Chapter 152: Fully Armed
The Orange Fate preserved from the Chaos Heaven and Earth had deepened in hue; it had been brewed with that thread of Golden Fate from Gold Egg as its core.
There was still more than half a year before the Immortal Alliance Entrance Exam retest began.
During this period, Chen Beiwu could use the Nine-Breath Chaos Divine Ability to continue improving the quality of the Orange Fate while also determining whether the fortuitous encounter had already been triggered.
After all, a single anecdote proved nothing.
If he continued to obtain opportunities in the days ahead, it would indicate that the fortuitous encounter had not yet been triggered.
This successful snap-up might have been accidental. Orange fortuitous encounters did not have the power to realize wishes, but they could greatly boost oneâs fortune.
If the encounter had already been smoothly triggered and validated, it would not be too late for him to invoke the divine ability and wish to enter the Five Great Grotto-Heavens before the final round of the exam began.
In short, the Immortal Alliance Entrance Exam concerned Chen Beiwuâs lifelong Dao path; its importance spoke for itself and far surpassed one or two strands of Fate.
Whichever possibility it was, in order to test the specific effect of the Orange Fate and increase the chance of entering the Five Great Grotto-Heavens, Chen Beiwu would, in the end, employ the divine ability and turn the Fate he had accumulated over these years into a fortuitous encounter.
âWoof?â
Seeing Chen Beiwu knit his brows, Iron Egg walked over with a cup of tea balanced on his head.
Gold Egg, beside them, blew bubbles and looked at Iron Egg with disdain.
Detestable!
This scheming favorite bullied it for having no hands and always found ways to curry favor and please the master.
Taking up the teacup for a sip, Chen Beiwu picked up his phone and opened the Immortal Alliance Official Website to continue shopping.
Compared with the Allianceâs spirit artifacts, the magical artifacts he had obtained in the Southern Wastes all had fairly obvious drawbacks.
For example, their effects were single-purpose, their provenance unclear, and their styles conspicuous. Using them in the Immortal Alliance Entrance Exam would be neither strong enough nor safe from being flagged by the proctors.
To raise his combat power and minimize risk, Chen Beiwu felt it necessary to abandon the Southern Wastes artifacts and repurchase spirit artifacts through the Alliance.
The Second-Tier spirit bow left by Qian Yuan was quite good; it suited his hand well, but its power was too small. It felt like a magical artifact made specifically for taming pet beasts.
Thus, without hesitation, Chen Beiwu tapped into the bow-type spirit artifact category and filtered for Second-Tier spirit artifacts usable by Qi Refining cultivators.
ăStar-Chasing Moon-Pursuing Bowă
ăHeavywater Crossing Bowă
ăAzure-Mystic Wind-Thunder Bowă
ââŠâŠâ
Scanning the dazzling array of spirit bows, Chen Beiwu kept scrolling down. His gaze finally halted on the priciest and most powerful Second-Tier high-grade spirit artifact: ăTwelve Celestial Cycle Fiend Bowă.
ââThe bow embryo was smelted from the spinal bones of Twelve Celestial Cycle spirit beasts; each bone grain subtly corresponds to the Twelve Earthly Branches.
The bow body possesses extremely high strength and can hard-block a Second-Tier high-grade flying swordâfit even for close-quarters combat.â
âThe bowstring was braided from the spinal tendons of Twelve Celestial Cycle spirit beasts; the Five Elements are all present, forming a self-contained whole.
When the refiner injects spiritual power, the bow can generate Fiend Arrows of any attribute among the Twelve Zodiac, countering the Five Elements.ââ
Note: A peak Qi Refining cultivator can fire one arrow; a Qi Refining limit cultivator can fire two arrows; a Qi Refining beyond-limit cultivator can fire three arrows (requires cultivating the first four layers of the corresponding archery secret art).
A Foundation Establishment cultivator who fully refines the Twelve Celestial Cycle Fiend Bow and cultivates the first eight layers of the archery secret art ăTwelve Earthly Branches Revolving Fiend-Arrow True Artă can draw out this bowâs maximum might.
Upon awakening the Second-Tier Peerless Spiritual Art ăTwelve Calamity Fiendsă, one can unleash the twelve phantom beasts of the Celestial Cycle and fire a soul-locking arrow of tribulation-breaking, fiend-destroying powerâits might approaching that of a top-grade Second-Tier spirit artifact.
Price: 8,000 Spirit Yuan.
Seeing this, Chen Beiwuâs eyes lit up slightly.
For a Qi Refining cultivator, a defensive artifact was not simply âthe higher the grade, the better.â Blindly pursuing higher-tier spirit artifacts could instead become a fatal flaw in battle.
After all, Second-Tier spirit artifacts were the standard gear of Foundation Establishment cultivators and required the wielder to drive them with vast, pure spiritual power.
By contrast, a Qi Refining cultivatorâs spiritual power in the dantian sea had not yet condensed from qi into liquid, making it hard to meet a spirit artifactâs operating conditionsâmuch less fully refine it.
It was no exaggeration to say that if a Qi Refining cultivator forcibly drove a high-tier spirit artifact that did not fit their level, they might instantly drain their spiritual power and cripple themselves before harming the enemy, becoming a lamb to the slaughter.
The Twelve Celestial Cycle Fiend Bow was an extremely rare exception among Second-Tier high-grade spirit artifacts.
Even without full refinement, a Qi Refining cultivator could still bring out about thirty to forty percent of its power.
The drawback was the requirement to cultivate the matching secret art, the Twelve Earthly Branches Revolving Fiend-Arrow True Art.
But for Chen Beiwuâwhose comprehension was outstanding and who could even cultivate Second-Tier spiritual arts across realmsâthis hardly counted as a drawback; it was, in fact, a major advantage.
With that thought, Chen Beiwu decisively searched out the Twelve Earthly Branches Revolving Fiend-Arrow True Art.
ăSecret Artă: Twelve Earthly Branches Revolving Fiend-Arrow True Art
ăGradeă: True-Grade
ăIntroductionă: This arrow art originated from the Earth Arrow Sect, one of the Seven-Nine Upper Sects. It has twelve layers: the first four correspond to the Qi Refining realm, the middle four to the Foundation Establishment realm, and the last four to the Golden Core realm.
This method was ferocious in power. When cultivated to perfection, one could take the qi of the week-circling stars as the bow, the undying spirituality of the Twelve Zodiac as the stringâarrows that pierced Golden Cores, bolts that felled the stars.
ăPriceă: 10,000 Spirit Yuan (first eight layers)
Note: A Foundation Establishment cultivator who successfully cultivates the first eight layers of this arrow art may apply to enter the Earth Arrow Sect for advanced study and obtain the latter four layers.
At this price, Chen Beiwu showed no surprise.
Without a doubt, this Twelve Earthly Branches Revolving Fiend-Arrow True Art was an entry-level archery method that the Earth Arrow Sect had deliberately released to gather overlooked talents from the Immortal Alliance Entrance Exam; thus the price had not been set too high.
But the follow-up secret art was like bait on a hook: it would not be sold on the Immortal Alliance Official Website and would require joining the Earth Arrow Sect to learn.
ââAn Eleventh-Level Qi Refining cultivator can fire three arrows.ââ A contemplative look flashed in Chen Beiwuâs eyes.
In a true fight to the death, let alone three arrowsâsometimes a single arrow decided life or death.
ăCheckout successful!ă
After paying for the bow and arrow art, Chen Beiwu spent another 2,000 Spirit Yuan to purchase a Second-Tier high-grade spirit artifact that could greatly increase movement speed: ăFlowing Wind Bootsă.
His mobile account balance plunged straight to 17,624.28.
Next, Chen Beiwu looked toward Gold Egg, planning to buy another Second-Tier defensive spirit artifact to layer its defenses with armor.
Money hard-earned was meant to be spent.
If he could achieve a good result in the Immortal Alliance Entrance Exam, this expense would be nothing at all!
âGurgle?â
Gold Egg tilted his head, curiously watching the artifact description on the phone screen.
ăWater-Soul Jade-Scale Armoră: a Second-Tier high-grade spirit artifact crafted specifically for fish-type Companion Beasts; suitable for water-attribute spirit beasts; comes with three features.
Feature One: Jade-Scale Hardening. By consuming spiritual power, it greatly increases scale defense and can withstand a strike from a Foundation Establishment cultivator. (The price is damage to the scale armor, which then loses its defensive power.)
Feature Two: Soul-Jade Water Membrane. Actively deploys a ring-shaped water membrane as thin as a cicadaâs wing, reducing the power of a Second-Tier spiritual art by sixty percent (after one use, it must be nurtured for one day before it can be used again).
Feature Three: Symbiotic Repair. The Jade-Scale Armor can dwell on the scales of fish-type spirit beasts, absorbing spiritual power to automatically repair damage.
Price: 8,000 Spirit Yuan.
Confirming that Gold Egg liked it, Chen Beiwu checked out directly.
As news of the reformârequiring a life-and-death pact for the retestâgradually spread, prices of spirit artifacts on the Immortal Alliance Official Website all started to soar.
Fall behind once, and you fall behind every step.
Today was the first day; Chen Beiwu could still accept the rising prices.
If he waited a few more days, this bit of savings in his hand might not even be enough to buy a Second-Tier high-grade spirit artifact with attributes that matched.