THE MARTIAL KING, VOLUME 4 - Season 12 Episode 53

The warriors passed Fiona and Zen, speaking to one another in hushed speculations.

“Don’t you think it’s strange? The princess of the Wind Divine Kingdom seems to always be following Zen.”

“Who knows why? I have no clue. When the two of them were at the West Dragon River, she even offered to lend Zen her very own semi-divine weapon…”

“Zen has such great luck. Imagine—a princess, taking a fancy on a mere warrior. Even death would be worth it!”

The divine-level talents talked amongst themselves, gushing praises and words of adoration about Fiona. They kept their voices muffled, so as not to let words escape their circle.

As they continued walking along the straight path for about two or three miles, an endless wall appeared in front of them. It towered over them in an undistinguishable shape, becoming clearer and clearer as they neared it: the carved lines turned and twisted to form a dragon.

Its long body was coiling, with the head and tail as pillars of the entrance to the armory.

They entered the dragon-shaped fence, and numerous warehouses came into view. A few divine-level talents were walking to-and-fro from them.

As they surveyed the area, Fiona suddenly took off to the direction of one of the warehouses. “Those weapons should be displayed in the warehouses,” she said, entering.

Zen followed closely behind her, his eyes roaming around the room until his gaze landed on the large boxes inside. Pure, untainted copper gleamed against the light. These were no ordinary boxes—their surface having undergone special treatment. There was no trace of rust on surfaces that shone with a brass glow, as if they had been lying there untouched.

The tell-tale signs of activity were everywhere: most of the lids had been lifted and moved, and weapons scattered across the floor. There were many others who had been there before.

“These weapons…”

At first glance, one would think that the weapons were new and unused in their almost-perfect condition.

However, upon closer look, curls of faint, black smoke came out of the weapons.

“What a strong curse,” Fiona remarked, slowly walking over and picking up a weapon. It was an exquisite short spear, a mid-grade fairy weapon. She shook the spear lightly, and wisps of black smoke escaped from it.

Zen looked at the weapons, unconcerned about the curses contained in them.

What mattered to him more was whether or not he could extract the heavenly essence from within them.

As Fiona observed the spear, Zen walked further into the depths of the warehouse. Copper boxes, like the ones they saw before lined both sides in a neat line. All of the boxes were opened, and the weapons, once neatly placed inside, were now in a wild disarray.

These weapons had not been taken away by the divine-level talents who rummaged around the boxes, which could only mean one thing: they were cursed.

‘The curse can’t be removed from the weapons, but if I can isolate the heavenly essence from it, that would be enough for me, ‘ he thought to himself. Zen dug into one of the boxes, picking out a large saber. It was a basic weapon of the Dragon Lineage Human. He swung the saber around—the blade ringing a beautiful sound as it sliced into the air.

Despite being only a mid-grade fairy weapon, its workmanship was extraordinary.

Zen looked around and saw that Fiona had not followed him. Then, he gently closed his eyes and began to communicate with the mysterious furnace in his mind.

As the mysterious furnace turned slowly, a black flame shot out from the hearth.

The flame seemed to have its own soul, but Zen had been able to acquire the skill to use it in refining weapons.

The black flame shot out from Zen’s forehead, circling in the air for some moments before descending to the saber.

The blade of the saber coiled and twisted until it had morphed into a small mass molten iron and dissolved, finally condensing into heavenly essence.

A mid-grade fairy weapon contained a much greater amount of heavenly essence than mysterious weapons and spiritual weapons. The saber had at least a hundred drops of heavenly essence, which would be enough for Zen to light up twenty dragon scales.

However, Zen only held the heavenly essence on his hands tentatively; he was in no hurry to absorb it. The black smoke of the curse remained even after he had refined the weapon.

“The black flame can refine all weapons, but it wouldn’t be able to release the curse within it,” Zen muttered, his brows furrowed. This was not good news.

The four divine kingdoms left these weapons untouched because of the curses contained in them. Getting rid of the curses would be a very difficult task.
What could happen if he absorbed the heavenly essence, despite the curse?

Zen mused upon this thought as he watched the black smoke coming from the heavenly essence. There was hesitation in his face.

Another idea had formed in his mind. Once, the cyan dragon had said that if he could obtain enough heavenly essence, the dragon would be able to create a new Heavenly Body.

Countless weapons were left behind in this armory—most of them were spiritual and fairy weapons, and some were even sacred weapons.

Fairy weapons and sacred weapons contained massive amounts of heavenly essence. If these weapons were completely absorbed, then Zen might be able to help the cyan dragon forge a new body.

The Heavenly Body would not be too large. The cyan dragon’s original body stretched for over a thousand miles, and it would be nearly impossible to create a body of this length and size. At best, the cyan dragon’s new body would be about the size of an ordinary flood dragon.

Even so, the cyan dragon had been a great help to him. This was Zen’s chance to return some of the favor back.

The problem now was how to deal with the curse…

“Let’s give it a try first!” he said decisively, his mind having been made up.

Zen’s sacred weapon body made him impervious to poisons. However, the black smog was no poison; it was a curse. It had a different constitution, and he wasn’t sure if his body would be able to withstand its effects.

Zen closed his eyes and absorbed the heavenly essence. It shot into the space between his eyebrows.

The mysterious furnace continued to burn, and more than twenty dragon scales on the surface of the cyan dragon’s body lit up. Zen had felt a difference after he had absorbed all of the heavenly essence.

“I’m not injured?” Zen wondered. His lips curled into a relaxed smile. If there were no effects, then perhaps he must have been overthinking things.

The next moment, the black flame rolled and shot directly into one of the copper boxes, inside of which were roughly a hundred sabers of mid-grade fairy weapons. The black flame shook inside the box and the sabers melted like candle wax.

The masses of heavenly essence rapidly flowed, the drops adsorbing one another until they amalgamated into an immense mass that had the gleam of mercury.

A large saber contained over a hundred drops of heavenly essence, and all of the weapons combined produced over ten thousand drops. It was enough to light up two thousand dragon scales.

In the past, Zen had to pay for materials in order to melt and forge weapons.

But right now in this vast warehouse, Zen was in the midst of thousands of mid-grade fairy weapons, and it had only been the first. Other warehouses might be keeping even more valuable ones. If he was able to find top-grade fairy weapons and sacred weapons, they would yield a much higher amount of heavenly essence.

He had come across a treasure chest, like a bird flying into a giant granary. Zen devoured the heavenly essences from the weapons continuously.

After refining the large sabers in one copper box, the black flame gently drifted away and drilled into another. It pierced through the box, creating a small hole in the two-inch thick copper. At once, it began its work, melting the weapons until the heavenly essence had been extracted.

Wolf fang hammers were in the next box. They were also mid-grade fairy weapons like the large sabers, but each wolf fang hammer produced more heavenly essence due to its heftier bulk.

One box went on to become two, then three, then four, then five copper boxes…
The black flame ransacked the boxes for all of the mid-grade fairy weapons. Soon, there were only ashes in the space that used to be filled with swords, spears, and hammers. As of this moment, Zen had absorbed about sixty to seventy thousand drops of heavenly essence.

The cyan dragon’s scales lit up. Zen looked at the green light, a smile appearing on his face once more. The cyan dragon was still in slumber. Both he and the red dragon seemed to be exhausted after helping Zen resist the little monster’s attack. Even now, they had not woken up. The cyan dragon might find a surprise waiting for him when he woke up.

“I have already lit up a total of fourteen thousand dragon scales…”

The power of one thousand dragon scales would equal the full force of a Soul Sea Realm master.

What would happen if the power of fourteen thousand dragon scales was released? The power might be unfathomable. Even Zen, with his sacred weapon body, might not be able to withstand its intensity.