Upgrade Specialist in Another World

Kou Changkong had finally regained awareness of the situation at hand. Regarding Bai Yunfei’s vacant expression with a proud smile, he spoke, “Yunfei, your performance has been outstanding! Ever since you’ve joined the Crafting School, you’ve managed to exceed each and every expectation I’ve had for you! As your master, I’m proud of you! What you’ve accomplished today is a surprise for the entire school!”

“Uh.....” Bai Yunfei was lost once again. “Since when did I become so ‘great’? Didn’t I just blow up half the cliff a while ago?”

Giving himself a few seconds to gather his thoughts, Kou Changkong began to explain to Bai Yunfei, “They weren’t things you’d needed to know when you first joined the Crafting School. But since you’ve somehow managed to land yourself into the Anima Realm, it’s time that I tell you now.”

He paused here. “Anima Realm is an extremely mystical realm that’ll only make itself known when crafting a soul armament. To be more clear, this realm is known to be where one becomes the ‘soul of the soul armament’. When infusing one’s very soul into a soul armament, this realm leaves behind an eternal mark on the soul, much like what happens in a soul contract. The mark left behind on the soul armament are what we of the Crafting School call, ‘lifebound armaments’!”

“Lifebound armaments are a level higher than soulbound armaments. In fact, they’re on completely different scales so-to-speak. One must have reached at least a 50% soul compatibility with a soul armament to turn it into a soulbound armament. But lifebound armaments require a soul compatibility of at least 100%! The creation of a lifebound armament establishes a connection between the soul armament and the spirit. It’s said that lifebound armaments become an extension of one’s body, and aside from its master, no one else can ever use it!”

“The strength of a regular soul armament is often something many people struggle to make use of. The more compatible one gets with a soulbound armament, the more powerful it’ll be. As for lifebound armaments, it wouldn’t be strange to see its power double, triple, or even increase by a dozen fold!!”

“Soulbound armaments are usually made after becoming a Soul Sprite by making use of the essence fireseed during the time. Of course, the method you made use of before was of an extremely special nature. Aside from our Crafting School, there’ll never be a second chance like this. We cannot always offer this method, that’s why only disciples are given access to it.”

“After crafting a soulbound armament, there’s a chance to increase one’s compatibility with it each time they grow stronger in strength. It’s a difficult task, and sometimes their compatibility barely goes up. And just like a soulbound armament, a soul cultivator has only one chance to craft a lifebound armament!”

Throughout the explanation of lifebound armaments and the realm known as the Anima Realm, Bai Yunfei had been utterly dumbfounded.

When Kou Changkong mentioned that only one chance was to be had to craft a lifebound armament, Bai Yunfei couldn’t stop himself from asking, “What...what chance is there?”

“When one becomes a Soul King! In the moment one steps into that realm, there’s a chance to step into the realm of Anima and craft a lifebound armament. But the chances of that happening is only 1%.....when I and the first elder became Soul Kings, we never managed to step into that realm. Out of the entire Crafting School right now, only the previous headmaster Zi Jin has a lifebound armament....”

“....” Bai Yunfei had nothing to say.

Becoming a Soul King! Wow!

What an unreasonable opportunity!

And 1% chance to boot, that was a lowly chance....

But what Kou Changkong said next left him even more speechless than before.

“What I just explained is the ‘normal’ way to craft a lifebound armament in regards to the Anima Realm. Aside from taking the chance by becoming a Soul King, there is another situation just like how you accomplished it. That is by stumbling in onto the realm when crafting a soul armament....But the last time someone managed to accomplish that in the Crafting School was about eight hundred years ago....”

Eight hundred years ago....

What Kou Changkong was meaning to say was that Bai Yunfei was a genius that appeared once in eight hundred years!

“And now you know,” Kou Changkong smiled, “how surprised we were to hear this?”

It really was far too shocking to think about. This time, it took several minutes for Bai Yunfei to recollect his thoughts. Even then, he was doubtful about what he managed to accomplish.

But then, a thought occurred to him, “Oh....master, you said I crafted a lifebound armament, that means....”

“Haha, I remember now. You were unconscious when we found you. Do you know what type of lifebound armament you’ve made?” Cang Yu finally asked from her spot behind Bai Yunfei’s bed. “Perhaps because of your special circumstances when crafting, your lifebound armament was...equally special....”

When Bai Yunfei turned to look where she was looking, the expression on his face immediately hardened. Exasperation greeted his face at what he saw—it was the brick!

Cang Yu had thought that this was the form Bai Yunfei’s crafting attempt had made, but Bai Yunfei knew that it was actually the +13 brick he had since forever! It even had the same nicks and jags in the exact same places!

Just as Bai Yunfei was just thinking about picking up the brick to look, it suddenly sprung up into the air and flew straight towards him.

“Wha—”

He yelped.

Smiling, Kou Changkong said, “That is one of the special properties of a lifebound armament. As long as there’s soulforce, it can be controlled at a thought within a thousand meters.”

Bai Yunfei watched as the brick float in the air for a while. He didn’t quite know what to do. It had a ‘familiar’ feel to him as if he was controlling his own flesh and blood.

In fact, it felt ten times easier to control the movements of the brick than the fire-tipped spear.

“So this is a lifebound armament....”

Bai Yunfei thought with excitement. When he lifted his right hand, the red brick immediately flew towards it....

“......”

Time stopped for several seconds there when Bai Yunfei suddenly came to that realization. When he paused, his face had mirrored his look of shock.

“What is it, Yunfei? Do you feel the huge difference in between a soulbound armament and a lifebound armament?” Kou Changkong smiled. “You should experience the wonders of it on your own time. This lifebound armament of yours is of the mid-heaven tier, I’m sure of it. Aside from a high-heaven tier armament, there is no other armament that could hope to fight against it. But with your current strength, it should be difficult for you to make use of it.

“But don’t feel discouraged. As you grow stronger, you’ll be able to make use of more of its power.”

“Ah? Y-yes....” Bai Yunfei replied hastily after realizing that he had been lost in thought. Embarrassed, Bai Yunfei stored the brick away into his space ring.

Kou Changkong watched Bai Yunfei go through his thoughts in silence for a while before he decided to warn Bai Yunfei, “Yunfei, I must warn you. You managed to profit from disaster this time around. By this, I mean that it was a lucky coincidence that you managed to make it into the Anima Realm and craft a lifebound armament. A lucky happenstance that won’t happen again for a second time, so try not to be so hot-headed next time. Otherwise, the resulting situation won’t be like the first time....”

Bowing his head, Bai Yunfei replied, “Your disciple will do as you say, master.”

He wouldn’t repeat such a dangerous affair like that even if he was beaten to death....

“Alright. Yunfei has become a Soul Ancestor already, so he’ll need some time to consolidate his strength. We should take our leave.” Zi Jin, who had been silent up until now, finally spoke up to the others.

Kou Changkong nodded his head in agreement. “Yes, that we should. Yunfei, rest up for a day or two. We’ll talk more another time.”

Standing up to bow, Bai Yunfei spoke, “Yes, master.”

......

After seeing the five elders off, Bai Yunfei let out a sigh of relief.

Feeling somewhat light-headed with so many things to think about, Bai Yunfei shook his head in an attempt to clear his thoughts and calm down.

But just before he could do anything else, a sharp knock made itself known from the other side of the door.