NOVPUB"Zhou Bai, this is the Red Heavenly Armor."
In the martial arts facility, only Zhou Bai and Ying Hui were present.
Ying Hui handed a pebble-shaped object that was reddish-gold in appearance to Zhou Bai.
"You must infuse your Primordial Spirit power into it for a ritual refinement, so that no one else will be able to use it casually."
Zhou Bai nodded, took the Red Heavenly Armor, and started to refine the treasure by infusing his Primordial Spirit power into it.
In no time at all, the entire reddish-gold stone suddenly exploded, transforming into a ball of flames that enveloped Zhou Bai.
The next moment, the flames reshaped and retracted, forming a suit of armor that tightly clung to Zhou Bai's skin.
This layer of reddish-gold armor did not seem to be made of iron or gold; it looked more like a layer of artificial muscles, fitting around Zhou Bai's body and outlining his streamlined muscular contours.
Even Zhou Bai's head was wrapped in a beastly face of a Red Sky Lion, made of the same reddish-gold color, with his eyes shielded by a layer of red crystal. He could not only see his surroundings with piercing clarity but also had his field of vision greatly expanded, almost to 300°.
At the same time, Zhou Bai could feel that the Red Heavenly Armor was usually in a soft and lightweight state, not hindering his movements, and when encountering an attack, this outer shell would instantly harden and reflect the attack, providing a stronger defensive power.
As the arrays within the armor started activating layer by layer, streams of power began to fortify his physical body, continuously enhancing Zhou Bai's physical condition.
He clenched his fists slightly and felt a medicinal power being infused into his body from the armor, nourishing his physique.
With a slight movement of his body, he saw trails of reddish-gold flames jetting out from behind, and he was already shooting forward rapidly.
With a booming sound, Zhou Bai's figure flew at high speed within the vast martial arts facility.
As trails of flames blasted out from his back, Zhou Bai's form shifted, and more reddish-gold flames roared back and forth under his feet, in his hands, and over his chest, helping him quickly adjust his trajectory. 𝒏𝙤𝙫𝒑𝙪𝙗.𝙘𝒐𝙢
'Such incredible speed!' Zhou Bai felt the might of the Red Heavenly Armor, and thought to himself: 'I can accelerate, decelerate, and change direction from any angle at any time, making it faster and more agile than the Abyss Nether Dragon Armor.'
'However, the arrays that bolster the body are damaged, and right now there are about 300 of them, while the Abyss Nether Dragon Armor has roughly over 400, so its capacity to enhance the body is inferior to the Nether Dragon Armor. This means strength and physical stamina are a notch below.'
'It also lacks the twisting ability and Artifact Spirit of the Nether Dragon Armor, so its protective capability is also inferior to the Nether Dragon Armor.'
Zhou Bai silently compared them, and in his mind, Christina also said, "The Abyss Nether Dragon Armor, with its unique twisting ability, should be considered a high-tier armor among the nine realms.
There is still some gap compared to top-tier armors like the Dragon Kasaya, but it's already quite rare."
"The Red Heavenly Armor, before the Heavenly Dao distortion was removed, should have been considered a mid-tier armor among the nine realms, but now with that part removed, its quality has deteriorated to a lower-tier."
Christina sighed, "The Red Heavenly Armor has been damaged too severely, and the Artifact Spirit has also vanished without a trace. I'm afraid it is now one of the bottom few among the nine realms of armors, which is such a pity."
Watching Zhou Bai donning the armor and after a round of testing, Ying Hui immediately approached him with anticipation and said, "How is it? The Red Heavenly Armor is still quite useful, isn't it?"
Although not as good as the Abyss Nether Dragon Armor, Zhou Bai still smiled and nodded, saying, "It's very useful; I feel my combat power has increased several times with this armor on. Thank you for your efforts, teacher."
Zhou Bai thought to himself, 'It's fine if it's a lower-tier armor. With my Greed enhancement, the Red Heavenly Armor will surely surpass the Abyss Nether Dragon Armor.'
Ying Hui said with a beaming smile, "As long as it's useful, that's good. And there's this..."
As he spoke, he took the gourd from his waist, a hint of seriousness flashing in his eyes, but it quickly turned into a smile, "Zhou Bai, this is a liter of Mutated Essence Blood. Take it and use it."
Zhou Bai accepted the gourd with surprise, "Mutated Essence Blood? Where did it come from... Could it be from the Great Elder? Is she all right?"
The pressure of the upcoming Daluo Heaven debate was already immense. Ying Hui didn't want Zhou Bai to shoulder even more pressure, nor did he want Zhou Bai to enter the competition with feelings of guilt, affecting his state of mind.
So Ying Hui quickly said, "It's nothing, the Great Elders are all fine, they just need to rest for a bit. Can you use this Mutated Essence Blood? I've informed Yun Chonghe, he will return to the Dao School in a couple of days. Whenever you're ready to craft the armor, he'll come to support you."
Zhou Bai was about to say that there was no need to go to such lengths, that it was too risky, and that he would have eventually found a way to deal with these top-tier materials...
But looking at Ying Hui's somewhat weary face, he said with a smile, "Teacher, you've been a great help to me this time. With this Mutated Essence Blood, the armor will surely be a success."
Realizing something as he looked at Ying Hui, Zhou Bai grasped that as his strength rapidly increased, not only were his former companions unable to keep up with him, but even the East Huaxia Dao School, which he had always relied on, would have increasingly limited ways to assist him.
Zhou Bai sighed inwardly, 'Teacher... and the Great Elders... it's my turn to help you now.'
Hearing Zhou Bai's response, Ying Hui nodded with satisfaction, "That's good. As long as it's useful. I'll be going now, I won't disturb your training."
Watching Ying Hui's departing figure, Zhou Bai waited a moment before once again activating the Red Heavenly Armor. This time, covered by the power of his Primordial Spirit and with the layers of Greed in full force, cracks began to open in the air. With the augmentation of void energy, a layer of black qi emerged on the entire armor.
In this moment, whether it was in terms of strength, burst power, durability, or defensive power, the Red Heavenly Armor had improved dramatically, surpassing the normal Abyss Nether Dragon Armor, although it was yet uncertain how it compared to top-tier armor.
Then, the armor trembled. Accompanied by its shrinking, it finally transformed into a fiery mark that appeared on Zhou Bai's forehead, burning like a flame.
He sensed that with just a thought, he could expand the Red Heavenly Armor at any time and again envelop himself in it.
...
Seven days later.
West Mountain City, Sword Spirit Hall.
This forbidden land, the burial ground for the swords of past heroes from the Jijian Pavilion, had always been where the Heavenly Sword Elder of the Sword Spirit Hall slumbered.
But at this moment, a young man with sword-like brows and starry eyes slowly walked through the Sword Spirit Hall, and with each step, the swords within lightly vibrated.
The Heavenly Sword Elder looked at the young man with a sigh, "Jue Ji... Why must you get involved in this chaos? Is it for revenge?"
"In the beginning, I wanted to take revenge for my master," the young man stared at the Heavenly Sword Elder and said calmly, "But over these years, as I've traveled the world, observing all of creation and the myriad states of life, I've come to realize that now I'm not just out for revenge, but to prevent such tragedies from occurring again."
The Heavenly Sword Elder sighed, "Do you still think we were wrong? Why not give humanity, and yourself, another chance?"
The young man known as Jue Ji responded indifferently, "A demon... is a demon, and cannot become human. No matter how much you pretend to be human, your demonic nature will never change."
