My Artifacts Can Upgrade Infinitely

The Sky-Breaking Saber slowed down, eventually stopping at the center of the storm. The fierce gales of wind began to pour into the blade, and within the gray light, the frantic motion gradually subsided into stillness.

Zhao Zuo wiped away the cold sweat that wasn’t there, his heart pounding with tension.

’I hope I’m satisfied with this upgrade’s new attributes.’

Back in the forest, Lin Hao had used that footwork to dodge the Sky-Breaking Saber’s close-range attack. This meant that against foes at the Late Period of the Qi Cultivation Stage, the Sky-Breaking Saber no longer possessed the speed that once guaranteed a hit with every strike.

In essence, Zhao Zuo had lost a crucial trump card.

He sat in his bedroom for a while longer before the gray light finally, slowly, dissipated.

A flash of cyan light erupted in the bedroom, unleashing a furious gale. The scrolls and paintings on the walls whipped about, rustling loudly. The wind gushed forth unceasingly from the Sky-Breaking Saber as it hovered in mid-air.

The wind plastered Zhao Zuo’s clothes to his skin, and the doors and windows began to rattle.

"Return."

SWISH.

The Sky-Breaking Saber landed back in Zhao Zuo’s palm, and the terrifying gale gradually dissipated.

[Upgrade Details: Massively increases flight speed after being thrown.]

[Upgrade Details: Upon impact, significantly increases Wind Attribute energy damage.]

Zhao Zuo let out a heavy sigh, the tension finally leaving him. He slowly infused Mana into the Sky-Breaking Saber. A silver and cyan blade-light danced freely through the bedroom, soaring and occasionally tracing continuous circles in the air.

It moved like a fish in clear water, yet also like the sweep of a reaper’s scythe.

Utterly fatal, yet beautiful.

Within a ten-meter radius, Zhao Zuo could manipulate the Sky-Breaking Saber at will—a subtle benefit of the upgrade. Furthermore, the blade itself felt lighter, requiring less effort to command.

Next, Zhao Zuo tested the Sky-Breaking Saber’s other enhancements. Though not mentioned in the upgrade details, its sharpness had also clearly improved.

Zhao Zuo waved his fingers aimlessly through the air, and the Sky-Breaking Saber danced and accelerated in tandem, leaving a trail of dazzling afterimages.

During this process, Zhao Zuo consumed no Mana whatsoever. The Sky-Breaking Saber sustained its flight using its own innate ability, gathering the wind to propel itself. Of course, flying this way was a far cry from unleashing the saber’s true power.

’A Cultivator in the Late Period of the Qi Cultivation Stage only needs an Upper Grade Magical Artifact to slaughter thousands of mortals with ease, without expending any energy at all,’ Zhao Zuo reflected quietly.

The gap between a Cultivator in the Late Period of the Qi Cultivation Stage and a mortal was already a chasm; they were more like two different species. No wonder Cultivators never paid mortals any mind, even treating those unable to practice Cultivation as mere commodities.

After about half an hour of simple tests, Zhao Zuo recalled the Sky-Breaking Saber.

[Level: Upper Grade Magical Artifact · Sky-Breaking Saber]

[Experience: 3234/20000]

[Status: Cannot be upgraded]

’So, that means I can gain experience points even from the kind of flight that doesn’t consume Mana?’

Zhao Zuo had discovered another way to gain experience for the Sky-Breaking Saber. However, that form of flight consumed the saber’s own energy, which meant there was a limit. The flight session just now, which lasted less than half an hour, had already exhausted all of its stored Wind Attribute energy.

He didn’t dwell on this limitation. After all, any method that accelerated experience gain was good news.

Zhao Zuo immediately began a mental calculation. Assuming he could gain six hundred experience points per day, then in one month’s time, he could perform the next upgrade. At this rate, he could accumulate the experience required to advance the Sky-Breaking Saber again in just six months.

Then, all he would need to do is gather the required materials, and he would have a Magical Treasure!

Even if it was only a Lower Grade Magical Treasure, it would still be a Magical Treasure—a weapon that not even someone in the Early Stage of Foundation Establishment was guaranteed to own. It was a Magical Treasure that would fill even Foundation Establishment Powerhouses with greed, a Magical Treasure worth more than fifty thousand Spirit Stones!

A flicker of anticipation lit up Zhao Zuo’s eyes, but he hadn’t forgotten his other task. He retrieved the Huayang Bead from his Dantian.

[Level: Middle Grade Spiritual Object +3 · Huayang Bead]

[Experience: 10000/38349]

[Status: Ready to Advance]

For this advancement, Zhao Zuo had spent a fortune purchasing five Fire Series Spiritual Objects.

So-called Spiritual Objects are wondrous things born from nature itself. They cannot be created by Cultivators, yet they possess a variety of magical properties, hence their name.

Spiritual Objects can be used as materials for Artifact Refining and Alchemy, but they can also be used on their own.

Because they cannot be replicated and only form naturally, they are pricier than common materials. However, the effects of most Lower Grade Spiritual Objects are rather underwhelming, so they are often treated as mere consumables.

The Spiritual Objects Zhao Zuo bought this time were Flame Essence, the Earth Fire Spirit Bead, a Fire Cicada Shell, Unceasing Fire Grass, and a Heart of Fierce Fire.

Of these, the Heart of Fierce Fire was the most expensive, costing seven hundred and fifty Spirit Stones. It looked like a constantly burning heart carved from rock. The energy it contained could enhance the strength of a Fire Series Spiritual Root, but one would need about two hundred of them to see any significant effect.

Furthermore, a Heart of Fierce Fire could not be cultivated or advanced; its energy could only be absorbed and consumed.

Zhao Zuo took out the stone case containing the five Spiritual Objects, placed it on the floor, and opened it.

The restriction on the case’s surface broke, and a wave of heat washed over him. The temperature in the entire bedroom rose rapidly, and even the air began to shimmer and distort.

These Spiritual Objects were all naturally hot. The Heart of Fierce Fire’s surface temperature, in particular, was over a hundred degrees, which is why it required a special stone box for storage.

There was another, simpler way to use the Heart of Fierce Fire: as a projectile weapon. After being infused with Mana and thrown, it would create a terrifying fireball roughly ten meters in diameter with a temperature of over three thousand degrees, incinerating everything in its blast radius.

A direct hit from such an attack would be enough to severely wound a Cultivator in the Late Period of the Qi Cultivation Stage.

That was why the Heart of Fierce Fire was sometimes used as a weapon.

Without hesitation, Zhao Zuo tapped the option to advance.

The familiar gray light spread out. Plumes of flame resembling fire dragons erupted from the center of the five Spiritual Objects, surging upward to envelop the Huayang Bead hovering above. The five Lower Grade Spiritual Objects had completely transformed into silhouettes of burning, draconic fire.

They danced and writhed around the Huayang Bead, releasing terrifying heat, yet they were contained by the gray light, unable to escape a sphere roughly half a meter in diameter. Under this compression, the firelight churned and swelled until it seemed a miniature sun had been born within the gray light.

Blindingly bright, and incredibly dangerous.

The temperature continued to climb, and the silhouettes of the fire dragons became ever more vivid. In a near-instant, the Golden Finger had detonated the energy of the five Lower Grade Spiritual Objects in an incredibly violent manner.

The resulting energy was, unsurprisingly, terrifying. The temperature was still climbing. A flicker of gold appeared in the heart of the blaze. As time went on, this golden flame grew, while the outer flames shifted from orange to purple. The horrifying temperature struck fear into Zhao Zuo’s heart.

That’s right. Fear.

Previous advancements had all been gentle, but this one was incredibly volatile. If the gray light were to lose its binding effect and that golden fireball exploded in his bedroom...

Zhao Zuo knew he wouldn’t survive. The temperature inside had already far surpassed what his Golden Body Technique could endure, and it was well beyond the limits of the Qi Cultivation Stage itself.

’How terrifying.’

Zhao Zuo thought with a shudder. He could barely see the Huayang Bead inside the inferno anymore. All he could see were tendrils of flame that rose, expanded, and then compressed back toward the core, relentlessly piling on more heat.

The Huayang Bead bobbed up and down within the golden inferno, slowly absorbing the golden wisps of fire. It was a process of refinement—from the initial orange flames, to the purple flames, and finally to the golden flames at the core.

During this process, the purest energy was constantly being extracted while impurities were incinerated into ash. The resulting essence of energy was then absorbed by the Huayang Bead at the center of it all.

Finally, the temperature within the gray light began to drop. The outermost orange flames were the first to disappear; most of them had been converted into purple flames, while the remaining impurities within them were burned to nothing.

Seeing this, Zhao Zuo breathed a sigh of relief. He no longer had to worry about the advancement failing and causing a catastrophic explosion.

........