Chapter 50: Battle

Beyond these discoveries, it was not yet clear what other effects that book had, but even just the effects found through research were enough to make people covet it.

A basic summoned magic weapon from a conventional summoning, which did not even match half the strength of the original, already possessed the power of ordinary magic weapons circulating on the market… If one obtained the true form of the Magic Weapon Summoning Book and brought out the full-powered magic weapon, what kind of power could it unleash?

More importantly, there was the strategic value of this Magic Weapon Summoning Book! The summoning books that had appeared so far were all projections, meaning the original certainly had the effect of creating these projections. If one could gain control of the original summoning book, wouldn’t that mean they could easily equip an entire army with magic arms?

Just imagine, during a war, if the enemy’s army used ordinary weapons while one’s own side was uniformly armed with magic arms, with such a contrast, the outcome of the battle could basically be decided without even considering the process.

Therefore, many forces felt they absolutely had to acquire the Magic Weapon Summoning Book. The process by which those Magic Weapon Summoners had obtained their summoning books were all vague and confusing. Even if they were all captured and interrogated, no useful information would be found.

So, to locate the whereabouts of the Magic Weapon Summoning Book, Zheng Yichen was the key.

“I must say… what gave you the courage to try and capture me with so few people?” Zheng Yichen slightly raised his hand, connected his mind to the Magic Weapon Summoning Book, summoned its projection, and moved his shoulders with some discomfort.

Using this body to summon the projection cost him multiple times the usual amount of mana. The body’s containment was too strong. He could also summon magic weapons directly without the book, but that would require his mana to flow unrestricted, which was why he used the book as an aid this way.

With his projection inside and the summoning book outside, using the book’s projection to summon magic weapons avoided extra mana consumption issues. Even without using his own mana, the summoning book currently stored a considerable amount of it.

He pressed his hand on a page of the Magic Weapon Summoning Book, and a blood-red spear appeared in Zheng Yi’s hand.

The eyes of the black-clothed man leading the charge sharpened, “That’s an advanced magical weapon!”

They had learned about basic magic weapons and primary magic weapons before their operation. Basic magic weapons only had enchantments affecting direct lethality, such as being sharper or slightly enhancing the user’s strength, speed, or other attributes, but the boost was minimal.

Then there were primary magic weapons; those magic arms possessed elemental attributes. Attacks from them could attach effects like scorching or frost, with great lethality, as the power of elements was strong. Even the gentlest water element, when released as an attack and touched, would not be comforting like water; instead, it would directly tear apart the body of whoever it touched.

And that was the lethality of the gentlest element, water.

Among the information they had gathered on Magic Weapon Summoners so far, no one had been able to summon advanced magic weapons beyond the primary level. The notably unique magic weapon Zheng Yichen now wielded was undoubtedly a level above primary.

Primary magic weapons were already powerful, so an intermediate advanced magic weapon must possess additional attributes. This caused their steps to slow slightly. When facing the unknown, it was always better to be cautious.

Slowing down was just to guard against the effects of that unfamiliar magic weapon. In reality, their speed in approaching Zheng Yichen only slowed by less than two seconds. These black-clothed men were decisive. Upon realizing Zheng Yichen was ignoring his injuries and poison, they had boldly acted while he spoke, demonstrating their professionalism in every move.

The red spear spun twice in Zheng Yichen’s hand before he hurled it like a throwing weapon. The undead body possessed great strength—just like a zombie—with no concept of bodily protection, able to exert its full force to the brink of collapse at any time!

Besides, this body was only temporary and had strong recovery power, so Zheng Yichen used this strength without any burden—after all… he couldn’t feel pain anyway!

The thrown spear turned into a crimson stream of light. The black-clothed man at the forefront narrowed his pupils slightly, tilting his head just enough that the spear flew past his cheek. Protected by mana, even at such close range, he wasn’t injured.

Still… who exactly was this guy? The throwing skill was too poor. Even if he hadn’t dodged, at most, the spear would have just grazed off a few hairs. He had dodged only to avoid the tearing air current the spear carried.

“It’s not over yet,” muttered Zheng Yichen as he slapped the summoning book. A weapon with a demonic goat-head guard, glowing with a faint blue light, appeared in his hand. Zheng Yichen stabbed this sword directly into the ground, and a ring of frost spread out indiscriminately from the ice-type power.

Several black-clothed men, caught off guard, were coated with a layer of thin frost. This frost rapidly thickened, turning into ice. The chilling power continually eroded their bodies, affecting their speed. Worse, this frost power also contained a corrosive force, constantly eating away at their protective barriers!

Frostmourne, stabbed into the ground, vanished instantly from view after Zheng Yichen cut off its mana supply, leaving only a sword mark on the ground. Then, Zheng Yichen pulled out another weapon that looked similar to Frostmourne in shape but was covered in blazing flames—this was purely a mock version of Frostmourne that Zheng Yichen had created.

Fiery Joy… ahem, it was Flame Judgment.

Ahem, although it was a spur-of-the-moment, parodic creation, its power was nothing to scoff at. He plunged this weapon into the ground with a bold stance once more.

Seeing this, the black-clothed men could no longer hold back. Powerful forces burst from their bodies, shattering the corrosive ice encasing them. Their speed instantly increased by more than half. The foremost black-clothed man grabbed Zheng Yichen’s wrist, while two others slashed their swords toward Zheng Yichen’s left hand.

“Hey hey… Five Ranked Practitioners. You guys are really determined to succeed,” Zheng Yichen remarked, sensing the aura emanating from them. After his encounters with those seventy-plus Ghost Maids, Zheng Yichen could now distinguish between Ranked Practitioners and Professionals.

“Enough talk. If you don’t want to…” The black-clothed man noticed Zheng Yichen’s unchanged expression even as his left hand was severed and sensed something was off. “Just what are you…”

“Watch out!” A warning from his comrade made his internal alarms blare. Almost instinctively, he grabbed the Flame Judgment from Zheng Yichen’s hand and swung it behind him. Behind him was the red spear, which had somehow returned!

And just before Flame Judgment met the red spear, the weapon in his hand vanished!