Chapter 79: Project: Black Knight

The first week of semester break was gone and so started the second. Xiu Ye's body and cultivation had already recovered and he has high spirits that not even Wu Zhangkong's frosty aura and melancholic attitude could bring it down.

Today, he decided to do something productive and do one of his many projects he had planned in his head.

Wearing a white sleeveless tank top and black square shorts, Xiu Ye hummed a certain familiar song from his previous world to himself as he repeatedly hammered a piece of heated lump of Black Iron; causing several dings to sound out in the workshop.

Black Iron is one of the most rarest ores in the continent, which costed him 500k just for 1 kilogram for it. It is rare due to its scarcity that most would say that they can only find only 50 kilograms every ten years! Moreover, it was made even more valuable when people found out its capabilities.

It was also highly sought after by many blacksmiths as well.

Black Iron has the highest density and hardness among all the other ores in the world, and its weight is the least compared to the others. It also never rusts and be imprinted with soul circuits; easily channeling soul power. It could be said that this ore tops amongst all others and is the number one recommended of using it to make either Mechas or Battle Armors.

Xiu Ye was lucky enough to be the first person to spot it in the blacksmith association market just after it was put up for sale.

Xiu Ye raised his right hand over his head, Mjolnir in hand, and a black cloud envelope over his head. White and blue electricity crackled around the black cloud, like dozens of small snakes were dancing around. Suddenly, as a human adult arm-sized white and blue colored lightning bolt strike down on the ore simultaneously as he pounded Mjolnir in the center of the ore.

BANG!

White spiderweb like veins spread appeared where the face of the hammer struck; a loud ringing noise sounded out across the entire building. The ore trembled in place; red circuit lines appeared for a split second on its surface, and it transformed the ore into a smooth looking, arm-sized black brick-bar; the red veins on its surface started to throb like a heartbeat.

Xiu Ye used a branch ability of reinforcement called Alteration. As the name implies, it alters anything within a certain limit but only those that the user has a certain structural knowledge of the altered object or lifeform.

Suddenly, a loud screeching cry was heard from the ore as it bursts with sparks of electricity. The cry sounded both joyous and excited.

Intelligence was granted upon the metal!

It didn't end there however. The forged metal started to lit up with a white blinding glow before it skyrocketed up into a six foot tall pillar.

1st Grade, Thousand Refinements!

Xiu Ye let out a long quiet breath. He let the muscles in his right hand and arm relaxed before he refocused his concentration, bright crimson flames enveloped the metal and quickly heating it up within a matter of a millisecond.

After Ryūjin Jakka finished his transformation and could materialized in the real world and Tiangou had become his spirit soul, Xiu Ye's flames had evolved into its ultimate form.

Ultimate Fire, as the name implies, is the peak essence of fire. This grants a number of benefits. For example its user is resistant to poisons to a certain degree, not allowing it to enter within the body, but rather burn into nothing and expel out any remnants of it out instead.

The user can also share this ultimate fire with other fire users, drastically increasing their power, or use it to dominate them and make their fire betray them.

In addition, ultimate fire is completely immune to ice and is absolutely capable of withstanding any extremes levels of coldness.

But the most impressive and terrifying part of this sort of ultimate fire, is that it is capable of burning through soul power easily and directly attack a person's soul; making them cease to exist.

Xiu Ye would have inevitably gotten this sort of power at the later stages of his cultivation or when Ryūjin Jakka's flames had completely assimilated with the world laws, but the sudden recent developments had dramatically increased the process.

However, what Xiu Ye didn't know, like all ultimate type martial souls, in exchange for no longer experiencing bottlenecks when crossing into the next soul realm cultivation and getting the vast power of the ultimate element, the user will experience a slow down in their cultivation rate after 30th rank. This is due to the toll ultimate type martial souls take on the body and that the body needs more time to adjust than is normal for soul masters.

After the blazing deep crimson flames successfully heated up the Black Iron, Xiu Ye quickly controlled the flames heat to be low and immediately started tapping the metal lightly with Mjolnir.

With every tap, the metal cries out as small amounts of soul power and vitality was sent into it; slowly giving it life!

This was spirit refinement!

Xiu Ye carefully tapped around the heated metal and in certain timings in aligned to its veins, causing electricity to spark and quicken its life awakening!

A wide, white smile appeared on Xiu Ye's face as he watches in fascination; on how he was making an inorganic and unintelligent piece of material life!

Despite doing this for so many times, with different ores and creating them into something different, it never gets old for him. In fact, it just made him more fascinated and happy with blacksmithing, no, creating something incredible from a small piece of metal.

It was one of the very small things he takes great pride and enjoyment in.

Unknowingly, as he repeatedly tap around the metal, a certain tune started to play and he unconsciously opened his mouth...and sing.

Why are you always in a mood~🎶

Fuckin' 'round, actin' brand new~🎶

I ain't tryna tell you what to do~🎶

But try to play it cool~🎶

Baby, I ain't playing by your rules~🎶

Everything look better with a view~🎶

Xiu Ye flipped Mjolnir up in the air for a moment, white and blue electricity sparkling around it, he caught it perfectly and pounded it on the black iron: causing it to let out a loud ringing sound followed with a wide shockwave that caused the area around it to momentarily tremble and sent some of the objects flying. A burst of both life and lightning energy started to radiate from the metal.

A glance to a measuring

Xiu Ye was unflinching and remained firm in place with a proud smile on his face as he gaze on the finished forged piece of metal on the forging table in front of him.

It was a gauntlet with long demonic black like claws attached with a vambrace, it was one entirely for the left arm, completely jet purple in color with black markings around it. It had a large black cuff around its wrist. Black steam enveloped it. Yet despite its demonic appearance, it radiated an abundance of both life and lightning energy.

Xiu Ye unequip Mjolnir and let it float on top of his shoulder. He then hovered his now free hand over the piece of armor, clenching his hand tight, small droplets of blood dropped down on it and it momentarily glowed in a deep red color.

Soon after, a small wave of spiritual power started to emit in his hand. The water element in the air gathered in his hand and a small ball made out of water started to formed and covered the armor to have it cool off.

"One down, nine more to go." Xiu Ye muttered as he finishes cooling off the armor.

"Hm, so that's a piece of your battle armor? I gotta say, I did not expect that. Although it does look cool, why did you make it look so evil though? A lot of people are going to mistake you as a evil soul master. Oh and you have nice singing voice."

Xiu Ye didn't turn around to see that it was Mu Xi who had said that, already sensing her looking at him work on the black iron a couple hours ago with his spiritual power. He did blushed in embarrassment that she saw him singing: he totally forgot she was there standing behind him; he'd been too caught up in the moment.

Ignoring her, he dismissed Mjolnir back in his inner world and brought out a soul engraving marker from his storage ring and started engraving complex and intricate soul circuits on the piece of armor. His eyes dilated as he entered, what many athletes in the world calls, "the zone". His entire focus was on engraving the perfect soul circuits on the left arm part of his armor.

Ryūjin Jakka, in a sheathed state, suddenly appeared on top of his head and numerous red essence strings attached themselves around the piece of armor. The gauntlet and vambrace glowed red as Xiu Ye engraved soul circuits on them.

Mu Xi pouted and crossed her arms, feeling a bit angry for being ignored. She just wanted some answers! But she didn't voice her complaints, not yet anyway. She knew just how important it was for someone to make a Battle Armor and one wrong mistake on its making would destroy it.

She let out a huff and turned her back around to Xiu Ye, "I'm going to take a nap. Wake me when you're done so I can do my own blacksmithing; I can't focus with your rampant soul power fluctuations. Bye!" she then walked towards the stairs up to the second floor.

Hours passed, the afternoon soon turned to night and then it was dawn. Xiu Ye let out a sigh and put back the soul engraving marker in his storage ring.

He cracked his neck around and stretch his arms, causing some popping sounds that made him let out a relieve groan out. He glanced down on his finished first, or two, piece of his battle armor on the forging table.

It looked the same as when it was forged and finished cooling, but inside of it has thousands of complex soul circuits engraved in its interior that not even most other similar piece of battle armor have. In fact, the soul circuits within it equaled to even the piece of armor of a Two-word Battle Armor.

Xiu Ye inwardly thanked his mysterious parents for giving him numerous blueprints and video tutorials on how to build a Battle Armor and Mecha in his storage ring. That was why he knew how and what to engrave soul circuits in the pieces of Battle Armor.

Soul circuits are soul power engraved arrays on soul tools, soul devices, Battle Armors and Mechas to not only help channel soul power and connect to a soul battery but to also strengthen them and amplify their affects.

Xiu Ye's engraved soul circuits made it that it makes channeling soul power more smooth and reduces ten percent of soul power cost, and it's double more durable and resilient. Not even a full powered punch from a pure attack system type Soul Sage can put a scratch on it now.

It was perfect.

'Project Black Knight would probably be completed sooner than I expected, I should probably adjust the time table of the other future projects that I'm working on. But I still need my company up and running soon, probably next year, so I can have the money and resources needed to start my more expensive projects like Project V.'

After making a second and third check to see if everything is good, Xiu Ye put his right hand palm on the gauntlet. The moment he did so, a connection of flesh and metal between them was established. He could feel the metal sending him its feelings of happiness, joy, excitement, anticipation and love for him. This was difference of making a thousand refined metal and a spirit refined one; spirit refinement bestows intelligence and life into the metal.

Soon after, the two-piece metal armor started dissolving itself into liquid and attached itself onto Xiu Ye's left arm like what a symbiote would do.

Unlike other one-word Battle Armor that only needs a soul master's blood essence to make a connection with it and could wear them easily like normal armor, Xiu Ye had forged his with spirit refinement. Spirit refined metals could dissolve into the user's body. This was what made the products so precious.

It took half an hour and the assimilation process was over. Xiu Ye looked down at his white muscular left arm in amazement.

He lightly moved his left arm around and clenched his left hand. He could still feel the two-piece left arm armor hiding within his left arm and he could make it appear with just a thought.

Xiu Ye thought of it and it appeared.

A black glow momentarily flashed and enveloped Xiu Ye's entire left arm and a deep purple colored, with black markings on its surface, demonic looking vambrace and gauntlet black claws appeared in place. Just looking at its intimidating appearance could cause a person to froze in fear.

If any onlookers were here, they would have thought that Xiu Ye was a evil soul master with the design look of his Battle Armor. They would question him, like Mu Xi, as to why did he make it look like that.

Xiu Ye's answer would simply be: "It's because it looks cool."

And as much as Xiu Ye had wanted to make an Iron Man Suit or a Gundam, a Battle Armor was a more needed one as it increases his combat prowess by a dozen folds. Also, its not like he can't have more than Battle Armor.

Xiu Ye curled his claw and made a powerful fist and the air in his left hand contorted, he could feel his entire left arm's power had increase several folds.

Then, a dangerous thought came to his mind. What happens if he transforms into his Unlimited Sword Body state with his Battle Armor?

Hm. Thought for another day, Xiu Ye muses as he made his vambrace and gauntlet dissolve back into his left arm. For now he's going to take a ten hour rest.

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