My Artifacts Can Upgrade Infinitely

THUD!

The Centipede Puppet’s heavy body crashed to the ground. Behind it, Shen Yunjiao, who had been directing the entire battle, broke into a joyful smile. If not for her brilliant command, this victory would not have been so simple.

’This one was all me.’

Shen Yunjiao repeated this to herself, and her mood finally lightened considerably.

Meanwhile, Zhao Zuo bent down and retrieved the Sky-Breaking Saber he had stabbed into the core. The Centipede Puppet’s core was a black iron ball the size of a basketball, its surface etched with unusually complex patterns. The Sky-Breaking Saber had now sliced it completely open, revealing a dim, spherical crystal within.

It was a Middle Grade Spirit Stone.

The Spirit Stones that normally circulated as the most basic currency for Cultivators were actually Lower Grade Spirit Stones. Above them were Middle Grade, Upper Grade, and Top Grade Spirit Stones. These higher-tiered stones were mostly used as energy cores for small-scale Arrays, Puppets, and Flying Ships, making them relatively precious materials.

The conversion ratio between each grade was close to one hundred to one, though it was subject to fluctuation.

Unfortunately, the Spiritual Power within the Middle Grade Spirit Stone embedded in the Centipede Puppet’s core had already dissipated significantly, greatly reducing its value. Still, five or six such stones together would be worth a few hundred Spirit Stones.

CLICK. CLACK.

Zhao Zuo heard the sound of grinding gears in front of him. Concentrating Spirit, he looked and saw that while the centipede’s head was indeed immobile, a section around its tenth segment was trembling and gradually splitting away from the main body.

An endless series of clicks and clacks echoed out.

Before their astonished eyes, the Centipede Puppet split into three parts. One section, its core destroyed by Zhao Zuo, was immobilized. The other two sections, however, split off to become two smaller Centipede Puppets, each about three meters long. Iron-like antennae sprang out from their connection points.

In a matter of breaths, the Centipede Puppet had split into two smaller Puppets that charged toward Zhao Zuo once more.

"Be careful! This Puppet has three cores!"

Seeing this, Shen Yunjiao immediately took a few steps back. Suppressing her earlier excitement, she instantly slipped back into her role as commander and continued to lay out their strategy.

"I’ll keep one of them busy. You take out the other, then come support me."

"No problem."

Zhao Zuo immediately swung his sword and charged. After splitting, the Centipede Puppets’ speed had increased significantly, but since their power source had been reduced from three cores to just one, their strength had been considerably weakened. Facing them now was not as pressuring as before.

SWOOSH.

The Black Flame roared, like a dragon of raging fire.

Zhao Zuo’s steps grew heavy, stamping footprints two centimeters deep into the hard ground. The entire floor seemed to tremble slightly. The Centipede Puppet, of course, felt no fear and continued its frenzied assault, each of its legs piercing the air so quickly they left behind afterimages.

THUD. THUD. THUD.

Each of Zhao Zuo’s steps boomed loudly. In the space of a few breaths, the muscles all over his body awakened, stimulated by his Qi Blood. His skin began to emit a faint Golden Light, and the blood vessels beneath bulged and swelled.

"Realm of Overflowing Moon, Horizontal Slash."

Zhao Zuo used the momentum from his charge, his own strength, and the flames fueled by his Mana to clash directly with the Centipede Puppet’s legs. Normally, Zhao Zuo would look for an opportunity to strike the Puppet’s weak points, but instead, he chose a tactic of meeting force with force, tying up the Centipede Puppet’s legs.

Soon, sweat dripped from Zhao Zuo’s brow, and a hint of fatigue appeared on his face. However, most of the Centipede Puppet’s attacking legs had been severed, and it could no longer mount an effective defense.

At the critical moment, the Sky-Breaking Saber unfastened from a hidden clasp at his waist, transforming into a streak of pale cyan light.

The saber’s light flashed, and a howling gale disturbed the airflow in the Underground Space.

In the nick of time, it shot through a gap between the Centipede Puppet’s legs and struck squarely where the core was encased in metal, accompanied by the clear ring of the blade.

The second Centipede Puppet lost all ability to move and crashed heavily to the ground.

Zhao Zuo wiped the sweat from his cheek, then turned and rushed toward the last Puppet. Teaming up with Shen Yunjiao, he spent ten minutes finishing off the third Puppet.

The moment the final Centipede Puppet fell, Zhao Zuo let out a deep sigh of relief. Fatigue immediately washed over him; he had consumed eighty percent of his Mana.

"The materials from the Centipede Puppets are mine. You don’t have a problem with that, do you, fellow Cultivator?"

Zhao Zuo slung the Hidden Blade Giant Sword that was stuck in the ground onto his back, then took up his Black Flame Saber and began to dismantle the Puppet before him. At the very least, the metal legs and head needed to be salvaged. As for the somewhat rotten wood, he would just leave it.

For one thing, it wasn’t worth much money; for another, his Storage Bag couldn’t fit it all.

"Of course, no problem." Shen Yunjiao watched the back of the man dismantling the Puppet with a complicated expression. He seemed to have no interest in the Foundation Establishment legacy and wasn’t even in a hurry to head to the secret chamber behind the stone door.

Ten minutes later, Zhao Zuo finished packing up the metal materials.

The two of them arrived at the stone door and peered into the deep, dark tunnel.

THUMP.

Shen Yunjiao tossed a ball of fire inside, illuminating the entire dark passage. The interior was just like the corridor they had come from, with walls of earth as hard as steel. Only the far end looked like it opened into a secret chamber.

"I’ll go first."

Zhao Zuo activated all ten of his remaining Vajra Talismans, then infused his Golden Light Mirror with a sufficient amount of Mana before finally stepping into the downward-sloping passage.

The underground environment was utterly silent, with only the echoing footsteps of Zhao Zuo and Shen Yunjiao breaking the stillness. The air grew damp, and after walking for about three minutes, they finally reached the secret chamber.

Shen Yunjiao tossed three burning oil-soaked spheres into the corners. To ensure she didn’t damage the legacy, she had first used a Flash Talisman to confirm the positions before throwing them.