Equipment Enhancement

Three medium Energy Stones lay quietly in Lin Xiao's palm like warm jade eggs, radiating a soft, milky-white halo. Their pure energy seeped through his skin and into his flesh, causing the depleted, dim-blue screen in his mind to stir with a faint but distinct yearning.

Medium-purity energy source detected (3 units)... Absorption possible... Estimated replenishment: 0.3–0.5 points...

The cold prompt sounded like heavenly music at that moment.

Lin Xiao sat cross-legged on the cold, hard bed in a cheap hotel. The city's neon lights outside were blocked by a thick layer of dust, allowing only a hazy, dim-yellow glow to filter in. His upper body was bare, and the scabbed wounds across it looked like twisted relief carvings in the gloom. Deep in his right leg, the dormant remnant core of the dark-green Viper's Kiss pulsed coldly and greedily as the Energy Stones drew near, as if it wanted a share as well.

"Absorb!" Lin Xiao did not hesitate in the slightest. His thoughts pounced upon the three Energy Stones like a starving beast!

Buzz—!

The three warm jade-like stones suddenly trembled! Their milky-white halos abruptly grew dazzling! Wisps of pure energy, as if drawn by an invisible hand, surged madly toward Lin Xiao's palm and rushed into his meridians!

Energy absorption in progress... Source Energy Points replenished: +0.05... +0.07... +0.12...

Scarlet numbers flashed wildly across the dim-blue screen!

Source Energy Points: -0.1699 + 0.05 = -0.1199... + 0.07 = -0.0499... + 0.12 = +0.0701!

Boom—!

A long-lost sense of fullness, like sweet spring water pouring into a dried riverbed, instantly swept through his entire body! The dim screen in his mind seemed to have been infused with new life. The core's pulsing grew strong and steady, while the fine black cracks around its edges slowly closed and faded under the nourishment of the abundant energy, at a speed visible to the naked eye. His withered soul seemed to have been rekindled, and the dizziness and tearing pain receded like a tide!

Power! The feeling of controlling everything had returned!

However, just as this comfort peaked, the dark-green Viper's Kiss remnant core deep in his right leg suddenly erupted with a powerful pulse, like a venomous snake startled awake! A cold, fishy-sweet energy filled with the aura of decay, like a bone-devouring parasite, actually rode the surging flow of pure energy and forcibly surged upstream, attempting to contaminate the newly replenished Source Energy!

Warning! Highly contaminated anomalous energy (Viper's Kiss core remnant) is unusually active! Attempting to erode the newly replenished Source Energy in reverse! Contamination risk: High!

Core instinctive suppression... Suppression in progress... Contamination erosion rate: 0.001%... Source Energy Points lost: -0.0005!

Source Energy Points: +0.0701 - 0.0005 = +0.0696!

A trace of imperceptible dark-green contamination mixed into the pure milky-white energy was forcibly stripped away and annihilated by the screen's core! Lin Xiao let out a muffled groan as a needle-like pain came from deep within his right leg! Although the dark-green core's pulsing was suppressed once more, it had grown even more subtle and cold, like a venomous snake lurking in the shadows, ready to strike again at any moment!

"Damn it!" Lin Xiao cursed under his breath, a shadow flashing through his eyes. The Source Energy Points replenished by the three Energy Stones had ultimately settled at +0.0696. Though he had temporarily escaped the abyss of negative values, he had lost part of it because of that damn tumor. More importantly, it reminded him that the bomb buried within his body had not been defused!

He spread open his palm. The three Energy Stones, originally warm and smooth, had now turned gray and dull, covered in spiderweb-like cracks. With a light squeeze, they crumbled into powder and pattered onto the floor.

Source Energy Points: +0.0696.

This amount of Source Energy was nowhere near enough for the upcoming Su family competition or the Blood Wolf Gang's possible counterattack at any moment! Su Hao's sinister ploy of triggering a backlash from the hidden meridian's cold energy required Source Energy Points to modify Su Qingxue's cultivation technique path. And Lin Xiao himself needed a trump card even more!

Lin Xiao's gaze fell upon the unremarkable alloy dagger beside the bed.

It was one of the spoils he had obtained after killing Poison Scorpion. Its material was ordinary—just crude-forged steel alloy—and its edge had even curled slightly from the previous battle and scraping. Aside from being sturdy enough, it had no special qualities.

This would be it!

Lin Xiao picked up the cold dagger. He felt the rough texture of its grip. Closing his eyes, he sank his thoughts into the dim-blue screen in his mind, which had regained its vitality.

Deep scan initiated... Target: alloy dagger (ordinary)... Material composition: iron 86.5%, carbon 10.2%, chromium 2.1%, vanadium 0.7%, trace impurities 0.5%... Molecular structure stability: medium... Microscopic edge structure: multiple stress concentration points and lattice dislocations detected...

A three-dimensional model of the dagger instantly appeared on the screen. Its internal molecular structure, lattice arrangement, and stress distribution were displayed with crystal clarity, as if being unraveled thread by thread! Countless tiny flaws and weak points were highlighted, like lesions on a human body.

Modification plan simulation...

Optimization direction 1: Increase overall material density and molecular bond strength (increase hardness)... Source Energy Points required: 0.25

Optimization direction 2: Reconstruct the microscopic edge structure, eliminate stress concentration, and form a single-molecule sharpness layer (increase sharpness)... Source Energy Points required: 0.15

Optimization direction 3: Add a weak energy-guiding property (minor armor penetration)... Source Energy Points required: 0.2

Optimal comprehensive plan (Directions 1 + 2)... Estimated results: hardness increased by 300%, sharpness increased by 500%... Source Energy Points required: 0.4

0.4 points!

Lin Xiao stared at the glaring number on the screen, then looked at his mere +0.0696. His heart clenched violently! This would nearly drain all the reserves he had just recovered! But as his final reliance in close-quarters combat, the dagger's importance went without saying! Especially when his Source Energy Points were still stretched to the limit and he could not frequently use the modifier for fine environmental manipulation!

He would gamble on it!

A ruthless decisiveness flashed through Lin Xiao's eyes! His thoughts stabbed toward the screen's core like red-hot iron tongs!

"Execute the optimal plan! Target: alloy dagger! Modify!"

Command confirmed! Source Energy Points deducted: 0.4!

Source Energy Points: +0.0696 - 0.4 = -0.3304!

Modification initiated!

Buzz—!

A torrent of energy far more violent than that produced by the absorption surged from deep within Lin Xiao's mind! This time, it did not flow inward but poured out explosively! The Source Energy Points that had just been replenished were instantly drained, plunging once more into the abyss of negative values! A powerful emptiness and soul-rending pain swept over him again, even more violently than before!

"Gah!" Lin Xiao could not stop himself from letting out a suppressed roar. The veins on his forehead bulged, and cold sweat instantly drenched his entire body! The alloy dagger in his hand began to tremble violently!

In the real world, a strange change was taking place!

The dagger's dull, rough surface seemed to be tempered by invisible flames! A visible halo of dim-blue light, like rippling water, instantly enveloped the entire dagger! Within the radiance, its form seemed to be undergoing an extremely subtle yet fundamental transformation!

First was the material! The originally dull metal surface darkened and grew more restrained at a speed visible to the naked eye, taking on a cold, hard, dim luster like that of thousand-year-old dark ice! It was as if all impurities had been forcibly stripped away and compressed, while the molecular structure was optimized and reinforced by the mighty power of Source Energy! The dagger also seemed to grow slightly heavier. Held in his hand, its weighty feel conveyed an unparalleled solidity!

Next came the edge!

The edge, which had originally been slightly curled and even showed tiny chips, shone with the brightest blue light! The radiance carved away at it frantically on a microscopic level like the most precise engraving tool! The curled edge was smoothed, the chips filled, and countless minute lattice dislocations and stress concentration points forcibly corrected and sealed! The metal molecules at the edge were compressed and arranged to the extreme, forming an absolute cutting line as fine as a strand of hair yet gleaming with deadly cold light!

Hiss, hiss—!

The air even rang with an exceedingly faint sound, like a hot knife slicing through butter! It was the sound of the air molecules around the dagger being cut apart by an invisible sharpness!

The dim-blue radiance lasted for roughly ten seconds before slowly receding like a tide.

Lin Xiao slumped against the cold wall like a man drained dry, panting heavily. His face was as pale as paper, and the hand gripping the dagger trembled faintly. The -0.3304 in his mind was painfully glaring, while the exhaustion deep in his soul struck his consciousness again and again like a cold tide.

But the dagger in his hand had been completely transformed!

Its entire body was a deep, restrained dark cyan, like refined iron tempered hundreds or thousands of times. Even the pattern on the grip seemed clearer and fit more snugly against his palm. Most striking of all was the edge! It was no longer silvery white metal, but an almost transparent, supremely sharp line radiating a cold, ghostly gleam! Merely looking at it made him feel a chill as if his skin were being sliced open!

Enduring his dizziness, Lin Xiao picked up the dagger and lightly drew it across a discarded angle iron at the edge of the bed, a piece a thumb thick.

He did not use any force, and it did not even make a grating sound.

It was like a hot knife slicing through solidified butter.

The angle iron snapped cleanly in two! The cut was smooth as a mirror!

Lin Xiao looked at the transformed weapon in his hand, feeling the cold killing intent and indestructible solidity it conveyed. Slowly, a cold, weary curve spread across his pale face, carrying the viciousness of a lone wolf.

His trump card was forged!

The price had been devastating!