Sour taste

The giant turtle roared as it sent wisps of green energy at Cain.

"Immortal Shield!"

A bright, colorless barrier was erected around Cain as it tanked the green energy. However, the shell deteriorated as the remnant green invaded the barrier.

"Damn, is it a corrosive turtle?"

As the barrier fell, Cain jumped to the side and took out two talismans, a requirement for his next move.

"Heavenly Thunder!"

Sending the talismans out, they burned and turned into lightning, harming the turtle's projection, and causing some cracks and resulting in the light to dim.

(Aim for Zhao Long, fool!)

Cain took out another talisman.

"Instant Teleport!"

He quickly disappeared and reappeared behind Zhao Long.

"9 Tiger Fists!"

Instead of an immortal art, Cain used a martial art! One of the most popular paths of cultivation and mortals!

The 9 attacks tore through Zhao Long's weakened body and tore him to shreds. As his life ended, the green turtle faded and became a wisp trapped in Zhao Long's body.

(Time to harvest...)

Cain frowned, but he was too exhausted to speak up, he already used up most of his Spiritual Qi. Doing as told, his hand plunged it into his dead friend's chest.

'There's a sour taste in my mouth that won't go away... I'm so sorry, Zhao....'

Using his last bit of Spiritual Qi to trap it, Cain ripped out the Mythical Beast's Soul.

"Betrayer! Evil Demon! The heavens will not stand for this!"

(Oh? Does such a small and weak thing dare to act haughty? It's a mere 5th Tiered beast. It must've only recently become sentient and picked poor Zhao Long, hehe!)

Cain looked at the soul's form and took a peek at the shell. The shell was how people usually gauged a turtle's age, for Mystical Beasts, age also translated to power. 

"You are... a 500-year-old great turtle? You are a rare Mythical beast, right?"

The wisp's voice boomed, "I won't converse with trash! Kill me!"

(Hey, we can't store it, so give it to me. I'll make the turtle act properly in my presence real quick.)

"Okay... just, don't kill it." Again, Cain listened, like a good tool. 

(I never planned to, hehe.)

Suddenly, the soul was sucked into Cain's forehead.

"Wait, what's happening? What are you doing to me?" The beast's voice disappeared along with an evil laughter coming from deep within Cain's mind.

Cain was left all alone.

Walking back into the forge, Cain searched Zhao Long's ancestor and found an old book.

"Nine Lock's Schematic? Is this the inheritance?"

Cain opened the book and began to read.

"To my inheritor, this schematic holds the essence of my work and holds my heart and soul. Please, do not spread it; I wish for only my family to benefit from this. I even hope the one reading this now is my descendant, but who knows what fate has in store for me..."

Cain flipped to the next page. It was messy with signs of some words and numbers being scribbled, erased, and written over.

It read: "My Nine Lock's Schematic is heaven-defying! It goes against all proper sense, and I've even found the perfect specimens for it! This is all heaven's luck! Heaven's luck, I say!

"Unlike other schematics, which require the weapon to be made with the proper soul of the same Tier, mine goes completely against this notion! All Nine Locks are first forged within the weapon and unlock slowly to properly harness the soul's power! This makes it far more powerful than any other weapon in its rank!

"Not only that, it has no requirements for the soul used! The weapon will only hit a wall once the soul cannot break through the next lock.

"However, there is one problem. High-level souls might try to escape. The locks also act as the seal which once unlocked, also breaks the seal, giving the soul more power. This is the secret to why the weapon's power will be far greater than others!

"I concur that I will need to use spirits or willing souls of Mythical Beasts or Demons. I should first look for spirits as they will be the best!"

Cain digested what he just read. 'So the schematic isn't like the conventional sealed weapon, instead it's an unsealing weapon?

'Unlike normal weapons with only one lock corresponding to the soul, no matter what this one has nine. It all relies on the soul...' He looked closely at the bindings. 'This book is more like a journal....'

Cain skimmed through the pages, eventually reaching the different Tiers which coincided with the Tiers for Mystical creatures.

"Wait, 9 Locks for the 9 Tiers... does this mean the weapon can reach the 9th Tier? but that's impossible... there are only 8 Tiers for external harnessing...."

Cain's interest peaked; he hastily flipped to the page with the 9th lock, detailing the forging process and graphs that would become the seals.

External harnessing was much like Internal Harnessing, carving the weapons to process the energy of a soul in a certain way.

Cain proceeded to read the page.

"I can't believe I've done it! I reached the hypothetical ninth tier! To harness power from a being beyond beings! Once I learned the secrets of the Fusion Stage from that other inheritance in the mountain range, everything became clear!

"Although for my plan to work, the Evolving Spirit will require me to acquire Heavenly energy...."

'Wait? Evolving Spirit? I need to backtrack.'

Cain flipped back a few pages, learning of the existence of Evolving spirits through hasty writings.

"Haha! I found the perfect specimens! I've angered the heavens but I stole a few and put them in the cave! With these spirits and their nature, everything will work!

"I can't believe these spirits can evolve and adapt to take on another soul's energy! If I infuse sword energy into the finished project, the sword will wield sword energy, the same with fire energy, water energy; any energy!

"Not to mention the fact that the spirit can still evolve to higher tiers when sealed in the weapon! I just need Spiritual Qi to feed it, and I can increase its power to the ninth tier!"

Cain set down the journal.

"This... this...

"This is too good! It's the perfect weapon for me! Not to mention, I don't have to worry about acquiring a good soul! The spirits should be around here somewhere; should I go look first?"

(Don't bother. They're here; I can sense them. Continue reading, then let's go back to the sect and bring back our weapons here and reforge them with the schematic.)

Cain's brow unconsciously raised. "Wait, why? Isn't that stupid? Let's just make a new weapon instead of using old ones."

(Perhaps, but we have no materials, idiot. Also, didn't you read the nature of the Evolving Spirits? They copy things; what if our weapons can keep their old inscribing and their abilities.)

Cain couldn't help but let his jaw drop, "That's possible?"

(Of course, I have Netherane's core. Now imagine a Warhammer that grows in power by spilling blood. Everything is born with Spiritual Energy, we won't need to feed it the weapon treasures or Spiritual Energy to grow. Instead, all that's required is to take lives and we would get the same result.)

"You're right...." Cain picked the journal back up and resumed the 9th Lock chapter.

"With this final lock, the weapon will fuse with the soul! It will never be lost and become a part of its crafter! It will become an Absolute Divine Vestige! The only one in the 7 Provinces! Hehe! I must polish everything; I don't have much time left!"

'Hmm, from the looks of it, he seemed to have died before he could finish his work.'

(Obviously, that message on the first page must've been written right before his death. Now quickly, go get our weapons back at the sect; I can't wait any longer! We must reforge our old weapons and get an edge!)

With a sigh, Cain got up and left the mountain, traveling back to the sect as fast as he could.

...

As he reached the sect gate, Cain found many disciplinary disciples from the disciplinary hall scattered about.

One of them spotted him. "Stop! Who are you; show some identification."

Cain's forehead creased; he threw over his Peak Head Disciple Badge.

The Disciple's expression changed. "You're Cain? Come with me; the Hall Head wishes to meet you."

Cain grew concerned, "Why? What did I do?"

"Nothing was proven yet, but a disciple you fought, Qin Zemin, was murdered. You're the main suspect." The disciple responded with disdain and prejudice.

"What?!"

Before he could do anything, he was surrounded by disciples and restricted by some strange art. He was then hauled off without a word.