Wayfarer

Chapter 485: Forging Arhat Armor

After dealing with Yin Tianci, Xiao Nanfeng entered secluded cultivation. He had to look over the treasures he had obtained from Yin Tianci.

The fact that his storage bangle had survived the Yin-Yang Cauldron meant that it was an extraordinary treasure. There were particularly strong restrictions embedded in it that took Xiao Nanfeng significant effort to break down.

Within the bangle were a few low-grade treasures; clearly, Yin Tianci had already used up the majority of his stronger ones in defending his body against the cauldron's onslaught. There were plenty of herbs, pills, forging materials, and ordinary-looking treasures as well.

Xiao Nanfeng searched through the interior of the storage bangle and found only a single piece worth paying particular attention to, a red pearl blazing with crimson flame. It was scorching hot to the touch.

"A True Immortal relic? What sort of fire is this? Why can't I control it?" Xiao Nanfeng murmured curiously.

The pearl seemed particularly potent, but he was unable to activate it regardless of whether he was using his spiritual power or Immortal qi. He frowned at it and studied it carefully, but remained unable to discern the identity of the flames. Eventually, he sighed and decided to absorb it directly using his Imposing Avatar of Rulai.

Crimson flame gushed into his body. The flames within the pearl seemed almost endless, an incredible boon to Xiao Nanfeng. He focused completely on absorbing and distilling the flames.

A day later, Yin Tianci and his delegation walked out of the Sieve of Heaven.

On the way back, a group of officials did their best to rescue Yin Tianci's main body.

"Your Highness, you suffered incredible severe damage," an official murmured.

"I did my best to preserve my physical body, but that cauldron of his was simply too strong. All my True Immortal and even Heaven Immortal relics were all destroyed. If not for their protection, my main body wouldn't have lasted this long." Yin Tianci scowled with displeasure.

"Indeed? Good! At least Xiao Nanfeng won't gain anything from this."

Yin Tianci frowned. "Well, not quite all. There was one True Immortal relic left in my storage bangle, which Xiao Nanfeng has likely obtained."

"What is it?"

"That red lotus pearl containing karmic flame. You know what I'm talking about."

"Oh? I remember, Your Highness. That pearl contains an incredible amount of karmic flame, but it's no easy source of energy to manipulate. A moment's incaution could severely wound its bearer's soul. Why would you bring it with you?"

"It's a significant source of bad karma. Even if it has no other functionality, I can cause it to explode destructively. I didn't dare use it in the cauldron while my main body was inside—well, forget it."

"It's hardly as though he can use it, Your Highness. He doesn't have a Buddhist technique that makes use of such flame," the official added.

"All the better." Yin Tianci nodded.

Back in Xiao Nanfeng's manor, after a full day of absorbing the flames in the pearl, it cracked open and dissolved into powder.

A huge wave of energy emanated from Xiao Nanfeng's body as he opened his eyes. "The seventh stage of Earth Immortal! Just what were those flames? It was somewhat difficult to absorb them, but they contained impressive energy."

His mood improved significantly.

He continued looking through the other objects present in Yin Tianci's storage bangle. He was certain that the possessions of the crown prince of a divine empire couldn't be anything ordinary.

Indeed, he was able to obtain little-known secrets about the divine empire of Dayin from many jade tablets that he perused. These were particularly valuable to him, since they represented avenues by which he could take on Dayin.

He combed through the tablets quickly, then found a particularly special golden tablet.

The golden tablet had been sealed with a large number of restrictions, multiple times more than even the storage bangle itself.

His eyes glinted, knowing that he had found something of significant value. He carefully began peeling away the restrictions layer by layer.

Meanwhile, outside the Sieve of Heaven, an official continued questioning Yin Tianci. "Your Highness, I'm responsible for reporting the situation to the Immortal Emperor. Could you think back and see if there were other important treasures in your storage bangle?"

"There's a golden jade tablet that contains information on how to forge arhat armor," Yin Tianci replied, frowning.

"What? Forging arhat armor? Didn't His Majesty announce that no one was to inquire about those techniques? How do you have that information, Your Highness?"

"Father gave it to me. Well? Something to say?" Yin Tianci demanded.

"No, Your Highness, but this might pertain to imperial security. The arhat armor is of strategic importance to the divine empire of Dayin. If its production were to spread, that could well incur a huge loss for us," the official fretted.

Yin Tianci frowned, knowing that this would be a problem. Even so, he refused to acknowledge it. "I've studied how to forge arhat armor myself. Attempting to do so requires an incredibly high-grade cauldron and materials, as well as forgemasters of superlative skill. No one else would understand the manual, and Xiao Nanfeng won't be able to do anything about it even if he does acquire the tablet."

"But what if..."

"There's no what if about it. If I claim that he can't forge it, then he can't. None of this nonsense. Report it if you have to—it's hardly as though you're qualified to handle it otherwise," Yin Tianci replied irritably.

"Understood!" The official immediately lowered his head.

Back in Xiao Nanfeng's manor, after peeling away the restrictions layer by layer, Xiao Nanfeng finally uncovered the contents of the tablet.

"How to forge arhat armor?!" Xiao Nanfeng gaped, then grinned.

He knew just how strong arhat armor was. Each suit of armor was as strong as a late-realm Heaven Immortal, and they even scaled with the strength of the cultivators wielding them. More importantly, even ordinary Immortals were able to equip arhat armor.

"If I can forge a batch of arhat armor, I'd have a batch of Heaven Immortals in my employ..." Xiao Nanfeng was immediately enthused about the tablet's contents.

He studied it for a moment and realized how demanding the forging process would be. He immediately got up in search of professionals who would be able to evaluate the likelihood of actually producing it.

He returned to the spirit prison, where Chang Bing and the other disciples were continuing to attune to the Yin-Yang Cauldron.

"You're here, Division Leader? We've dealt with the tasks you assigned us. We don't have anything to do at the moment, so we've decided to continue attuning to the cauldron," Chang Bing reported.

"Stop for the moment. Come have a look at the contents of this tablet. Can you make it using the Yin-Yang Cauldron?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

The disciples crowded around the tablet.

"The production of arhat armor?!" Chang Bing exclaimed.

"That's right. Have a careful look."

"Understood!" The disciples murmured to each other as they considered its contents, then had a longer discussion before they turned to Xiao Nanfeng.

"We've read through the tablet, Division Leader. The arhat armor is a unique relic, but one we can forge with sufficient materials and the Yin-Yang Cauldron," Chang Bing summarized.

"Oh?" Xiao Nanfeng's eyes lit up.

"However, forging arhat armor requires a considerable supply of extremely rare and precious materials that we can't afford, as well as the live sacrifice of spirits, ideally True Immortal ones and at worst peak Heaven Immortal ones. Where would we acquire them?" Chang Bing grimaced.

"Let's leave that aside for now, then. What if I want you to repair arhat armor? Can you accomplish that?"

"Repair it?"

Xiao Nanfeng retrieved a large supply of broken, battered pieces of arhat armor from his storage treasure, which he had obtained from Yin Tianci's subordinates back in the Netherworld Palace. However, none of it was in usable shape.

"This many sets—and they're all broken?" Chang Bing and the other disciples studied them carefully.

It took them an entire day of rummaging through the broken pieces and cross-referencing them with the manual before they came to a conclusion.

"Well?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

Chang Bing replied, "Perhaps no other forgemasters could do it, but with the methods of Taiqing forgecraft and sufficient materials, we can melt down, reforge, and repair several of these suits of armor."

"What materials?" Xiao Nanfeng's eyes lit up.

Chang Bing immediately recited a long list of ingredients. "These materials are all particularly rare and precious, and it may take significant effort to gather them all. Division Leader, you could buy smaller portions of them if you have to. We can repair one or two suits as a trial first."

Xiao Nanfeng gave him an odd look. "There's no need for that."

"Oh?"

With a wave of his hand, Xiao Nanfeng deposited a large quantity of materials before him. "They were all in Yin Tianci's storage bangle. Perhaps he was in search of people to forge him suits of arhat armor himself."

Chang Bing and the other disciples glanced at each other in glee. They rushed forward to inspect the ingredients.

"Division Leader, give us some time. Once we fully attune to the cauldron, we'll begin large-scale restoration of these suits of armor," Chang Bing promised.

"I'm counting on you, then. My apologies for the trouble," Xiao Nanfeng said.

"No, no, Division Leader! This is what we dream of doing," Chang Bing replied.

He seemed almost like a mad scientist to Xiao Nanfeng, who sighed. "It looks like I should have had you doing something like this from the beginning. Fighting demons is a waste of your talent."

"No, we like combat as well! The ideal scenario is fighting with relics that we've forged ourselves. That's what will bolster our spirits!"

"Right, we want to take down our opponents with blades and swords of our own design! That's the best feeling!" the other cultivators replied.

Xiao Nanfeng: ...

Was this a group of combat-oriented researchers, then...?

"Well, start working, then. Once you restore these suits of arhat armor, you'll be able to fight in them if the situation calls for it." Xiao Nanfeng smiled.

"Yes!" the cultivators replied in excitement.