Chapter 168 - 123: Epic Greatsword, Dusk Purgatory

Chapter 168: Chapter 123: Epic Greatsword, Dusk Purgatory

’These [Hell Transport Vehicles] are really practical. They can carry a full one hundred people!’

Shen Xing’s eyes lit up, his mind instantly abuzz with ideas.

He had explored most of the areas surrounding his territory and now needed to venture further out.

But with the outside world shrouded in Fog and the complex terrain, his soldier types had low mobility. They could travel a few miles an hour at most.

Although he had Fried Chicken, his aerial unit, which could scout large areas in a short amount of time, he still needed to dispatch a large force to clear out any monster hordes they encountered along the way.

And on foot, his troops might march for an entire day and still not reach the destination.

But things would be different if he had [Hell War Chariots].

Building just a few would drastically increase the travel speed of his main forces.

However, the requirements for building them were incredibly high. Not only did they require High-Level Forging Mastery, but also a huge pile of materials.

He hadn’t even heard of many of the required materials.

’The material problem is easy enough to solve. As long as I have the money, I can just buy them in bulk from the trade channel.’

’It’s the High-Level Forging Mastery... that’s a bit of a problem.’

’I remember that Logan, the territory’s blacksmith, only has Intermediate Forging Mastery. That’s not high enough.’

After a moment of thought, Shen Xing made a decision. ’I’ll go ask him.’

So, he wheeled himself over to the Blacksmith Shop in the northern part of the Inner City District.

CLANG! CLANG!

From within the black building came the rhythmic sound of hammering, and its chimney billowed with black smoke.

He pushed the door open and went inside, immediately hit by a wave of heat and the smell of metal.

The interior was spacious. All sorts of forging tools hung on the surrounding walls, stacks of Black Iron ingots were piled in a corner, and a massive, red-hot block of iron rested on the central forge.

Beside the forge, a four-meter-tall Cyclops was swinging a Forging Hammer, bringing it down again and again on the glowing-red iron ingot.

"Oh! It’s the Lord!" Logan saw the figure at the door and stopped his work. "Are you here to inspect my progress?"

"Rest assured, a Cyclops never slacks off. I’ve already finished forging two Demon Cannon Platforms."

Shen Xing glanced at the two platforms in the corner and shook his head. "I’m not here to inspect your work."

"Take a look at this blueprint. Can you make this?"

He held out the blueprint.

Logan immediately put down his tools and hurried over.

He wiped his hands on his soot-covered apron before taking the blueprint and examining it closely.

"Hm? This is a blueprint for a medium-to-large combat vehicle. The design is incredibly intricate."

Logan’s single eye brightened. "But, my Lord, this requires a High-Level Blacksmith to forge. I’m afraid I’m not skilled enough..."

"I know it requires a High-Level Blacksmith, but the territory needs these Transport Vehicles right now. Think. Is there any other way?"

Shen Xing sounded just like a boss dumping all his problems on a subordinate.

But every trade has its specialist. He didn’t know the first thing about forging, so asking Logan was his only option.

"Another way..."

The Cyclops thought for a moment before replying, "Forging these Hell Cannon Platforms recently has given me a lot of experience. I feel like I’m close to reaching the level of a High-Level Blacksmith."

"But even with enough experience, I’ll still need some kind of catalyst to break through the bottleneck."

"Break through the bottleneck?" Shen Xing asked.

"Yes, Lord," Logan explained. "It’s just like how you need Advancement Materials to break through whenever you reach your Tier limit."

"Blacksmiths and other secondary professions have similar bottlenecks."

Shen Xing asked, "So how do you break through this bottleneck? Do you need specific materials, too?"

"No, no, materials are no use to us." Logan shook his head. "For those of us in secondary professions, the most important thing is knowledge—more advanced knowledge."

"If you could find a [High-Level Blacksmith’s Handbook] for me, I might gain enough inspiration from it to break through to the High-Level Blacksmith realm."

Shen Xing nodded, making a mental note to check the trade channel for it later.

"Alright, I understand. Carry on with your work." He waved his hand and began to wheel himself out of the Blacksmith Shop.

"Guluria!" Logan snapped to attention.

"What did you say?"

"It’s nothing, just a term Dwarves use for their superiors," Logan said with a simple-minded grin. "It means, ’Yes, Sir!’"

Shen Xing gave him a suspicious look. He had a feeling Logan wasn’t telling the truth.

A few minutes later, he was back on the street outside the Blacksmith Shop.

’Time to check the next piece of loot.’

A flash of light emanated from his right hand.

This time, a palm-sized, irregularly shaped Crystal Stone appeared. It was a deep, dark red.

A red liquid seemed to flow within it, giving it a rather magnificent appearance.

[Lord’s Heart]

[Tier: Tier Two]

[Effect: Can be fused by a Level 9 Lord (Tier One, Full Level) at a Campfire to advance to a Tier Two Lord. Unlocks levels up to 19 and activates more territory functions.]

[Success Rate: 90%]

(Note: Congratulations, you have officially embarked on the path of a Lord.)

...

’So this is the Lord’s Heart. The treasure that will let me break through to Tier Two and step into the Extraordinary realm.’

’And with a 90% Success Rate, given my luck, failure should be impossible.’

’However, the Rain God Avatar challenge event is tomorrow, and it’s limited to Lords below Tier Two.’

Shen Xing mused, ’In that case... I’ll wait one more day.’

After all, the main benefit of a Lord’s breakthrough was unlocking more territory functions. One day wouldn’t make a difference.

With that decided, he began to inspect the next piece of loot.

This time, it was another heart. But unlike the magnificent appearance of the [Lord’s Heart], this one had a crude, violent style.

Its surface was covered in thick, dark-red blood vessels that pulsed rhythmically.

THUMP-THUMP! THUMP-THUMP!

A muffled heartbeat sounded from his palm. The heart was still beating violently, occasionally seeping a few drops of scalding black blood.

[Heart of the War Demon General]

[Quality: Orange (Epic)]

[Introduction: A heart containing the immense power of a War Demon General, capable of endlessly generating the Power of War.]

[Effect: Upon fusion, drastically increases Attributes, grants a portion of the War Demon General’s Authority, and awakens exclusive Skills.]

(Note: The Energy contained within this heart is extremely violent and carries the residual resentment of the Demon General. If the user’s Constitution is insufficient to withstand its power, they will explode and die. The Success Rate is extremely low. Please use with caution.)

...

’A heart that grants a portion of an Authority?’

Shen Xing had thought this item was like the [Dark Tree Heart] he’d gotten before—something that contained a massive amount of power he could just absorb and make his own.

It seemed this [Heart of the War Demon General] was a cut above that.

He didn’t know what gaining a portion of the War Demon General’s Authority entailed, but judging from the description and its Epic Quality, it had to be terrifyingly powerful.

Then again, the risk of fusing with this heart was also very high.

Even the system had marked the Success Rate as "extremely low."

’This thing... maybe I should let Hellish Roar... give it a try?’

’After all, he has the highest Constitution in the entire territory.’

Shen Xing considered it, but decided to wait until they returned to make a decision.

He stored the heart back in his backpack.

With that done, only the final piece of loot remained.

WHOOSH—

With a burst of heat, a Giant Sword wreathed in dark-red flames appeared in Shen Xing’s hand, radiating scorching heat.

The Giant Sword stood over two meters tall, its blade as wide as a door. Through the licking flames, he could faintly make out dense, dark-red patterns etched into its surface.

It was the Epic Weapon, [Dusk Purgatory]!

This was actually the first Epic Quality weapon he had obtained since the start of the game.

With barely suppressed excitement, Shen Xing began to inspect its Attributes.

[Dusk Purgatory]

[Quality: Orange (Epic)]

[Required Level: 20 (Requirement is lowered by 10 Levels if the wielder possesses War Authority)]

[Introduction: Forged for a millennium in the depths of a hellish furnace, it contains a wisp of the Dusk Flame’s might. When swung, it feels as if it can command the power of Purgatory itself!]

[Attribute Bonus: Power +300, Agility +200, Critical Strike Rate +25%]

[Equipment Effect ①: Purgatory Flame (All attacks gain the Fire Attribute and apply 1 stack of ’Purgatory Scorching’.)]

[Equipment Effect ②: Torrential Fire Waves (Freely change the Giant Sword’s size, from a minimum of 2 meters to a maximum of 15 meters.)]

[Equipment Effect ③: Dusk Purgatory (Epic Level Effect! Plunge the sword into the ground to instantly turn the land within a 1000-meter radius into Purgatory’s scorched earth. All enemies within the area have their Fire Resistance reduced by 50% and receive 1 stack of ’Purgatory Scorching’ per second. For the duration, each of the wielder’s attacks will cause flames to erupt from the ground, damaging a random enemy in the area. Duration: 60 seconds. Cooldown: 12 hours.)]

(Note: "Let the world burn!")

...

’This weapon... its power is insane, isn’t it?’

Shen Xing stared intently at the Greatsword in his hands.

The bonus of 300 Power and 200 Agility alone would be enough to grant a massive boost in combat strength to anyone who wielded it.

And that wasn’t even mentioning its three major Equipment Effects.

Most importantly, it had an Epic Level effect that could even alter the terrain!

Imagine plunging the flaming sword into the ground, instantly turning a thousand-meter radius into scorched earth.

You would be the sole master of that scorched land. Every swing of your weapon would trigger Magma Eruptions and make the very earth tremble.

The mere thought was exhilarating!

’Damn, this is way cooler than that [Demon Shadow Sword] with its back-dashing Sword Qi. It almost makes me want to use it myself.’

Shen Xing’s hands itched to try it.

But unfortunately, in his current physical condition, he probably couldn’t use a melee weapon like this.

Not unless he could modify his wheelchair to let him charge right into the middle of an enemy army.

He could just sit there, swinging the Greatsword around and sending hordes of enemies flying.

Still, there was no need to go to such elaborate lengths just for that.

Charging headfirst into battle was a job for brutes. As a Lord, his place was in the rear, strategizing and maintaining Control of the bigger picture.