Hearing Chen Xu’s questioning tone, Ghost Axe immediately cried out in protest.
“My Lord, I manufactured these entirely according to the design plans provided by Lord Kunpeng and Lord Sindragosa.
Lord Kunpeng wanted a Dao artifact that could adapt to its multiple forms, while Lord Sindragosa wanted a universal container that could hold various types of energy and faith. That is why I designed these two secret treasure bases.”
As he spoke, Ghost Axe walked over to the bone cube and gave it a sharp kick.
The perfectly square block of bone suddenly collapsed, turning into a pile of tiny bone shards before rapidly reassembling into a great spear.
Ghost Axe continued, “This artifact is called Bone Ingenuity. It is composed of 9,990,000 tiny assembly shards and an Ingenuity Core.
Within the Ingenuity Core, various equipment styles can be preset, and once activated, the shards will reassemble in an instant. Of course, after refining the core, one can also use mental strength to directly control the shards, allowing them to freely combine into any weapon or armor imaginable.”
Upon hearing this, Chen Xu nodded in satisfaction, acknowledging Ghost Axe’s forging capabilities.
However, another question immediately followed.
“Are you sure Kunpeng can actually handle something this complex?”
“Er, it should be fine. Lord Kunpeng has been an Eternal-tier powerhouse for a long time now, and it is a deity that commands countless sea races. It isn't nearly as simple as it looks; it’s just that in front of you, My Lord, it drops all pretenses and only shows its most pure side. Besides, I confirmed with Lord Kunpeng several times, and it said this is exactly the weapon it wants.”
“Alright then, as long as Kunpeng likes it.”
Since it was Kunpeng’s decision, Chen Xu would not interfere further.
He had only asked out of concern that there might have been a communication breakdown between the client and the artisan. After all, the cost of forging a Dao artifact was immense; both the material costs and the time investment were significant expenses.
Furthermore, having a secret treasure base did not mean the Dao artifact was finished. The base was only the first step. To make the base evolve into a true Dao artifact, it had to undergo a blood sacrifice—a grand blood sacrifice.
Since Chen Xu planned to equip every Eternal-tier Yin Lord with a Dao artifact, this was a massive undertaking. He had asked the extra questions specifically to avoid wasting time.
Next, Chen Xu turned his gaze toward the other secret treasure base, the bone sphere.
“And what functions does this large bead have?”
“My Lord, the functions of this Bone Dragon Ball are relatively simple. Its primary purpose is to store energy and special substances like faith. Additionally, Lord Sindragosa requested that the dragon ball automatically change its mass based on the amount of energy contained within. The more energy it holds, the greater its mass. Furthermore, its physical size must be able to expand or contract at will.”
Ghost Axe walked up to the Bone Dragon Ball and used his mental strength to capture the necrotic aura in the surrounding air, guiding it into the sphere.
Under Chen Xu’s watchful eye, the Bone Dragon Ball—which originally had a radius of only about fifty centimeters—began to slowly expand, eventually becoming a large sphere with a radius of three meters.
Then, Ghost Axe looked at Chen Yan. The two locked eyes, and Chen Yan immediately understood.
The master and disciple were now perfectly in sync. Forging a vast number of secret treasures had not only honed their crafting skills but also improved their teamwork.
Chen Yan activated his divine sense and thrust his hands upward from the ground.
Boom!!!
A blast of scorching Hellfire erupted from beneath the earth, launching the Bone Dragon Ball into the air, where it began to spin at high speed.
Simultaneously, the explosive Hellfire was continuously sucked into the sphere. Its radius surged rapidly—five meters, ten meters, twenty meters—and in the blink of an eye, it reached fifty meters, becoming a gargantuan orb.
Thud!!!
The upward force of the Hellfire could no longer offset the sphere's weight. The giant dragon ball slammed heavily into the ground, creating a massive crater and kicking up a cloud of dust.
After the demonstration was over, Ghost Axe pulled out the giant axe at his waist. Gripping it with both hands, he leaned his upper body back and struck the Bone Dragon Ball with a single blow.
Sss! Sss! Sss!
In an instant, the necrotic aura and explosive Hellfire within the Bone Dragon Ball leaked out entirely. The sphere’s size plummeted, quickly returning to its original dimensions.
“Those count as impurities too?”
Chen Xu immediately realized that Ghost Axe was using his skill to remove impurities. He just hadn't expected that energy absorbed into the interior would be classified as such.
Ghost Axe gave a sheepish laugh and explained awkwardly, “My Lord, the secret treasure base is pure and flawless. Aside from Bone Essence, everything else is considered an impurity. Once this Bone Dragon Ball is bound, the owner can freely control the entry and exit of energy. But since this artifact is being made for Lord Sindragosa, it wouldn't be right for me to bind it first, so I could only use this method to expel the energy.”
Chen Xu nodded and asked curiously, “Does this dragon ball have no other functions? It seems much simpler than the Bone Ingenuity from before.”
“Er, My Lord... Bone Ingenuity focuses on shape-shifting and free combination, but the energy conversion and feedback mechanisms of the Bone Dragon Ball are actually quite high-level techniques. In terms of forging difficulty, the Bone Dragon Ball is actually slightly superior.”
“I see.”
In truth, Chen Xu was just curious why Sindragosa wanted a Bone Dragon Ball. Dragon balls were a specialty of Eastern dragons—true dragons. Western dragon systems generally didn't have such things.
Could it be that Sindragosa wanted to combine Eastern and Western traits to create an entirely new race? Chen Xu wasn't sure, but he wasn't going to micromanage. He would let them do as they pleased.
“Ghost Axe, do you have the data on the scale of the blood sacrifice required for an Eternal-tier Dao artifact?”
“My Lord, based on the data provided by the secret treasure bases for the Transcendent, Epic, Legendary, and Mythic tiers, awakening an Eternal-tier Dao artifact requires at least a hundred Mythic-tier beings. Alternatively, one could directly sacrifice a single Eternal-tier being.”
“Just one Eternal-tier? Isn't that number a bit low? It won't affect the quality of the Dao artifact, will it?”
“Er, My Lord, theoretically, the more sacrifices the better. However, according to the records in the 《Secret Treasure Bone Path》, those few Dao artifacts owned by Bone Ksitigarbha were refined by sacrificing a hundred Mythic-tier beings. Judging by Bone Ksitigarbha’s status as a hegemon, a Dao artifact forged from a hundred Mythic sacrifices already possesses power that cannot be underestimated.”
“Fine then. Notify Kunpeng and Sindragosa to come collect their bases, and tell them about the sacrifice requirements. As for the final number of sacrifices, let them decide for themselves.”
“Yes, My Lord.”
Afterward, Chen Xu glanced at the surrounding mountains of white bones and made a rough estimate.
“The existing demon skeletons should be enough to forge three more secret treasure bases, right?”
“Yes. Given the current delivery speed of the undead army, the bones collected over an average of two months are enough to create one base.”
“Good. Then go contact Bone Guard One and Tal Rasha and ask them about their requirements. As for Zhenyuan... Ghost Axe, do you have any leads on deriving a forging method for its weapon?”
“My Lord, I have some ideas, but since I have completed so few artifacts, I don't dare make a final conclusion yet.”
“Then work on Bone Guard One and Tal Rasha’s first. Leave Zhenyuan’s for later. Since it and Yin Stone are like brothers, we shouldn't create a 'third party' to ruin their relationship.”
“I obey your will.”
After arranging the next orders for Dao artifact forging, Chen Xu left the Undead Dao Court and went to the Land of the Undead.
Not long after, a massive spatial gate opened, and a golden light flashed out from within.
“Lord Kunpeng, this is the Dao artifact you wanted. You only need to...”
Before Ghost Axe could finish his sentence, Kunpeng refined the Ingenuity Core. The 9,990,000 bone shards reassembled instantly, transforming into three sinister bone swords.
Following the example of its ancestors, Kunpeng gripped one sword in each claw and held the third in its beak, looking extremely satisfied.
Seeing how quickly Kunpeng had mastered Bone Ingenuity, Ghost Axe swallowed his unfinished words and switched to explaining the sacrifice requirements.
“Lord Kunpeng, for the secret treasure to evolve into a Dao artifact, it must undergo a blood sacrifice. You must use a hundred Mythic-tier beings as offerings, or one Eternal-tier being, to awaken the treasure and complete its transformation.”
“A hundred Mythic-tier, or one Eternal-tier... Hm, I understand.”
Kunpeng’s mind was entirely on Bone Ingenuity, scattering and reassembling it repeatedly, having the time of its life.
Ghost Axe felt a bit helpless but fulfilled his duty by finishing his explanation.
“Of course, the more sacrifices there are, the more powerful the final Dao artifact will be. So, Lord Kunpeng, you should just do what you can.”
“Hm?!”
Hearing this, Kunpeng stopped what it was doing. It transformed Bone Ingenuity into a crown and placed it on its head, then looked down at Ghost Axe.
“Are you saying that the more I kill, the stronger it gets?”
Being stared at by Kunpeng’s massive eyes made Ghost Axe uncomfortable, but he continued to reply, “Yes.”
“Is there an upper limit?”
“An upper limit? There shouldn't be one, I think? I don't really know.”
An upper limit? Was that a question a normal person would ask? If you asked those evil cultivators or the disciples of Bone Ksitigarbha, they carefully planned every sacrifice just so they could make a quick getaway once it was over.
Kunpeng wanted to ask more, but Chen Yan had already snuck up behind it. A trail of fire streaked through the air and struck Kunpeng on the back.
“Screee!”
Kunpeng let out a long cry toward the sky, shook Chen Yan off, and transformed into a golden light, fleeing the Undead Dao Court.
Chen Yan lay on the ground, looking disappointed.
“Aw, Uncle Kunpeng noticed me. Otherwise, I could have plucked a few of its feathers to make some artifacts as a gift for my second sister.”
“Heh.”
Ghost Axe chuckled. Fortunately, they had Chen Yan, the Nephalem. In the entire Undead Dao Court, aside from Chen Xu, only the Nephalem could make Kunpeng steer clear.
A short while later, Sindragosa also returned to the Undead Dao Court.
“Aunt Sindragosa!”
The moment he saw Sindragosa, Chen Yan rushed forward.
Sindragosa transformed back into her dragon-kin form and picked up Chen Yan.
“Little Yan, you’ve grown quite a bit again. It seems forging hasn't hindered your growth. Good.”
After the two shared a moment of closeness, Ghost Axe once again acted as the narrator NPC, explaining the blood sacrifice information to Sindragosa.
And once again, Ghost Axe fell into a state of speechless disbelief.
Because she asked:
“Is there an upper limit?”
Rate on N.U.
