Chapter 824: [Glory Upgrade - Ebony - Black Sun]

Black Ebony.

Ye Qiyan's first weapon.

It's hard to imagine that this Black Ebony once came from a treasure chest in the armory at his very first station, just a mere Level 3 Colt M1911 pistol.

It had been sublimated and strengthened all the way.

After passing through fifty-one stations, its strength could no longer withstand the limit attacks Ye Qiyan could unleash.

Unhealable cracks had already formed along its frame.

Now, Black Ebony had another chance to grow stronger.

Ye Qiyan extracted the item from the treasure chest.

Its appearance surprised him: a dazzling crown of thorns radiating a bright halo.

"Level 10."

Ye Qiyan extended a finger and touched the thorned crown hovering before him.

"It can be sublimated."

A thread of azure light rose from his fingertip.

Spirit and stamina dropped in sync.

"Begin!"

[Talent Activated]

[Sublimation!]

A hero's hymn echoed through the space.

This Level 10 item seemingly had no upward potential.

Ye Qiyan could feel it: his stamina and spirit were insufficient to push it to Level 11.

But that didn't matter.

From the start, he had never thought in that direction.

Because this sublimation was called Extreme Sublimation.

Crack, crack!

The crown representing the hero showed fractures!

In the chorus of praise, despair began to spread!

It felt as if a hero who had reached the demon king's throne was struggling, resisting!

But.

It was useless.

Ye Qiyan watched calmly.

More azure streams of light wrapped the crown from his hands!

More cracks appeared!

More stamina and spirit were consumed!

Eve pulled bottle after bottle of spirit potion from the treatment compartment.

He kept drinking, but it was like trying to fill the ocean with a cup.

This item refused to break? Refused to ascend?

The hero's hymn even turned into pleas and laments.

But that didn't matter.

No matter what the item, it could not resist Ye Qiyan's Extreme Sublimation.

Crack!!

The crown shattered!

Countless tiny fragments flew outward.

Before they could fall, they were drawn back by equally delicate azure light streams and formed a glowing orb in Ye Qiyan's hands.

"Whew... just a little more."

He swallowed another spirit potion, and the last trace of strength finished its duty.

The fragments in the orb began to melt and reassemble.

Finally, in his hands, a brand-new item took shape.

[Stamina: 500→5] [Spirit: 1]

[Glory Ascension (No Level)]

[Even within the Hero race there has never been such Glory; influenced by unknown power, it transcends the limits of being 'Glory' and enters an unknown domain]

[Can only be used to strengthen: Ye Qiyan's weapon, once]

[When used on a weapon, grants the prefix: Glory Ascension]

"Huff... huff..."

Feeling exhausted, Ye Qiyan ate a bite of a Golden Apple. After his spirit recovered a bit, he finally felt somewhat better.

He glanced at the more than ten empty spirit potion bottles at his feet, then looked at his current stats and chuckled softly. His gaze landed on a single golden bullet before him.

"Sublimating a Level 10 item... it's still a bit extreme, huh?"

Eve came over to steady him, worry in her eyes.

"I'm fine, don't worry."

Ye Qiyan stroked Eve's rabbit ears.

Then he picked up the bullet.

"Heh, it actually formed the shape of a bullet. Is it hinting at me? Or... is it shaped like a bullet because I want to use it to strengthen Black Ebony?"

He took a deep breath to calm himself.

He removed the magazine from Black Ebony for the first time in a while.

Aside from the time shortly after he first entered the Wasteland, he rarely used regular bullets anymore.

"The caliber matches, so..."

Ye Qiyan placed the bullet-shaped Glory Ascension into the magazine.

He loaded it, slotted the magazine into the gun, chambered a round.

He aimed at the sky.

He pulled the trigger.

The bullet did not fire.

Instead, it detonated inside Black Ebony, as if a gun had blown its barrel.

At that same instant, an azure ray surged from the gun's fractured wounds.

They linked with each other until they intertwined with the engraved patterns already on Black Ebony.

The cracks became its glory.

[Glory Ascension · Black Ebony · ??? (Level 10)]

[Black/White: By consuming stamina or spirit, condense black/white explosive or armor-piercing rounds]

[Pillage: After killing a target, pilfers their remaining spirit/stamina]

[Enchantment: Can add basic special enchantments such as Holy Light, Evil, Flame, Lifesteal, Thunder... etc.]

[Glory: Through the eternal binder's consumption of massive spirit, forms a bullet whose level equals the weapon's level]

[Eternal Binder: Ye Qiyan]

[Possesses trait: Evil]

[Can grant the True Name suffix: Evil]

The handgun—beautiful enough to be called art—quietly settled back into Ye Qiyan's hand.

Its patterns flickered azure at times, and a faint dark gold at others.

Black and ornament, light and gold.

Ye Qiyan smiled faintly.

"A true name, huh... then how about... Black Sun?"

[True Name Assigned]

[Glory Ascension · Black Ebony · Black Sun]

[When forming a 'Glory' bullet, invoking the true name can increase its power]

Black Sun and White Night.

Ye Qiyan's two pistols now bore completely opposite names.

"Though it has a true name now, I'm used to calling it Black Ebony. Hmm, I'll still call it Black Ebony in daily life."

He gently caressed the gun's frame, extremely satisfied with this enhancement.

All its previous abilities remained and gained some reinforcement.

The new abilities looked pretty decent too.

Most importantly, its level had jumped directly to Level 10.

For the foreseeable future, it should withstand Ye Qiyan's full-power strikes.

Black Ebony's path was to keep ascending levels; one day, he would push this gun to the apparent ceiling of Level 13.

Perhaps...

Even higher?

Having completed the sublimation, Ye Qiyan stretched and, somewhat weary, walked out of the matrix.

The moment he stepped out, Zhao Lin, who had been sitting by the pool, stood up but slipped on the wet ground and tumbled down.

"Ah!"

A faint black aura of misfortune swirled up from her.

"Heh, heh heh, Brother Qiyan, did your plan work? Did my luck help you?"

Zhao Lin rubbed her nose, which bled from the fall, and looked at Ye Qiyan brightly.

Her reward, however, was a card she knew all too well, flying toward her.

[Game Card · Weapon Epoch]

This card had never been stored by Ye Qiyan in the Void Card Repository.

"Remember not to take off the necklace, and before you leave this station, try not to run off. This trade must last until this platform ends."

Boom!

The RUN headquarters building exploded.