Chapter 56: The Three Major Stages

“I want to change my path of cultivation.” After careful thought, Petty looked at Zheng Yichen and said firmly.

“I won’t let you regret it.” He looked at her for a while and understood. Her decision came from placing great trust in him, staking her future on the newly-created Magic Weapon Summoning Book. If the future potential of the Magic Weapon Summoning Book was limited, then for someone like her who relied on summoned magic weapons to fight, there would be no possibility of advancing further.

Regarding the subsequent development of Magic Arms, Zheng Yichen already had new ideas. Basic summoning was common; all Magic Weapon Summoners could achieve that. However, Advanced Summoning was a watershed for Magic Weapon Summoners. It was like the difference between a fireball cast by a Ranked Practitioner and one by a Professional. Even if both used the same mana output under equal conditions, the fireball released by the Ranked Practitioner would be more powerful or could carry additional effects, like continuous burning.

For intermediate-level and higher Magic Arms, Zheng Yichen set the threshold for their Advanced Summoning at “after Reaching the Tier.” Except for special cases, the watershed of Advanced Summoning lay in the ability to make fine adjustments and improvements to something like the Magic Rune Array after Reaching the Tier.

Of course, these adjustments would not be too exaggerated or deviate completely from the original Magic Arms. The changes would involve adjustments to form and effects. For example, that Flame Judgment normally splashed large amounts of flames with each attack, causing area-of-effect damage.

After adjustment, it could switch to a concentrated flame state, canceling the area damage while strengthening direct contact damage. In simple terms… the Magic Weapon Summoner gained permission to modify the summoned Projection relatively freely without affecting the overall structure of the Magic Arms. No matter what they did, it would not affect the original weapon, as all changes were within the acceptable range of the original.

The extent of modification depended on how well the Magic Weapon Summoner understood the Magic Arms they used. Just like a Ranked Practitioner Mage, the deeper their understanding of the Magic Rune Array, the greater the scope of fine-tuning and improvement.

As for Ultimate Summoning, Zheng Yichen planned to add an additional Magic Armor summoning effect. When a Basic Magic Weapon reached Ultimate Summoning, it could also summon basic Magic Armor… Of course, the styles would not be too many, but one could choose based on personal preference.

After all, the threshold for a Basic Magic Weapon to achieve Advanced Summoning or Ultimate Summoning was very low. There was no need to preset a condition that required approval from Zheng Yichen or Loris. Once the conditions were met, it was possible.

The same applied to Low-level Magic Weapons, though the difficulty increased greatly. Starting from the intermediate level, the difficulty began to increase by a large margin…

In any case, when Basic and Low-level Magic Weapons reached the Ultimate Summoning stage, the extra summoned Magic Armor would be of a general, standard type. Their appearance would not differ much, at most having different attributes. It was from the intermediate level onward that the Magic Armor would change.

After all, this was the final stage of the Magic Arms. Without some unique features, why would others keep striving?

Even so, Zheng Yichen did not plan to grant Petty permission for Ultimate Summoning yet. The advantages she already had were enough. Adding more would not benefit her and might distract her. Things obtained too easily were never valued much.

Even with the Magic Weapon Summoning Book in his hands, Zheng Yichen had invested considerable effort. If not for his naturally dark skin, after all this work, he would surely have dark circles under his eyes that were hard to hide. This thing not only consumed a lot of mana but also tested one’s Mental Energy greatly.

“Work hard. I have high hopes for you.” Zheng Yichen dispersed this summoned Projection and said to Petty before it vanished.

After Loris left, Zheng Yichen was unsure what to do next besides perfecting the Magic Weapon Summoning Book. Strengthening his power… There was no shortcut in this world; it could only be accumulated over time. As for Arcane Arts, whether they suited Zheng Yichen was another matter entirely.

As for treasures, well, one needed to have them first… Loris showed no intention of giving him any.

Zheng Yichen had not given up searching for those people in black and red robes, but it was useless. They had completely vanished, making Zheng Yichen wonder if Loris had secretly eliminated them.

“Ugh~ Necromantic Body… Damn, it smells so bad!” Disgusted, Zheng Yichen tossed the newly made undead body aside. A large stream of water flowed from his claws to wash them. At first, he felt uncomfortable looking at these undead bodies, but he soon got used to it.

After all, the face could be modified last. He just needed to keep it as a blank slate during creation. As for raw materials, corpses were not strictly necessary; sufficient bones and flesh would do. The Forest of Illusions was not short of bones; he could easily gather a basketful by walking around.

As for flesh, the Ghost Maids somehow caught beasts from somewhere every day, so that was not lacking either. The only challenging part was the magical processing. Fresh flesh affected by Undead Magic would quickly rot, as Undead Magic was primarily Negative Energy, which eroded living things the most.

“Forget it, I’ll just make a puppet body instead.” Muttering, Zheng Yichen threw a Fireball to dispose of the body that, while usable, had a strong rotting smell and unmasked undead aura. Then he headed to the Library. “I remember reading a related Alchemy book a few days ago… Where is it?”

Mumbling, Zheng Yichen searched somewhat confusedly. This Underground Library was simply too large. As he searched, a Ghostly Little Maid ran up to him with a book, wearing a smile that seemed to seek praise.

“Hmm, thank you.” Looking at the book’s cover, it was indeed the one he wanted. He thought about patting the Ghostly Little Maid’s head, but looking down at his claws, he figured pressing down might flatten her entirely. “I’ll make you a toy another day.”

Returning to his room, Zheng Yichen began processing the stored materials. Only after truly experiencing a mobile Human Form did he feel somewhat confined by his dragon body in the residence. Since the path of the Necromantic Body was not workable for him for now, he simply chose another method.

If handling “flesh” was not perfect, couldn’t a hunk of metal suffice?

This kept Zheng Yichen busy for over half a month. During this time, he not only had to add Magic Armor to the Magic Weapon Summoning Book but also worked on creating an alchemical body. Every day was packed full.

“Ugh~ It should be finished around tomorrow.” Stretching, Zheng Yichen walked out of his room. Watching the Ghostly Little Maids playing, he found a spot and lay down.