Chapter 67: Was It A Success?

Wen Yulong explained, "After receiving your commission two days ago, I didn't dare to delay the process even in the slightest. I've been working overtime the last few days to get it done, and I've now finally finished making the enchanted tool."

He appeared a bit excited, but there were obvious signs of fatigue on his face.

Cultivators like him who had reached the Spiritual Awareness Realm would normally feel a little out of sorts at most if they didn't sleep for a few days. The exception was if they were expending a lot of energy as well.

Consequently, Chu Liang, who was well aware of that, suspected that Wen Yulong might not have been sleeping at all the last few days.

This young guy's a workaholic.

Chu Liang smiled and said, "Truly, thank you for your hard work, Junior Brother Wen. Judging by your expression, it seems like you've succeeded?"

"

Mmhm!

" Wen Yulong nodded repeatedly. Then he held up a palm-sized green leaf. "This is the first enchanted tool I've successfully made."

Chu Liang took the leaf and examined it carefully.

Initially, the Lifeforce Green Leaf had already been quite thick for a leaf, but it was now a little thicker after the tool-making process. The venation [1] on the leaf had completely changed, and there were now various intricate inscriptions on the leaf. These inscriptions were even more obscure and unfathomable than that of common talismanic script characters, and they had been engraved a hundredfold more meticulously.

Chu Liang, who had been studying talisman-making these days, couldn't help but deeply respect Wen Yulong for his efforts and skill.

"Senior Brother Chu, go ahead and test it out," Wen Yulong said.

"All right," Chu Liang replied with a nod.

He slowly injected his foundational qi into the leaf and used his divine intent to sense the inscriptions within it. Then he applied power to activate it.

Swoosh—

The leaf suddenly rose into the air, hovering in midair in a horizontal position. It transformed into a huge leaf about ten zhang long, looking much like a flying carpet.

He'd activated the first set of inscriptions engraved on the leaf, which was for flight.

Chu Liang floated upward and stepped onto the huge green leaf. He felt as though he was stepping on something hard like ceramic tiles.

It seems rather uncomfortable...?

Typically, when cultivators of the same realm as Chu Liang used ordinary flying enchanted tools, they would achieve a flight speed that was somewhere between riding the wind and riding on a flying sword. Flying enchanted tools had slower flying speeds than flying swords, but they provided a more comfortable flying experience. This was especially the case for long-distance flights. Using a flying enchanted tool could make the journey a lot more comfortable.

That was why Chu Liang initially thought that the leaf would feel soft and cushiony like a sofa. However, Wen Yulong had made it even several times harder than a flying sword. Nevertheless, that could be attributed to Wen Yulong being inexperienced due to his young age, so Chu Liang had no intention of complaining about this minor issue.

Subsequently, Chu Liang raised his finger, gently prompting the leaf into motion.

Swish—

Without warning, the leaf suddenly took on the appearance of a crescent-like green light as it instantly shot forward.

"Wow!" Chu Liang exclaimed.

He somersaulted off the leaf, staggering as he landed.

Chu Liang hadn't actually jumped down though. The green leaf had shot out too quickly, catching him off guard. He'd been so unprepared for such a sudden and rapid movement that his foundational qi at his feet had failed to keep a hold on the leaf. The momentum had launched him into the air, flipping him over.

If it hadn't been for his quick reaction, he might have ended up in an embarrassing situation.

"Senior Brother Chu!" Wen Yulong called out in alarm.

"Don't look at me. Look at it!" Chu Liang replied.

In just a moment, that green light, which had flashed past as rapidly as if it were a ghost, had already flown out of their sight. It sliced right through the middle of several thick and solid trees on the hillside, leaving an extremely clean cut on each trunk.

Chu Liang and Wen Yulong chased after it hurriedly for several li. They continued persistently until they reached the fringe of Silver Sword Peak where they found the huge green leaf embedded in the mountain wall, still shimmering brilliantly.

Buzz, buzz, buzz...

Fortunately, Chu Liang had been cautious and only injected a small amount of foundational qi into the leaf earlier. Had he injected a greater amount, who knew how much farther it would have flown? It might have even hit something along the way and caused a major accident.

Normally, Chu Liang could control a flying enchanted tool with his divine intent, but the green leaf had been too swift. When he landed on the ground, the leaf had already moved beyond his divine intent's range of control.

In short, the leaf was excessively powerful. It was like a sports car equipped with an overpowered engine. Chu Liang had gently stepped on the accelerator and had suddenly been faced with a life-or-death crisis.

He summoned the green leaf back to him and suspended it in midair once more.

Chu Liang finally breathed a sigh of relief. He then turned to look at Wen Yulong.

"Junior Brother Wen, this is—"

"What do you think? Are you satisfied?" Wen Yulong asked with a passionate gaze. "I maximized the material's potential power and added the optimal combination of inscriptions! I had to rack my brain really hard for that combination! And its speed—you've just experienced for yourself how amazing it is, right?"

Chu Liang pursed his lips. "..."

How should I respond to this?

Chu Liang didn't want to dampen Wen Yulong's passion, so he said slowly, "You're right. It certainly is amazing. I just have one small concern...

"This is a flying enchanted tool... but it can't be used for flying."

"Why?" Wen Yulong asked, looking confused.

"You just saw what happened. I couldn't control it at all..." Chu Liang explained very politely.

He didn't think that anyone at the Spiritual Awareness Realm would be able to control the leaf. It would probably be somewhat challenging even for cultivators at the Golden Core Realm to control it.

"But that's your problem though," Wen Yulong said with a baffled expression.

Seeing how Wen Yulong seemed so confident that he was in the right, Chu Liang even thought for a moment that what Wen Yulong had said made sense. However...

This is the commission I gave you, but you made a tool that I can't control. That's just a little strange, no matter how I think about it...

Nevertheless, Chu Liang had to admit that Wen Yulong's tool-making abilities had far exceeded his expectations. An enchanted tool of this level didn't seem like the product of a commission that had only cost seventy sword coins.

Wen Yulong pondered for a moment and then said very slowly in an unperturbed tone, "There shouldn't be any problems with using foundational qi at the cultivation level of the Spiritual Awareness Realm to control it. The issue might be that your control of your divine intent isn't dexterous enough. This is an aspect that's often overlooked by cultivators when operating enchanted tools. Senior Brother Chu, if you practice diligently, I believe you will be able to adapt to this enchanted tool soon enough."

Fine. You've convinced me,

Chu Liang thought.

He felt as if he'd wanted to buy a bicycle, but the merchant had delivered a helicopter instead. Then the merchant said that Chu Liang would be able to fly the helicopter once he practiced diligently enough and managed to get a pilot's license.

Thanks a lot.

Chu Liang could only smile in response.

Then he turned toward the leaf and said, "Let's test its defensive capabilities."

Fortunately, Chu Liang had requested for two sets of inscriptions to be added. The leaf's flying ability was unusable, but there was still hope for its defensive ability.

"Okay." Wen Yulong nodded eagerly, filled with anticipation. "Senior Brother Chu, activate the inscriptions first. Then I'll attack you so that you can experience its defensive power."

After regaining his composure, Chu Liang used his divine intent to inject his foundational qi into the green leaf again, activating the defense-boosting inscriptions.

Swish—

A burst of green light enclosed around him.

The scene before his eyes had changed to a sheet of vibrant green. In front of him, behind him, to his left and right, above and beneath him—that vibrant green was all around him... It seemed that the huge green leaf had enveloped Chu Liang.

He wanted to move a bit, but he found that there was no way he could move unless he used his divine intent to deactivate the defensive ability. After wrapping around him, the green leaf had become extremely solid, so much so that he doubted that he'd be able to get it to budge even if he had the brute strength of ten tigers.

Wonderful. I guess I've gotten myself wrapped up like a zongzi

[2]

.

Wen Yulong was casting an attack outside the leaf, but there was only a very faint indication of that inside. All Chu Liang could sense were ripples in his foundational qi.

After a moment, Chu Liang used his divine intent to deactivate the defense. The green leaf suddenly shimmered and returned to its original state.

Wen Yulong laughed and said, "Senior Brother Chu, I just attacked you with my full strength. But I'm sure you didn't even feel the slightest shock inside, did you? With the combination of inscriptions that I engraved, attacks from an ordinary fourth-realm cultivator have no way of breaking through that defense!"

Chu Liang nodded in agreement.

The green leaf had indeed absorbed all of Wen Yulong's attacks while Chu Liang remained in a tranquil environment inside.

But...

Chu Liang said hesitantly, "Junior Brother Wen, this enchanted tool does indeed have a very strong defensive ability. But when I was wrapped up inside there... I couldn't move at all."

Wen Yulong scratched his head and replied, "But a maximized level of defense can only be achieved if you're completely covered—without even the tiniest gap left exposed."

"Isn't that rather excessive though..."

Chu Liang had a complicated expression.

It was true that the green leaf had a formidable defensive ability. After all, if he—the owner of the enchanted tool—was unable to break out from the inside, then it would be even more unlikely that someone would be able to break the green leaf's defenses from the outside.

However, I can't just wrap myself up like a zongzi whenever I'm fighting with others, right?

Wouldn't I just be imprisoning myself?

"Additionally..." Wen Yulong continued, smiling mysteriously, "Senior Brother Chu, you may not have noticed, but my two sets of inscriptions can be used together. If you were to find yourself in a life-threatening situation, you could easily save your life by activating both sets of inscriptions simultaneously..."

Chu Liang imagined that scene for a moment.

Once he was wrapped inside, he had no way of controlling which direction the leaf would move in. All he could do was supply it with foundational qi.

So, if he were to find himself in a life-threatening situation... he was supposed to wrap himself up and then soar into the sky. In other words, he'd transform into a zongzi that would fly wildly in an unknown direction...

That was basically like launching himself out of a cannon.

Hm. Was this some kind of new torture device?

1. Pattern of veins in a leaf ☜

2. It's this triangular glutinous rice dumpling. The rice is stuffed with different fillings and generally wrapped in bamboo leaves. They are cooked by steaming or boiling. Most importantly, they are yummy, and translating this made me want to eat some. :( ☜