Chapter 369 - 199: Silent Extinction Star-Chasing Arrow

After closing the door, Jiang Che casually picked up a very common Refined Iron Longsword.

The blade felt cool to the touch. It had some heft, and the edge was reasonably sharp.

But in terms of both material and craftsmanship, it was several tiers below the Kunji Saber he had used before.

’Let’s start with you.’

Jiang Che took a deep breath. With a thought, he aimed his newly acquired Active Skill, [Soldier Resolution: Divine Descent], at the longsword in his hand!

BUZZ—

An extremely faint hum, seeming to originate from the depths of his Divine Soul, echoed!

The Refined Iron Longsword in Jiang Che’s hand began to dissolve from its tip, inch by inch, turning into silver, stardust-like motes of light!

These motes of light didn’t dissipate. Instead, they swirled in the air for a moment before surging into the space between his eyebrows!

Almost simultaneously, Jiang Che could clearly "see" a new addition within the chaotic space of his Sea of Consciousness: an illusory longsword made of pure energy, emitting a faint silver glow!

At the same time, a new line of text clearly appeared before his eyes:

[Soldier Resolution successful! Soldier Soul acquired: Refined Iron Longsword (Mortal Grade)]

[Soldier Soul Technique activated: Sharp Qi Slash!]

[Sharp Qi Slash: Upon activation, you can condense a portion of your Strength into the edge of your palm and unleash an incomparably sharp, invisible Sword Qi at an enemy. The power of the Sword Qi is related to the amount of Strength infused and the quality of the Soldier Soul.]

’So that’s how it works...’ Jiang Che understood.

He tried to follow the skill’s description, gathering a sliver of his Refining Organ Realm Strength into his palm.

Sure enough, a sharp sensation emanated from the edge of his palm!

He swung his hand gently through the empty air before him!

SHIING!

A nearly transparent, faint, half-moon-shaped Sword Qi instantly shot through the air, leaving a shallow white scratch on the wall of the Cultivation Room!

Jiang Che looked at the scratch and nodded.

The power wasn’t great, roughly equivalent to a casual strike from a Martial Artist at the Early Stage of the Bone Forging Realm.

’It seems the quality of the weapon really does matter.’

He thought to himself.

However, that wasn’t important.

What was important was...

’Can this weapon... be turned back?’

With a thought, Jiang Che focused his attention on his Divine Soul again, trying to "remove" the illusory longsword suspended in his Sea of Consciousness.

As expected, a query box immediately popped up on the panel:

[Current Divine Soul Slot is full (1/1). Remove Soldier Soul: Refined Iron Longsword?]

’Yes!’ Jiang Che confirmed in his mind without hesitation.

BUZZ—

Following his confirmation, the illusory longsword in his Sea of Consciousness instantly disintegrated, once again turning into a sky of stardust that poured out from between his eyebrows!

Then, an astonishing scene occurred!

Those silver motes of light rapidly condensed and re-formed in the air before him!

In just a few short breaths, a Refined Iron Longsword, identical to the one from before, fell to the ground with a CLANG!

Jiang Che quickly picked up the longsword and inspected it meticulously.

Whether it was the weight, the sharpness, or every single marking on the blade, there was no difference whatsoever from before!

’It... it can actually be restored!’

Jiang Che was ecstatic!

It seemed this wasn’t a one-time-use, consumable skill!

It was an "Armory" that he could switch between and reuse at any time!

He forcibly suppressed his excitement and picked up the Long Spear on the side, also made of Refined Iron.

[Divine Soul Slot is empty (0/1). Perform Soldier Resolution on: Refined Iron Long Spear?]

"Yes!"

A flash of light, the Long Spear vanished, and an illusory spear appeared in Jiang Che’s Sea of Consciousness.

[Soldier Resolution successful! Soldier Soul acquired: Refined Iron Long Spear (Mortal Grade)]

[Soldier Soul Technique activated: Armor-Piercing Stab!]

[Armor-Piercing Stab: Upon activation, Strength can be highly compressed into a single point and released in an instant, inflicting powerful penetration damage to an enemy’s Body-Protecting Qi or Armor.]

...

For the next hour, Jiang Che was like a child with a new toy, tirelessly performing "Soldier Resolution" on the few ordinary weapons and then "restoring" them, one by one.

He discovered that different weapons activated a wide variety of Soldier Soul Techniques, each with its own specific focus.

The saber activated [Overlord Slash], which focused on the power of its slashes.

The halberd, on the other hand, activated [Half Moon Arc], a support skill that could briefly increase his attack range.

In addition to the weapons, the Servant Disciple had also brought over a small round shield.

After performing Soldier Resolution on it, he surprisingly activated [Solid Wall], a Defense Skill that could manifest a small Qi Force shield in front of him!

’It seems that [Soldier Resolution: Divine Descent] not only provides offensive measures, but also defensive and support abilities...’

The light in Jiang Che’s eyes grew brighter and brighter.

He even had a bold idea.

’If... I can find a special Treasure Artifact with "healing" or "recovery" abilities and perform Soldier Resolution on it...’

’Wouldn’t that mean I could gain a powerful healing skill out of thin air?’

This thought gave him a completely new understanding of the potential of his [True Nine Li Commander] Talent!

Finally, his gaze landed on the pitch-black, archaic-looking "Star-Chasing Bow."

He slowly picked up the bow.

The body of the bow felt cool in his hand, and the bowstring, made from the sinews of a top-tier Exotic Beast, was filled with astonishing resilience and explosive power.

[Divine Soul Slot is empty (0/1). Perform Soldier Resolution on: Star-Chasing Bow (True Grade)?]

’It’s actually a True Grade! Not a Mortal Grade.’

Jiang Che’s heart stirred.

It seemed the system had a clear classification for weapon grades.

Most were probably "Mortal."

And after "Mortal" was "True."

He wasn’t yet sure what came after "True."

Jiang Che didn’t dwell on it.

He took a deep breath and gave the confirmation command in his mind!

"Yes!"

BUZZ!!!

This time, the light was more brilliant than any before!

In an instant, the magnificent Star-Chasing Bow transformed into billions of energy particles, black as ink yet shimmering with flecks of Thunderbolt!

As if drawn by some mysterious force, these particles formed a spectacular black river of stars that surged into the space between his eyebrows!

BOOM!

Jiang Che felt his Sea of Consciousness tremble violently!

An illusory longbow—more solid and real than any previous Soldier Soul, seemingly forged from pure darkness and Thunderbolt—slowly materialized, radiating a terrifying, heart-palpitating aura!

At the same time, the text before his eyes refreshed:

[Soldier Resolution successful! Soldier Soul acquired: Star-Chasing Bow (True Grade)]

[Soldier Soul Technique activated: Silent Extinction Star-Chasing Arrow!]

[Silent Extinction Star-Chasing Arrow: Draw upon the power of the Soldier Soul and gather the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Mechanism to fire an Energy Arrow imbued with the ultimate power of destruction and tracking! Once the arrow locks onto a target, it will automatically track it until it hits!]

’Automatic tracking!’

Reading the description of this new skill, Jiang Che’s heart began to pound uncontrollably!

’Does this mean... that no matter how fast the opponent is, they can’t dodge it?’

If he stacked his Twenty-Fifthfold Strike on top of that...

The thought of that image felt a little absurd to Jiang Che.

’It really is a missile...’

...