, etc. Many times, they did not have any idea what their final product would become, so in terms of accuracy, the forging specifications of today’s Spiritualists adhere to are far more comprehensive but lack inspiration. That’s completely different from how the ancients did it, creating strange and weird soul weapons whenever they felt like it. Simply put, the soul weapons of today are more powerful, function-wise, but lack personality.”
Xia Fei nodded. There had once been a period on Earth when Apple computers were all the rage, and practically everyone owned a piece, so a majority of people were using the same thing. It was a very weird feeling.
“If I knew that you wanted to repair this thing, I wouldn’t lend you those points. Ah, forget it. Take it as a lesson that you paid to learn. You, young people, really don’t know your limits.” Ulan shook his head, almost as if he was somewhat disappointed with Xia Fei.
“Is something wrong?” Xia Fei asked, curious.
“Something wrong? It’s very wrong!” Ulan rumbled in a deep voice. “Do you know why there’s such a high reward for repairing this pair of gloves? It’s because this is a primeval soul weapon, and the Spiritualists then are different from those now; the difference lies in the produced soul weapons. Repairing a primeval soul weapon requires the use of primeval techniques, and such ancient repairing techniques have already been lost with time!”
Xia Fei, who was a little taken aback, asked, “The repairing techniques used in this day and age don’t work on primeval soul weapons?”
Ulan chuckled. “The logic is simple. Imagine an old table at your house losing a leg and you needing new wood to replace it, what do you think the result will be?”
“It will be… neither here nor there,” Xia Fei answered with some uncertainty.
“Exactly. Do you think that we lack skilled people in the Spiritualist a.s.sociation? n.o.body has accepted this job not because people are unable to repair it but because there’s a strong likelihood of this soul weapon getting ruined after the repair. Primeval soul weapons are usable, but they’re very unwieldy.” Ulan sighed.
With that, Ulan went back to his work. He was originally looking forward to seeing what Xia Fei had gotten, but all he felt was disappointment when he did.
Taking the gloves with him, Xia Fei closed the door to Ulan’s cultivation room. Since he had already accepted the job, all he could do was give it a shot.
Xia Fei released Spirit Energy, causing his hands to glow faintly. He groped the soul weapon up and down, as the first step toward repairing soul weapons was checking its state of damage.
“Sure enough, the damage didn’t originate from a human during a fight but was a result of overuse, instead. After so many years, the soul weapon has started to collapse from within. If it’s not repaired, it’ll be destroyed completely after a few more uses,” Xia Fei said as he frowned. Xia Fei’s heart ached as he made out a web of thin cracks on the soul weapon.
All of a sudden, Xia Fei felt a very obvious resonance. Peac.o.c.k Blue, which was connected to his right hand, seemed to resonate strongly with the primeval soul weapon; it was now actively adjusting the pace at which Xia Fei approached the soul weapon.
“Peac.o.c.k Blue?!” Xia Fei was startled.
Xia Fei could become a Spiritualist of Healing precisely because he had one of the five elemental immemorial armaments, Peac.o.c.k Blue!
Could his healing work on soul weapons, too?!