Chapter 277 – A Few Strands of White Hair Give Rise to a Demonic Blade, Lofty Dreams are a Young Man’s Game - Part 2
The following day.
Li Yuan swallowed a fasting pill and locked himself in a secret room to study the Life Devour manual.
A single red candle flickered in the stillness, painting the chamber walls a stark white. The handwritten text, ancient and indistinct, sprawled in erratic lines that evoked some kind of ominous incantation.
Li Yuan pored over the Life Devour manual, utterly absorbed. Whenever he found a gap in the text, he filled it in using what he knew about a forger’s basic skills and logic.
By the end of the first day, he had grasped the essence of Life Devour.
To forge a spirit artifact, hearing the blood crystal quickening was foundational. Whether it succeeded depends on how well the user’s source blood integrates with the quickening. Different source blood produced different fundamental effects, which interacted with the blood crystal and metal, strengthening or weakening the spirit artifact. In other words, the true core of a spirit artifact was the wielder’s own source blood.
The Life Devour skill used the Ghost Hammer to siphon the weaponsmith’s lifespan and convert it into a mysterious force—infusing it into the blood crystal during the Quickening process right alongside the owner’s source blood. This granted the spirit artifact a second type of power, or triggered a mutation in the original blood power.
The manual detailed how to pinpoint the exact timing and how to listen to the pulse during the Quickening. Infusing one’s life force at different moments could produce different results.
If the source blood was added first, the spirit artifact’s power would be a mutated form of that blood. If the source blood was added afterward, the spirit artifact might possess two distinct powers—one from the blood itself; and another, more sinister force. That force could drain an enemy’s blood or even directly the opponent’s mind.
“So nasty, and so overpowered...” Li Yuan couldn’t help but sigh.
He examined every detail, completely absorbed in the process. His fingers traced invisible lines in midair, as though he were trying to sense some hidden resonance. Day after day went by in this manner.
Eventually, Li Yuan reached the jagged tear at the end of the scroll, but it hadn’t actually cut off much information. Right before the tear was a passage describing the weaponsmith’s thoughts on sacrificing his lifespan.