The books were densely packed together.
"Grade-1 Soulless Metal Humanoid, a unique puppet forged by a soul oracle. It possesses sentience and can be controlled by one's soul. There is a spirit stone formation set up within its body, so there's no need for one to cultivate. When several of them worked together and were controlled at the same time, they possessed great offensive power. Flaws: … "
Autonomous consciousness?
What does that mean?
Could it be that this thing was not dead, but alive? Otherwise … how could it possess sentience?
He continued to read.
"… Flaw 4: His consciousness is voluntarily extracted from his body, leaving only a trace of Inextinguishable Fire in his body, rendering him unable to regain consciousness. Flaw five … "
"Could it be …" Suddenly recalling something, Zhang Xuan's face darkened.
Legend had it that the Soulless Metal Humanoid was forged from living humans by soul oracles. Zhang Xuan had found it hard to believe, but from the looks of it now, it seemed to be the case.
Forcefully extracting one's soul and leaving behind an inextinguishable flame in one's body was so that one could live and their body would not rot. This was similar to a person in a vegetative state. They looked no different from a corpse, but their body was active and could be considered a living person.
Otherwise, without a soul, a person would be as good as dead. If the body could not be preserved, how could it be refined into a metal man?
Putting everything else aside, just soaking his entire body in metal would take a lot of time. If he didn't keep his body alive, it would have already rotted away before he could succeed.
Clenching his fists tightly, Zhang Xuan felt that the soul oracles were incomparably cruel. However, he soon shook his head and said, "That's not right. Their consciousness was extracted from their bodies willingly. Could it be that they were willing to die?"
The Library of Heaven's Path shows that the soul was willingly extracted.
In other words, when the soul oracles were extracting the soul, the original owner of the Metal Humanoid had done so willingly. This was the only way for the Inextinguishable Flame to remain. Otherwise, if the soul oracles were to resist, their entire soul would be destroyed.
Putting aside the fact that it was impossible to create a Golden Man, even the corpse might not be preserved.
"Legend has it that some powerful forces are able to raise death warriors who are willing to die. I'm afraid these Gold Men are the same. Nurtured by the soul oracles, their mission is to turn them into Metal Humanoids and pledge their loyalty to them, Zhang Xuan thought.
Since the major powers were able to groom death warriors, it wasn't impossible for soul oracles to do the same. Besides, soul oracles specialized in soul manipulation, so it wasn't entirely impossible for them to brainwash a cultivator into willingly allowing their soul to be extracted.
Terrifying!
Strange!
To be able to forge a living human into a puppet willingly, the soul oracles were indeed fearsome.
Initially, Zhang Xuan was still considering whether he should capture a few of them and assimilate them to raise his cultivation, but after seeing their cruel means, he couldn't help but shudder in fear.
He continued to read on and quickly flipped through the entire book.
There wasn't much else worth paying attention to. Basically, it was just an introduction to the weaknesses of the Soulless Metal Humanoid and how to use it.
"What a pity that I can't use it …"
After reading the content, Zhang Xuan shook his head helplessly.
Soul oracles specialized in the field of souls, so they were able to draw their souls out of their bodies to control the artifact. However, Zhang Xuan was unable to do so.
Up till now, Zhang Xuan had never come into contact with any soul cultivation method. In other words... even though his cultivation had reached Half-Transcension, his soul was still fused with his physical body, making it impossible for him to leave his body.
It was like driving a car. If you wanted to drive the car to the place you wanted to go, you had to get in first. If your soul couldn't leave your body, you couldn't get in. How could you control this thing?
Previously, Zhang Xuan was still thinking that if he could control it, he would have a Transcendent Mortal death warrior. However, from the looks of it now, that wasn't the case at all.
His soul was trapped in his physical body, unable to leave his body. As such, he was unable to use it. In other words... this thing would only be lying there, completely useless.
Of course, if he were to meet with danger, he could still bring it out to serve as a meat shield.
Cough cough, after spending so much money on the auction, he only bought a shield... Just the thought of it left him speechless.
"Keep!"
After browsing through the book for a while longer, Zhang Xuan didn't find any useful information. Thus, he kept the metal humanoid into his storage ring. Then, with a flick of his wrist, a round ball appeared in his hands.
It was the Celestial Designer Mechanical Box that Elder Chen had to compensate him for losing the bet.
"There's a flaw here, here, and here..."
Stroking the round ball, Zhang Xuan infused zhenqi into his finger and tapped on the flaws recorded in the Library of Heaven's Path one by one.
There were a total of seventeen flaws, and Zhang Xuan swiftly tapped on them.
Kacha!
The sound of a mechanical spring snapping echoed. The round ball in Zhang Xuan's hand suddenly changed, as though a box had been opened.
"This..."
Zhang Xuan was taken aback.
On the surface, the object looked no different from a lead ball. There was no gap at all, and he had thought that it was just a lump of metal.
Never in his dreams did he expect that it would actually open.
"This is too intricate..."
Lowering his head to take a look, Zhang Xuan couldn't help but exclaim in awe, "Could it be that the Celestial Designer Hall is similar to the Beast Hall and Apothecary Guild, a place where celestial designers gather?"
After reading through all of the books in the Appraiser Hall, even though Zhang Xuan still hadn't fully assimilated all of them, he did learn of an incredible occupation — Celestial Designer!
Celestial designers didn't possess much fighting prowess. Instead, they specialized in mechanics, and they belonged to the Lower Nine Paths.
It was said that celestial designers were capable of designing the most intricate hidden weapons and the most complicated puppets in the world. This was especially so for armor. Even though a blacksmith forged an armor that was compatible with one's body, in order to bring out the full potential of the armor, one had to look for a person of this occupation.
Countless experts would invite both celestial designers and blacksmiths over to design their weapons. More often than not, a single weapon would contain innumerable secrets, making it hard for one to guard against it.
Putting everything else aside, Zheng Yang's spear was the most ordinary of them all. It had to be folded, and it was extremely troublesome. If a celestial designer were to make a move, there would be a spring installed within the artifact. The artifact would only be the length of a chopstick in one's hand, but with a light push, it would grow to a length of three zhang, granting it incredible might.
As for this Heavenly Works Mechanical Box, the flaws recorded in the library should be the weak points of its connections. Only by touching these points could it be opened completely.
Otherwise, no matter how strong one's strength was, one would be helpless against it. Forcefully attacking it would only completely destroy what was stored inside.
"What kind of precious item could be stored in this thing?"
He casually pulled open the Heavenly Works Mechanical Box.
When he first came into contact with this item, the Library of Heaven's Path gave him a verdict, saying, "Refined by the Celestial Designer Institute, it is incomparably ingenious. Without a specific method, it cannot be opened. It can be used to store some important and secret treasures!"
Since it was stored in such a marvelous thing, it was definitely not simple.
When he opened the box, there was a thin piece of beast skin inside. It was unknown what material it was made of, but it was abnormally tough. Who knew how many years it had been preserved, but it was actually in perfect condition, without the slightest damage.
He casually flipped it open.
"Red Dust Heaven Ascending Steps? What's this? "
At the very front of the beast skin were the words' Red Dust Heaven Ascending Steps'. It was hard to decipher what it meant.
As Zhang Xuan continued reading, a line of poetry appeared before his eyes.
"Three Thousand Li of Red Dust, A Smile Treading the Clear Skies!"
At the end of the poem, the origin of the item was described.
"The Red Dust Heaven Ascending Steps was created by Kong Shi's disciple, Saint Zhong. On the day he mastered it, he would be able to carry a mountain on his back and travel three thousand li with a single step, soaring into the Nine Heavens. Saint Zhong has bestowed upon my lineage the Red Dust Heaven Ascending Steps to be passed down to my descendants. In order to prevent any mishaps, I have placed it in the Heavenly Works Mechanical Box. Without the blood of my descendants, it is impossible to open it … "
"It's a movement technique?"
Zhang Xuan came to a realization, and his eyes lit up.
Since it was created by Kong Shi's disciple, the value of this cultivation technique was unimaginable.
It was no wonder why it was stored in the Heavenly Works Mechanical Box.
Logically speaking, there was a special way to open it. Without the blood of their descendants, it was impossible to open it. Naturally, Zhang Xuan wasn't their descendant. In fact, he didn't even know what this cultivation technique was.
The reason why he was able to open it was because the Library of Heaven's Path had found a flaw in it.
It was similar to the password in his previous life. If he knew the password, he could open it. If he forgot it, he could just enter the administrator's interface and use the administrator's password to open it.
This was what he was using at the moment.
The Library of Heaven's Path was able to peer into the essence of the Skill Box. No matter how intricate or intricate it was, it would be a fatal blow.
"I wonder if there are any flaws in the cultivation technique left behind by Kong Shi's disciple!"
Holding the secret manual in his hand, Zhang Xuan muttered to himself.
Regardless of what cultivation technique it was, it had become a habit for him to check if there were any flaws in it.
Since this cultivation technique was created by Kong Shi's disciple, it was easy to imagine how high its tier was. However … there were bound to be flaws as well. Zhang Xuan decided to take a look first.
Hu!
A similar book appeared in his mind, and he casually flipped it open.
"There are only 42 flaws?"
It didn't take long for Zhang Xuan to finish flipping through the book.
As expected of a movement technique created by Kong Shi's disciple, it was truly fearsome. There were at least 40 flaws in it, which was one of the fewer battle techniques in the world.
Most of the battle techniques that he had seen previously had several hundred flaws. This was precisely the reason why every single cultivation technique required at least a thousand secret manuals to make up for it.
Yet, this battle technique didn't even have 50 flaws. This was more than enough to show how formidable it was. If it were to spread out, it would surely cause a bloodbath.
"Even if there are so many flaws, I wouldn't dare to cultivate it …"
It was one thing if he didn't know the flaws, but now that he did, a bitter expression appeared on Zhang Xuan's face.
It was just like how a delicious fruit would lose its appetite upon seeing countless worms crawling around it.
Zhang Xuan was used to cultivating flawless cultivation techniques and battle techniques. Knowing that there were more than 40 flaws in it, he found it hard to swallow.
"Right, the Heaven's Path Movement Art is also a type of movement technique. Let's see if I can fuse them together!"
The Heaven's Path Movement Art was created by fusing countless movement technique manuals and movement technique manuals together. Even though it was only the foundation, it represented the essence of the world. Perhaps, he might be able to fuse the two together.
"Fusion, correct!"
Placing the two books together, Zhang Xuan's mind jolted.
Hu!
A new book materialized in the Library of Heaven's Path.
Zhang Xuan flipped it open once more.
"There are only three flaws? That's great! Even though there are only three flaws, I can already cultivate it … "
Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up.
Even though the three flaws were still significant compared to the previous cultivation technique, it was still worth cultivating. At the very most, he would just have to gather more movement technique manuals in the future and find a way to fuse them together.
Knowing that he could cultivate it, Zhang Xuan began browsing through the contents of the secret manual.
With just a single look, his eyes narrowed and his lips paled.
"Red Dust Heaven Ascending Steps — Parallel Heaven Scroll. Could it be … flight?"
(Thanks to book friend 【Secret of Heaven's Heart】 for becoming the 26th alliance leader of this book. Today, there are three chapters.)
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
