Chapter 202: A Double Upgrade of the Fire-tipped Spear
Pain.
A pain that tore at the heart and shredded the flesh.
His entire body was washed into a pain that burned like a sea of flames. Such was the pain that his heart felt like it was bathed into a pool of lava.
He could feel like his entire body was being burned alive, and this ‘sensation’ continued to persist with time after time.
By the time it was finished, half an hour had passed. Bai Yunfei’s entire person was covered by the same crimson light, and his body was motionless. The last sound that came from him was the continual scream that started half an hour ago and ended ten minutes ago when his throat went hoarse.
After having all that elemental fire forcefully pressed into his body, Bai Yunfei’s consciousness was hovering at a halfway point.
But just barely, he could feel another feeling that wasn’t there before.
His body felt as if the internal temperature had been raised to their limits after having been saturated by the elemental fire in him. But even after the elemental fire had gathered in his body, he felt his entire body start to ease up in temperature after a while!
The endless amount of pain he was feeling was abating by a small amount, but it left Bai Yunfei with such comfort that he nearly groaned aloud. The raging torrent of heat inside him trickled away to become a small flow after having visited every single inch of his bones, veins, and acupoints…
Baptized by the elemental fire, Bai Yunfei’s body was now returning back to its normal state. Even the pain that was so prominent before was starting to become more of a comfortable feeling rather than a painful one.
All of the elemental fire that had arrived at the ‘essence aperture’ where the essence fireseed was located, the elemental fire began to compress more and more before coming into contact with it. Like ice and snow, the two combined together only to leave behind a barely seeable line of red that twisted and turned all around the essence fireseed. And amongst it all–a condensed form of elemental fire essence!
More and more, Bai Yunfei felt more comfortable with this feeling to the point of growing hazy in thought. This feeling had been similar to as if his entire soul was being bathed and refined….
In his dazed stupor, a sudden notification flashed in his mind, shocking Bai Yunfei back to awareness.
But to only be surprised at what greeted him.
Upgrade Successful
“……”
For a minute or so, Bai Yunfei didn’t know what else to do but to stare. His eyes were wide open from shock, but joy could be seen in them as well.
“I know this feeling! It’s….it’s just like that one time….It’s exactly like that one time!!”
He wasn’t wrong. This feeling he had now was exactly the same from when he first condensed his essence fireseed!
The power that had robbed Bai Yunfei of his mobility was gone as well, leaving Bai Yunfei to drop back down to the ground. Twisting over, Bai Yunfei managed to land back on his feet with a ‘thud’. Standing back up, Bai Yunfei ignored the change to his essence fireseed first to look impatiently at the Fire-tipped Spear in his hand with excitement.
Equipment Grade: High Inheritance
Upgrade Level: +12
Attack: 1380
Additional Attack: 1300
+10 Additional Effect: When stabbing, there is a 20% chance to cause an explosion
+12 Additional Effect: Create two Dopplegangers with strength equivalent to 50% of the caster’s total strength at the time of casting for a duration of 3 seconds. Cooldown of 1 hour.
Upgrade Requirement: 96 Soulpoints
It worked!!
Bai Yunfei’s eyes stared hard at the Fire-tipped Spear while the rest of his body shook furiously. Joy lit up his eyes a few moments afterwards.
Even after all that inhumane amount of pain he was subjected to; a result like this?
Worth it!
It was so absolutely worth it!!
The pain had been so bad that Bai Yunfei had felt like he was going to die, but a return like this was simply far too generous!
Quirking his eyebrows, Bai Yunfei realized with a start that something else had changed as well. Looking to his Flameblade Bracer on his left arm, Bai Yunfei waited for the notification screen to pop up.
Equipment Grade: Low Inheritance
Upgrade Requirement: +12
Defense: 753
Additional Defense: 706
+10 Additional Effect: When blocking, there is a 9% chance of absorbing and converting the attack power into personal attack power, releasing it with your next attack. It can be held for 3 seconds. The amount of converted attack power cannot exceed the defensive strength of this item.
+12 Additional Effect: By using soulpoints, a flaming winged dagger can be summoned. Soulpoints will be consumed for as long as it is active, and the strength of the dagger will be determined by the amount of soulpoints fed to it.
Upgrade Requirement: 91 Soulpoints
Bai Yunfei was crestfallen at this change; how could there just be an measly increase of two hundred defense?
But then in the next second, Bai Yunfei began to curse at himself in disdain. His was becoming greedy again.
Sucking in a deep breath, Bai Yunfei looked all around himself. The area was back to normal to when he first entered the cave with elemental fire all around the area. It was weaker in magnitude since he had absorbed a decent amount of it. With an even closer inspection, Bai Yunfei was able to confirm there wouldn’t be any other unforeseen developments, allowing him to relax a bit and sit down on the ground.
While he was filled with power in his body, his head was tormented by a ceaseless amount of fatigue. It was a blight of the spirit and soul.
Not bothering to study the effects of the newly-improved Fire-tipped Spear, Bai Yunfei moved into a lotus position with the spear placed on top of his thighs. Closing his eyes, he began to concentrate.
Jubilantly, the elemental fire in his body continued to move along with his soulforce. Compared to before, the amount of elemental fire was far more abundant! Even the ‘essence aperture’ where his heart was, the essence fireseed there was bigger than what it was before!
Bai Yunfei opened both eyes to reveal a light reminiscent to a dancing flame in there. It was a bright light that filled the entirety of his eye, but it disappeared as quickly as it came so that his eyes went back to normal. Only a smile was left on his face now.
“Just a little more….I haven’t broken through, but there’s just one more wall to climb!” Bai Yunfei sighed with clenched fists.
He was a late-stage Soul Sprite when he came to the Crafting School. The strangeness that happened to him today hadn’t been enough to elevate his strength to a new level, but it gave him a new appreciation. A new level of comprehension of the elemental fire. He couldn’t describe this appreciation in words, but it was born from the intense pain he experienced.
After giving a routine inspection of his body, Bai Yunfei returned his gaze to the Fire-tipped Spear in his hand. Touching the weapon, Bai Yunfei had the distinct feeling that this weapon was an extension of his own body. He had this feeling once before, but it was an extremely faint feeling in comparison to today.
Thinking back to what just happened to him in that mysterious moment, Bai Yunfei’s mind began to race furiously. “Now I get it. This was the ‘chance’ the headmaster was talking about! I can’t even bother to try and guess what this place really is, and neither should I be able to even begin to understand this place, but there’s one obvious thing about this place. This mysterious place is where people can go to condense their essence fireseed! In other words, this place allows for a person to undergo a situation similar to when a person becomes a Soul Sprite to condense their essence fireseed for a second time essentially!
“That first wave must’ve been the test to see if my strength was up to par and if I could withstand their strongest blow. It’s probably also a way to see just how much I can absorb….I overdid it then! Because of the Upgrade Technique, the ‘test’ got even stronger than it should be and nearly pumped me too full of elemental fire….”
Bai Yunfei shook his head sadly.
“Even though the pain was a lot stronger than it should be, I got an equal amount of benefits from it too. Not only did the Fire-tipped Spear get a boost in tier, it went up in grade as well!
“If it were anyone else, their soul armament would’ve most likely increased by a small amount or gain some extra attack. But for me with the Upgrade Technique….it was forcibly upgraded! This is the second time already! I wonder when I’ll finally be able to figure out the strangeness behind this….or when I’ll be able to get the chance to enter this state again….
“The Flameblade Bracer gained another two hundred points in attack as well, but the other equipment I have didn’t change at all. Does this mean….everything depends on how much I ‘used’ an item or not?” Bai Yunfei thought.
Another thought flashed through his mind, “Is this why the headmaster didn’t tell me anything about it? Was he afraid it’d influence my choice? What if I was using some sort of ordinary weapon then?!”
Thinking about the problem for a little longer, Bai Yunfei revealed a small smile on his face after a while. “Impossible…” He shook his head, “In a situation like that, any person would definitely use their strongest soul armament. With all those soul armaments given to us from that cave, only I’d have the choice of ‘having a choice’.”
Ye Zhiqiu had already chosen that favored sword of his to use, and even if one were to use an ordinary weapon, the chances of it surviving in such an area was surely not high.
“If I used the Ardent Sun Gloves to defend myself, it would’ve most likely become a soulbound armament. But using the Fire-tipped Spear isn’t that bad either…A win and a loss…as long the gains outweigh the cons, it’s worth it!
“Nothing else should happen by now, so….should I go back? I don’t even know just how long I’ve been here….” Bai Yunfei thought as he stored his spear away and prepared to leave.
At some point when he was standing up, a sudden thought ran through his head. Sitting back down, his eyes glowed brightly with the light of an idea in them.
“This is a hard chance to come by. Since I’m here, I shouldn’t waste it….It’s a little extreme, but this should save me some time if I can gain the favor of the headmaster. I might as well try it out!”
With a plan in mind, Bai Yunfei’s smile grew even wider as he waved his hand to retrieve the Ardent Sun Gloves.
“Upgrade!”