bookcurios Chapter 137 Equipment Upgrade
Chapter 137 Equipment Upgrade
Liu Xing checked the pet bag and saw Jiao Jiao was still asleep, so he began to organize his equipment. He still had a dozen or so sets of formations remaining, so he could still hold up. His defensive artifact, the Yunluo Umbrella, and his soft armor were both damaged, so he planned to reforge them. He refined the skin of a Level 4 Silver Shark into soft armor to wear next to his body, naming it Shark Skin Armor. It was two or three times more powerful than his previous lizard skin armor. If he were hit now, it wouldn't break, and he wouldn't vomit blood. Liu Xing regretted upgrading his equipment earlier, hoping to avoid the injury and bloodshed. He then replaced the horned python skin with manta ray skin and reforged the Yunluo Umbrella, doubling and tripling its defense. It should now be able to withstand a blow from a powerful mantis shrimp without breaking. The mantis shrimp's blue carapace was incredibly hard, so Liu Xing refined it into a helmet, naming it the Blue Helmet. Not content with that, he then pulled out the shell of a Level 4 Loggerhead Turtle and refined it into a defensive shield, doping it with some magnetic spirit stones. This made the shield appear and disappear after being cast, making it elusive to the enemy. Liu Xing was very fond of this shield artifact and named it the Loggerhead Turtle Shield. The Loggerhead Turtle Shield could grow to a size of three meters, completely shielding itself and used to resist large-scale attacks; it could also shrink to the size of a pot lid and fly around its body, blocking the concentrated attacks of a single artifact. The Loggerhead Turtle Shield was the most sturdy of all his defensive artifacts, making it trustworthy and reliable.
The top-grade offensive weapons in his storage bag were all crafted from the bones of second- and third-level monsters, but they were no longer powerful enough to meet Liu Xing's needs. So, he continued to refine top-grade weapons using materials from fourth-level monsters, aiming for double the power. He then used the tail whip of a manta ray and the eight claws of a cuttlefish to create an octopus rope, which could bind a fourth-level monster and prevent it from breaking free for a short time. He then added graphite and magnetic spirit stone to the teeth of a loggerhead turtle, a manta ray, and a silver shark, and refined them into three missile cones. These missile cones possessed the properties of hardness, invisibility, armor-piercing properties, and detonation. The detonation of a missile cone was over three times the power of the previous top-grade weapon, severely injuring an ordinary fourth-level monster. Next, he used the front flippers of a manta ray, the appendages of a peacock mantis shrimp, and copper essence to forge a mantis hammer. This hammer was incredibly strong and powerful, and Liu Xing estimated that a single strike from the hammer would be as powerful as a talisman. Finally, the spine of the silver shark and the eleven pairs of flying knives of the mantis shrimp were added with silver energy and refined into a mother-and-child blade by Liu Xing. With the mother blade in his hand, he controlled the nine flying knives to form a knife formation. A fourth-level monster would be seriously injured by the knife formation.
After six months of painstaking research and meticulous refinement, Liu Xing had acquired top-tier defensive artifacts, including Sharkskin Armor for personal protection, Blue Helmet for head protection, Cloud Umbrella for full body protection, and Loggerhead Shield for mobile defense. He also acquired top-tier offensive artifacts, including Octopus Rope for trapping enemies, Mantis Hammer for heavy weapons, Mother-and-Daughter Blades for group attacks, and Missile Cone for nuclear weapons. With these artifacts, Liu Xing was fully armed, and even now, facing peak-level fourth-level monsters, he held his nerve without fear. He joyfully practiced each of these artifacts, mastering their use at will, and fondly toyed with them for ages. With this new batch of top-tier artifacts, he no longer valued his previous creations and planned to sell them all upon his return to the city.
With his increased mana and upgraded weapons, Liu Xing was now full of energy and confidence. Jiao Jiao was still asleep, so the rest of the monster hunting would depend on him alone. He pulled out Nie Xiaoqian's information again. There were still four target locations he hadn't explored, and now that he was stronger, he decided to continue his search.
Without Jiao Jiao's assistance, Liu Xing couldn't communicate with the deep-sea demonic beasts or gather intelligence. His efficiency plummeted. If it weren't for his spiritual awareness, which rivaled that of an early-stage Jindan cultivator, he estimated his search would have yielded nothing. Consequently, after three years of painstaking searching, he only found two Level 4 demonic beasts: a horseshoe crab and a lion's mane jellyfish. Both were successfully slain by Liu Xing's powerful assaults. The difficulty of finding Level 4 demonic beasts, even with intelligence, was evident in the inherent scarcity of Level 4 demonic pills.
Liu Xing had searched for a year for a Level 4 demon beast at a target location, but couldn't find it. Presumably, it had escaped and was no longer there, so Liu Xing had to give up. Now, Liu Xing was at the last recorded location. After a long search, he finally pinned the Level 4 demon beast, the Sawfish, on the surface of the sea. After a fierce battle, the Sawfish was covered in wounds.
Suddenly, Liu Xing looked in one direction in shock. His spiritual sense sensed that five cultivators in the late Foundation Establishment stage were flying in his direction. Because his spiritual sense was not as good as his, he had not yet noticed the battle here, but he would find it soon. This was the first time Liu Xing had encountered human cultivators in the nearly ten years of deep-sea monster hunting. He immediately raised his vigilance to the maximum. The wilderness was the perfect place to kill and rob treasures. He would not believe the nonsense of fraternal friendship. Liu Xing hesitated for a moment, thinking that his strength should not be a problem against five cultivators in the late Foundation Establishment stage. If he really couldn't win, he should be able to escape. However, the sawfish was about to fall into his hands. He couldn't give up just like that. He needed to fight quickly.
Without a word, Liu Xing summoned the Octopus Rope to bind the sawfish. Simultaneously, he summoned the Mountain-Shaking Blade, infusing it with spiritual energy and power. He raised the Mountain-Shaking Blade high, unleashing the might of a magical weapon. The sawfish, sensing the threat, struggled desperately, but its mana was already limited, making it impossible to break free from the Octopus Rope.
"Huh? Such a strong fluctuation of mana, could it be that there is a demon beast causing trouble?" At the same time, the five cultivators in the late stage of foundation building finally sensed the fluctuation of mana here.
"It's true. We have been on the sea as a team for more than two years and have found nothing. Now we have to search separately with Uncle Chen who came with us. We can't explain to City Lord Han when we go back." One of them said.
"There is no time to lose, let's go and take a look." The five of them immediately stepped on all their speed and rushed towards the battle site. It took only half a minute to reach the range within one kilometer that was visible to the naked eye.
They discovered a cultivator in the middle stage of the Foundation Establishment stage, engaged in combat with a Level 4 sawfish, their long-sought-after target. A truly unsuccessful discovery, the five were overjoyed. They automatically ignored Liu Xing, a rookie in the middle stage of the Foundation Establishment stage. But what followed startled them still further. The Mountain-Shaking Blade Talisman had already fully charged its energy, and with a single strike, it severed the sawfish's head. Without a word, Liu Xing tucked the sawfish's corpse into his storage bracelet with a single wave of his hand. Meanwhile, the Mountain-Shaking Blade Talisman had finally exhausted its energy, spontaneously combusting without fire, reducing it to ash.