Chapter 00287: Secret Scroll Golden Armored Bronze Man
# Secret Scroll: Golden Armored Bronze Man
Chapter 287
Novel: After the Immortals Disappeared
Chapter 287: Secret Scroll: Golden Armored Bronze Man
He Lingchuan really did pick out a few items from the shop.
The first was a set of flying ropes.
Although not as intricate as the custom-made ones from Master Li Fubo, it was much better than the tattered rope he was currently using.
The reinforced hooks were decorated with fine gold plating, and the back was equipped with non-slip soft rubber, ensuring it wouldn’t easily slip off when grasped, and retrieval was also more convenient.
The most important thing was that this item could be used in conjunction with a hidden arrow box, and the tips could even close up to fit directly into the quiver, suitable for various models.
In addition, he bought a few spirit mapping scrolls.
This was the original creation of Yunling Island.
It looked like an ordinary piece of parchment, but when opened, it displayed a detailed map of the Longpan Wilderness along with its surroundings.
You just had to mark the starting point and say the destination, and the map would generate a dotted line indicating the direction to go.
Interestingly, the distance you covered in reality would scale proportionately on the map.
Each map could be used seven times, with a deduction each time you reached a destination, and the price was quite affordable.
However, this was also the best-selling item on Yunling Island, after all, every shop needed a signature product to attract customers.
He Lingchuan looked at the introduction of this item, clapped his hands, and said, “Give me ten!”
Wasn't this just…?
Bai Guo packed it up for him and kindly said, “Let me teach you how to use it.”
“No need.” He Lingchuan chuckled, “I’m familiar with this, no need for your instruction.”
He had used it many times in another world.
The store’s merchandise was very comprehensive.
He Lingchuan even restocked some consumables here and reserved some ghostly cicada molts from the shopkeeper.
After paying all the rent he had just collected and then some, he suddenly remembered he forgot to ask Sun Fuqing if she wanted to buy anything.
Shouldn’t the expenses of shopping be on him?
But she smiled and said, “No need, there’s nothing I want here.”
Bai Guo, who was beside them, was very unconvinced and said, “There’s nothing I can’t find! Just tell me what you want, and I’ll go find it.”
“A book.”
Sun Fuqing replied, “I want a special notepad from the northern demon country.”
“A notepad?” Bai Guo was taken aback, “What kind?”
“I heard that the current king of the northern demon country, Wu Chen, wrote his life's insights into a notepad called 'Record of Honoring the Gods' and then made copies which were collected by the high society of the Beijia Kingdom. I’d love to see it.”
Bai Guo wondered, “But the current king of the northern demon country is not named Wu Chen.”
“Yeah, that was over three hundred years ago.”
“Um…” Bai Guo conceded, “You’re impressive; I can’t get that.”
As they walked out of the shop and boarded the donkey cart, He Lingchuan asked Sun Fuqing, “Do you think the shopkeeper feels you’re putting him on the spot?”
“He's not wrong.” Sun Fuqing snorted, “The things he sells are ridiculously expensive. I don’t like this slick merchant type.”
It was rare to see Sun girl in such a mood.
He Lingchuan turned back to glance at the shop and suddenly recalled the old woman he met that day when he came to collect things.
He had forgotten the old woman's surname but remembered she was extremely thin, though her belly was somewhat swollen.
She had taken a jar from this shop.
He recalled the teasing from the shopkeeper next door, who mentioned it seemed like the old woman had been a few months pregnant.
“What’s wrong?” Sun Fuqing asked as she noticed He Lingchuan suddenly zoning out.
“Nothing.” The thought that flashed through his mind was a bit insane and not suitable for sharing.
The donkey cart turned several corners, passing by the Military Achievements Department.
“Hey.” Sun Fuqing suddenly tugged at He Lingchuan’s sleeve, “Didn’t you think the patrol guards we encountered today were odd? Why not swing by the Pengcheng Office to see if today’s military achievements have been recorded?”
“Good point. But we need to go to the Deity Altar…?”
“The Heaven Sacrifice won’t start that soon.”
“Alright.” He Lingchuan jumped off the donkey cart after paying the fare, and together with Sun Fuqing, they walked into the Pengcheng Office.
He started to feel that this Miss Sun seemed a bit overbearing or perhaps indifferent towards the Heaven Sacrifice day.
The person on duty at the Pengcheng Office today was a familiar face to He Lingchuan, Liu Gongcao.
When Liu Gongcao saw Sun Fuqing, he unexpectedly greeted her first, “Oh, Miss Sun!”
Sun Fuqing nodded at him, “Long time no see.”
“Ah…” Liu Gongcao paused for a moment, “Yes.”
“Two hours ago, I captured a man-eating monster in the city and asked Patrol Liu Xinyi to bring it back for submission.” After greeting Liu Gongcao, He Lingchuan began his inquiry, “Please help me check?”
“Two hours ago?” Liu Gongcao put down his pen and picked up the documents on the desk.
After a while, he said, “Ah, here it is! Captured a Jin-du Ghost spawn.”
“The Jin-du Ghost spawn?” He Lingchuan was taken aback. “Is it officially certified?”
What surprised him even more was that this military achievement had actually been recorded for him!
So that patrol guard earlier wasn’t suspicious at all, he got back on time as per his duties, he had just misread the situation?
“It has been confirmed; this creature is the offspring birthed by the Jin-du mother. The Jin-du mother can have its offspring through another's womb, so the ghost spawns have their own physical forms and do not shy away from appearing in daylight; they are not ordinary ghost creatures.”
“Having offspring through another’s womb?” He Lingchuan murmured, “So it’s using a living person as a mother?”
“The ghost spawn you submitted today still has amniotic fluid on it, so the city has already begun a thorough investigation of pregnant women.” Liu Gongcao turned the document around, “Here’s the military achievement awarded for capturing two ghost spawns. What would you like to exchange it for?”
He Lingchuan took a look and saw a rich reward; it was probably because he inadvertently completed a bounty.
The key was that the military achievements, which were nearly bottomed out, had increased quite a bit.
“Let’s exchange for a technique.” He pondered for a moment, “This time I need a divine ability.” He decided not to choose martial arts for now, as the Flowing Slash Blade and the Swallowing Return Technique hadn’t been fully comprehended, trying to bite off more than he could chew would lead to trouble.
Rather, divine abilities offered a wider range of application; they could be assisted during battles and serve as the strokes of genius.
Liu Gongcao immediately pulled out a catalog for him to choose from.
“This Mirror Technique is not bad.” He Lingchuan’s eyes lit up at this divine ability; it could allow him to create mirrors of himself, with each mirror possessing combat power equivalent to twenty percent of his main body.
The mirrors would last for four breaths, and would disappear if either heavily injured or if they moved more than twenty zhang away from the main body.
Of course, the number of mirrors, their attack capabilities, and the duration would increase with skill.
When cultivated to a profound level, he could summon up to four mirrors simultaneously.
Using this skill would be equivalent to having a group of little brothers armed with ferocious weapons at his side, ready to strike anyone he points out.
Naturally, it could only be used for combat.
At the very least, it could compensate for his shortcomings in area damage skills.
He looked at two more divine abilities and felt tempted.
Unfortunately, he had limited military achievements and couldn’t take them all at once.
Seeing him hesitate, Sun Fuqing asked, “Where do you feel your combat shortcomings lie?”
“Shortcomings?” He Lingchuan was also pondering this question. “You’re right; I should first address my shortcomings.” Other divine abilities, no matter how good they were, were just icing on the cake; first fixing his limitations was the way to ensure survival.
So he pointed to one of the abilities in the catalog and said, “I want this one.”
Liu Gongcao glanced at it and kindly reminded him, “This one is quite costly.”
“I know.” Money was not an issue for him; if it came to trading money for life, he would not hesitate.
Thus, Liu Gongcao retrieved this secret method from storage and slammed it on the table, “Congratulations, you’ve obtained the Gold Armor Bronze Man. There are fewer than five people in the entire Longpan City who can learn this technique.”
Sun Fuqing also exclaimed, “You need to save up now.”
The secret method He Lingchuan exchanged for was better referred to as a blueprint rather than a divine ability, as the cover read:
Gold Armor Bronze Man.
This was the secret technique for forging the Gold Armor Bronze Man.
He had seen Dong Rui commanding ghost apes and werewolves, creating chaos for the officials, and he had also witnessed Zhao Pan's subordinates summoning Blue-scarfed Warriors with grass talismans, fully aware that such assistants were incredibly useful.
Not only could they output during battles, but they were also good at transporting goods and scouting during adventures.
The bronze skin of the Gold Armor Bronze Man would undoubtedly be thicker than that of the Blue-scarfed Warriors, able to shield its master from blades in critical moments; thus, it was a great item that combined both offense and defense.
Wu Shaoyi also had a Gold Armor Bronze Man in his possession.
He couldn't forge it himself; this treasure was granted by Hong Xiangqian and proved immensely useful during the battle in Xianling Village.
But that thing was of quite ordinary quality.
After a few intense battles, He Lingchuan felt that his biggest shortcoming was indeed insufficient defense.
This could be slightly compensated with various defensive magical artifacts, but he also needed a way to turn passive into active; the Gold Armor Bronze Man was quite suitable for that.
It would take the danger head-on, absorb the arrows first, rush out in front when there were obstacles, and output damage from there.
This item was first forged and then stored; during battles, one could simply throw it out and casually chant a summoning spell, transforming it from a palm-sized doll into a warrior over a zhang tall.
However, its control was not easy; the entire process required the master to split their focus to control it, otherwise, it wouldn’t take a single step.
This was different from the Mirror Technique, as the mirrors summoned could move freely with just a command.
The more gold-armored bronze men summoned, the greater the control difficulty; especially in the ever-changing battlefield environment, it made it easier for the master to become flustered.
It was said that a master could summon six bronze men at once, which was close to the limit.
Moreover, the Gold Armor Bronze Man was upgradeable; bronze men could become guards, and guards could be promoted to bronze generals, with each level providing significant enhancements—this entire set of secret techniques had long been lost in the Yuanguang Realm, and even if Hong Xiangqian could create Gold Armor Bronze Men, he wouldn’t even think about further upgrades.
Liu Gongcao did not deny the Gold Armor Bronze Man's advantages but said that very few people in Longpan City forged them.
The reason was very simple: exorbitant costs.
Among the twenty-one materials needed to make the Gold Armor Bronze Man, seven of them were extremely precious.
Not to mention, the well-known Jin gold was a familiar problem for He Lingchuan.
In order to cultivate the Floating Life Blade, he nearly went bankrupt, all thanks to Sun Fuping's relic; otherwise, where would he find hundreds of thousands of silver coins?
This time, crafting the Gold Armor Bronze Man would also require Jin gold.
Although the amount used for each was small, it couldn’t be compared to something like the Floating Life Blade, which consumed money like an abyss.
In a place like Longpan City, Jin gold had become a dear commodity; having money in hand did not guarantee being able to buy it.
Not to mention, the costs for each upgrade would rise two tiers, practically becoming a bottomless pit.
Yet, the exchange price for military achievements was still quite high, almost lacking cost-effectiveness—who would be foolish enough to exchange for this?
Oh, and did I forget to mention the Gold Armor Bronze Man was powered by Xuanjing.
But all of this was not a problem for He Lingchuan… hopefully.
(End of Chapter)