Chapter 358: Hunting Weapon: Ghostly Light (2/3) |
An enormous pit had been excavated on the plain.
Glimmer was tossed inside, and the soil was gradually backfilled, bit by bit.
When the last bit of earth was leveled, the ground trembled slightly. A stone tablet grew from the soil, starting short and growing taller and taller until it surpassed eye level.
Its final height settled at around two meters. The stone tablet bore inscriptions.
Behind the tombstone, the grave mound slowly swelled upward. An invisible hand lifted a pale purple shield out of the earth.
The shield simply grew at a slanted angle upon the raised grave mound.
Witnessing this fantastical scene, Qin Ziwen fell into deep thought.
Plant a corpse, and it grows a tombstone and a shield?
The tombstone was inscribed with ancient script, not belonging to any language he understood. Yet, the moment he saw it, Qin Ziwen comprehended its meaning.
【Level】Level 1 (0/1000)
【Category】Shellfish/Shell
【Hunting Development】
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First Stage: Animated Bone Armor
Second Stage: Not Activated
Third Stage: Not Activated
The Wonder Master can freeze this Hunting Weapon. Once frozen, its Development cannot be opened.
.
After reading it, Qin Ziwen felt the content on the stone tablet was simple, yet brutally direct.
Every superhuman creature of a different race, once buried within the Ancient Hunting Mausoleum, would, based on the characteristics of its power in life, give rise to a unique Hunting Weapon capable of infinite growth.
Hunting Weapons possessed the most basic functions. For example, a shield-shaped Hunting Weapon could serve as a shield, and a bow-and-arrow-shaped one could be used as a bow and arrow.
These were the most fundamental effects.
Their true core abilities lay in the Category and Hunting Development.
Qin Ziwen took a step forward and lifted the Glimmer from before the grave.
This was a pale purple shield that appeared to be crafted from a giant seashell. The front of the shield had rough textures, while the back had a handle for gripping.
The shield was enormous, with a diameter exceeding one and a half meters.
Yet, when held in hand, it didn't feel heavy at all. It was light, almost weightless, like a prop made of papier-mâché.
The Category referred to its race in life. Glimmer was formed from the essence of Glimmer creatures, so the corpses of superhuman beings belonging to the two major types, Shellfish and Shell, could be used for burial to strengthen this Glimmer shield.
There was a conversion rate involved. The closer the racial bloodline was to that of Glimmer, the higher the conversion rate. Among them, Glimmer corpses could achieve a 100% lossless conversion.
Secondly, the Hunting Development was also key to the Hunting Weapon.
With a thought, Animated Bone Armor!
The bone shield gripped in his left hand instantly seemed to come alive. Dense, pale white bone spikes extended and grew outward from its edges. In an instant, they formed a set of white, lattice-like bone armor that enveloped his entire body.
Meanwhile, the shape of the bone shield in his left hand also transformed dramatically, becoming a massive, pure white rectangular shield measuring 2 by 1 meters.
"This thing... is good." Qin Ziwen moved around on the spot and discovered that after Glimmer transformed into bone armor, it wasn't bulky at all. Instead, it felt incredibly light and agile, with no sense of heaviness whatsoever.
With another thought, Disarmor!
The extended bone armor retracted, ultimately reverting to its basic form, which he held once again in his left hand.
This thing was good, but it wasn't suitable for him.
He didn't like using shields. A cooler-looking weapon would have been better.
Qin Ziwen tossed the Glimmer shield to Mogu. "You try it."
Mogu caught the Glimmer. The moment he grasped it, the Glimmer—
The bone shield instantly transformed into a giant shield five meters in diameter. Apart from the change in size, its proportions and appearance showed no abnormality.
"It's very light."
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Mogu swung the shield with his left hand, the air emitting a dull roar.
He then tried the first-stage Animated Bone Armor. Once the bone armor condensed, Mogu's entire body was enveloped within the lattice-like white bone armor, his face almost completely covered, revealing only a pair of cold, pale golden eyes.
Qin Ziwen asked, "How is it?"
"Effective," Mogu nodded.
Qin Ziwen said, "If it's effective, that's good. This shield is for you to use. You like charging at the front; having an extra layer of armor is more suitable."
Mogu placed his right hand on his left shoulder and gave a slight bow. "Yes, my lord."
Emerging from the Ancient Hunting Mausoleum, Qin Ziwen summarized his thoughts. If the Abyssal Sea Ruin was like an Attribute Points and Skill Points system, then this Ancient Hunting Mausoleum was akin to an equipment system.
Their common point was that they were both massive consumers of materials and could grow infinitely.
He then fetched a hand crossbow to test Glimmer's defensive capabilities. Even within the ten-meter super-violent effective range, a single shot from the hand crossbow only left a faint, tiny white dot on Glimmer's surface.
Within less than a minute, the small white dot automatically healed, restoring the surface to its original state.
Through testing, three conclusions were verified.
First, the hardness of Hunting Weapons was very high, even for just a Level 1 Hunting Weapon.
Second, Hunting Weapons could automatically heal after being damaged.
Third, Glimmer possessed a shock absorption effect.
After the testing was complete, Qin Ziwen awarded the Hunting Weapon Glimmer to Mogu.
Just as the two of them stepped out from the area, they heard an excited voice from behind. "Guild Leader! Guild Leader!"
From the rear, Li Yue, accompanied by two others, hurried over with quick steps, his face brimming with excitement.
"What's the matter?"
Qin Ziwen stopped him, then looked Li Yue up and down, noting his barely contained excitement. "Don't rush, explain slowly. What achievement has been made?"
"Guild Leader is truly insightful," Li Yue began with a flattering remark.
"Last time, didn't you mention having Luoen enchant the crossbow carriage?" Li Yue grinned, revealing his snow-white teeth.
Qin Ziwen's heart stirred. He turned back, a trace of barely suppressed surprise flashing in his eyes. "...It really succeeded?"
"It succeeded!" Li Yue nodded emphatically.
Qin Ziwen's interest was instantly piqued.
That had originally just been a casual idea of his. He hadn't expected it to actually be realized.
Enchanting the crossbow carriage... Since it succeeded, what would the effect be? Longer range? Faster speed?
He followed Li Yue to the Special Machinery Section. Behind the Special Machinery Section, there was a specially cleared open area.
On the open ground sat a massive vehicle-mounted crossbow.
As he approached, he initially thought the surface of this vehicle-mounted crossbow would be covered in dense, mysterious patterns. Instead, the surface of the vehicle-mounted crossbow was clean, with starlight-like speckles visible on the crossbow arms.
Clearly, this vehicle-mounted crossbow had utilized the newly advanced material, Starlight Speckle Bamboo.
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"The enchantment isn't on the crossbow," Li Yue chuckled, lifting from beside him a—a crossbow bolt with an inwardly restrained metallic luster. "It's here."
On the shaft of the bolt, winding and overlapping deep blue patterns snaked across it, resembling some kind of breathing network of veins.
"The enchantment is on the crossbow bolt?!" Qin Ziwen's gaze sharpened.
Li Yue hurriedly explained, "Yes. Initially, we tried enchanting the crossbow carriage itself, but the effect wasn't significant. It just made the pushcart move in a slightly straighter line, with no actual boost to the bolt's power. At that time, I thought we had failed and was too embarrassed to tell you. This time, on a whim, I thought we could try enchanting the bolts themselves. I didn't expect it to actually succeed."
"The enchanted bolts' firing speed is roughly double that of ordinary bolts. And because the speed increased, accuracy also saw a slight improvement."
"The only drawback is that with the increased firing speed, the bolts become very fragile. They have the potential to deform mid-air."
"So I thought, since the last upgrade using Starlight Speckle Bamboo already improved the crossbow carriage's power once, we might as well go all the way this time. We spent a huge sum to forge three enchanted bolts made entirely of purified Ghost Gold."
"Although its external appearance is still that of a vehicle-mounted crossbow, both its material structure and the bolt enchantment have undergone a cross-generational upgrade! Its destructive power is now outrageous. If we encounter a Tarbosaurus again, a single bolt would send it back to its ancestors."
Qin Ziwen lowered his gaze to look at the bolt in his hand.
The purified Ghost Gold presented a dull, grayish-white color. Yet, the bolt shaft was entwined with intricate deep blue patterns, like strangling fingers wrapping around the entire arrow.
The triangular, conical arrowhead was as sharp as tusks, seeping a cold, eerie gleam under the daylight.