Evil Venerable of the Sword Dao-Chapter 604 - 040 Perfect Level Soul Device
Zhou Yan’s heart was calm, and he was in a state of sudden enlightenment.
During the artifact refining process, he gradually understood the sense of control, and his perception of artifact refining reached an unimaginably profound level.
It was precisely because of this that the previous feeling of being shackled had disappeared, allowing his artifact refining skills to break through once again.
This time, although it took only about five minutes, Zhou Yan was able to craft a set of top-grade soul artifact battle armor and weapons with incredibly complex techniques, pushing the quality of the soul artifact battle armor and weapons to the limits of soul artifacts.
Indeed, after his enlightenment, Zhou Yan realized that just as a person’s realm has "Great Perfection," so do various soul artifacts and even Holy Artifacts, which also have their own corresponding limits— what is referred to as "Perfection."
Top-grade soul artifacts strictly speaking, are not yet at the level of Perfection but are infinitely close, yet still with a slight gap.
Real "Perfection" soul artifacts, the top-level ones, are also called Half-Saint Artifacts.
Previously, Zhou Yan had been unable to comprehend this, but after his sudden enlightenment, he gradually understood that the so-called Half-Saint Artifacts are derived from Perfection-level top-grade soul artifacts.
Previously, although Zhou Yan’s artifact refining skills were extremely impressive, with his realm and abilities, he was unable to craft Half-Saint Artifacts; now, however, there were absolutely no issues.
The reason he couldn’t craft true Holy Artifacts was partly because his realm wasn’t high enough to meet the basic criteria for crafting Holy Artifacts, and partly because his understanding of the Saint Dao, his grasp of the essence of Holy Artifacts, and so on, were still significantly lacking.
The gap between Half-Saint Artifacts and true Holy Artifacts was also quite substantial, and not as simple as Zhou Yan initially thought.
"It seems that now it’s only the shackles of realm that hinder further advancement in artifact refining and alchemy, and this state will surely persist until before reaching the Saint Realm. Perhaps in the future there will be other methods to break this constraint, but for now, I’ve reached my true limits... In the future, the areas for improvement could include shortening the five-minute artifact refining time even further, as well as inscribing more and more complex Rune Ancient Arrays on the soul artifacts being crafted, enhancing the abilities of equivalent soul artifacts.
Although by doing so the soul artifacts become more complex and diverse, thus more difficult to control, it would allow the abilities of the soul artifacts to be maximized to the greatest extent, in every aspect, already not conceding to Holy Artifacts."
After careful consideration, Zhou Yan reached this conclusion and quickly found the direction for his future artifact refining.
With such time and enlightenment, unconsciously, when Zhou Yan refined artifacts again, he found that his stored endless materials had nearly completely run out—he had inadvertently used up all his stored endless resources!
Zhou Yan collected his thoughts and carefully sensed around, only to realize that, unnoticed, he had crafted ninety-seven sets of top-level soul artifact battle armor and Soul Swords!
These sets would be the reserve for the development of the Yuan Ci Secret Realm’s Thunder Expansion Sacred Land’s power.
With so many soul artifact sets, Zhou Yan began to feel strong confidence in the future development of his own power.
Perhaps he was inferior in realm, but if everyone were equipped with such soul artifact battle armor sets, then even an ordinary Void Realm Practitioner whose Combat Power Breaking Six, if not using a Holy Artifact, would not be able to breach the defense of a person wearing such battle armor!
This advantage was indescribable because unlike Holy Artifacts, which require the power of a Saint to activate, Zhou Yan’s refined soul artifacts, as long as they possess a certain amount of Soul Energy, could be easily activated without the need for more complex, massive energy consumption.
This was also the greatest enlightenment and insight within his artifact refining, and now having successfully completed these ninety-seven sets of battle armor and Soul Swords, Zhou Yan still felt very satisfied.
If it weren’t for his understanding of the vastness and profundity of the Tai Chu Rune, this time, Zhou Yan would have surely gotten somewhat carried away.
Now, precisely because he recognized his own insignificance, Zhou Yan’s heart became even more settled and tranquil.
After finishing his artifact refining, Zhou Yan came to Hou Chen’s side, who was happily playing with Zhou Sisi at the time. Zhou Yan silently watched the two frolic, feeling a joy in his heart.
Hou Chen was clever and cute, as well as sensible and considerate, while Sisi, although very young, seemed clever and mischievous, clearly also having the potential to be a wild girl.
Watching the two frolic, pinching each other’s cheeks and making funny faces, Zhou Yan felt the scene was extremely heartwarming.
It was as if, if this scene were to be frozen forever, it would also be a kind of happiness.
Zhou Yan watched for a long time, even getting somewhat blissfully intoxicated by it. He knew his gaze must be filled with immense tenderness, brimming with deep fatherly love.
"My husband, look at Sisi and Chen, the two really get along well. Sisi has been with me for so long, and I feel her personality is still somewhat reserved and introverted, as you know, a mother knows her daughter best. It’s rare for Sisi to get along with Chen so well."
Unbeknownst to him, Feng Lingqing and Hou Ling had also come near Zhou Yan, and Feng Lingqing had already gently started speaking.
Hearing this, Zhou Yan nodded gently and smiled, saying, "Actually, firstly, Chen himself is quite likable, with his tiger-head and tiger-brain, bright big eyes, and his clear, handsome appearance, it’s no wonder Sisi likes him. Secondly, Chen feels grateful to me, his master, and naturally goes all out to treat my daughter well. Thus, their relationship not being good would actually be somewhat strange."
"My husband, you know what Lingqing means, yet you still deliberately say it like this."
Feng Lingqing reproached.
Zhou Yan smiled, pinched Feng Lingqing’s cheek, and spoke softly, "Lingqing, Sisi and Chen, one is my daughter, the other my disciple. If they can come together, I am quite comforted. After all, any father would want his daughter to be happy, and wants his daughter to forever stay by his side, the feelings are complex. But precisely because of this, if my own daughter is not happy, how can I, as a father, force her?"
So, if she wants to be with Chen Chen in the future, anyone who obstructs us will be met with violence to break that obstruction. If, however, she doesn’t like Chen Chen and likes someone ordinary, I would do my best to make her wish come true."
Zhou Yan’s words deeply resonated with Feng Lingqing and Hou Ling. Perhaps only Zhou Yan could be so unconcerned about identity, caring only about his daughter’s thoughts.
Thinking about it, even the Yaochi Saint hoped that the man the Holy Daughter married would possess supreme capabilities and have talents that stood above all others, not to mention that in this world where strength was paramount, such expectations were inherent.
Zhou Yan’s statement was a testament to the various protective feelings he held for his daughter.
Zhou Yan’s voice was not loud, but Hou Chen and Zhou Sisi still heard him. However, Hou Chen was somewhat confused and didn’t quite understand the specific meaning of ’being together.’ In his view, wasn’t he already ’together’ with Sisi? Did it mean he’d have to separate from Sisi in the future?
He was a bit puzzled.
But Zhou Sisi, who was only physically over a month old but had a much older mental age, felt different.
No one saw, and no one could see, a strand of confusion flashing mysteriously in the depths of her eyes.
However, soon that strand of confusion was replaced by a smear of pitch-black, bloodthirsty aura.
That scene was very eerie. Even Zhou Yan, who possessed a great ability to sense the hearts of others, was unable to detect this change.
Even Feng Lingqing, who shared a mother-daughter connection, could not perceive this change.
Her true age was one month, her body the size of a three- or four-year-old girl, the mentality of someone in their forties—this was Zhou Sisi.
But to everyone else, she was just a young girl, still naive and innocent, quite childish and unknowing. Although, that too was just her effortless character presentation—natural and instinctive, seamless and undetectable by others.
"Sisi, you are Master’s daughter, but you will also certainly be Master’s disciple. Your Brother Chen is also Master’s disciple, so I am your Senior Brother. Sisi, let me hear you say ’Senior Brother’."
Hou Chen said cheerily.
His unintentional words almost made Feng Lingqing and Hou Ling tremble at the same time.
But at that moment, Zhou Yan was attracted by Hou Chen’s voice, thus he looked over and missed the changes in Hou Ling and Feng Lingqing.
Both Hou Ling and Feng Lingqing were slightly startled, then exchanged glances, suddenly understanding each other’s thoughts—they must never again show any signs of mental disruption or heartflutter, especially concerning matters about Sisi, ensuring no third person becomes aware.
With an unspoken agreement, as they looked at Sisi, seeing that she did not show any unusual emotions from these words, both breathed a sigh of relief.
Sisi’s eyes momentarily flashed with a trace of confusion, then she grumbled, "Hmph, I don’t want to. Brother Chen is so bad, always pinching Sisi’s face, it really hurts. Sisi is angry now, I won’t pay attention to Brother Chen anymore. Brother Chen needs to quickly cheer Sisi up before Sisi can forgive Brother Chen."
Zhou Sisi’s intelligence was exceedingly exceptional; she possessed the Innate Sword Soul Realm from birth and had the ability to speak. Her speaking like a little adult at this moment wasn’t surprising.
Moreover, although she had severed her past, her strong language ability from the past hadn’t diminished, only the memories of her previous life had been cut off.
Upon hearing her words, Hou Chen chuckled and pinched Zhou Sisi’s cheek again, "Call me Senior Brother quickly, or I’ll pinch your face again, making your little cheeks swell up, and then Sisi won’t look pretty."
...
Baiyue Ancient Forbidden, a sinister formation radiating murderous intent.
"Wang Xi Saint, the one I’m referring to is Zhou Yan. I hope you can help Yun Shu vent her anger,"
Yun Shu said respectfully to the Saint’s avatar in front of her.
Her tone was laced with intense hatred. Every time she recalled that previous scene with Zhou Yan, she would tremble uncontrollably.
For many years, she had roamed invincibly, dominating the sword realm, yet she had never experienced such a humiliating defeat! Especially since she had reached the second refinery of the Sword Tribulation, only to be nearly killed by a single move from Zhou Yan, who had only performed the Sword Void Sixth Transformation, which deeply unsettled her!
All her pride felt as if it had been stomped on the ground and then ruthlessly trampled on.
She could never forget the mocking and disdainful look in Zhou Yan’s eyes, as well as his casual words, "Can you escape?"
Those words were like a nightmarish shock to her!
Moreover, Yun Shu also harbored a profound fear of Zhou Yan! This fear had nearly become instinctive because whenever she thought of that battle, the terrifying Killing Spirit Divine Dao unleashed by him made her soul shudder, giving rise to a sense of utter despair as if, even with full defense, there was absolutely no way to withstand such a move.
This was her Heart Demon, and her emotional blockage; if she couldn’t unravel the Killing Spirit Divine Dao soon, she would no longer be able to improve.
