Weapon Ranks, Time to Settle the Bill

"Jin An, it's you! You bastards from Blood Sun City, how dare you use those wolf beast packs to get back at us!"

In a certain forest, Tuo Meng swung his long mace, trading blows evenly with Jin An, but his mouth ran nonstop with curses, as if he wanted to devour the Golden Armor Man alive.

"Haha, an unexpected harvest, nothing more than an unexpected harvest. Tuo Meng, oh Tuo Meng, your Thunder Star Mountain has grown too arrogant. This is what happens when you offend our Blood Sun City."

Jin An's pair of gleaming golden fists clashed against Tuo Meng's long mace time and again, erupting with rumbling thunder, yet neither could gain the upper hand over the other.

There was no helping it. Both were Elite Trial Takers, metal-attribute martial artists at that, using Third-Grade Mid-Rank weapons in their strongest form, which only amplified an 80-fold force output by three times, turning it into 240-fold.

Their power output was roughly equal, with any difference coming down to movement techniques and combat skill.

But that wasn't something that could decide a victor in a short time, unless one side made a fatal mistake.

Still, Jin An wasn't in a hurry. Tuo Meng had fled all the way here, so his internal Primal Force must be nearly spent. Dragging things out was very much to his advantage.

For Tuo Meng, though, it was like adding frost to snow. Not only was Jin An a threat, but there was also that Green-Robed Youth in the distance.

At that moment, Wu Sheng was using his soul advantage to suppress the four Elite Trial Takers from Thunder Star Mountain completely.

Among the four Prison Clan members he faced, one was a Planet Grade ninth-stage spiritualist, whose telekinetic level alone was twice his own, and who excelled at soul defense. It was precisely this spiritualist's interference that made his soul illusions so hard to pull off.

Still, Wu Sheng had considerable confidence. First, he had perfect telekinetic amplitude. Second, his will had already broken through to Star Grade. With these two advantages, as long as he had enough time, he could directly take down all four of them.

"Compared to Man Gu and the others, these Elite Trial Takers are far stronger. Whether martial artists or spiritual psychics, none of them are pushovers. If that Tuo Meng weren't tied up by Jin An, I'd have to cut and run by now."

Wu Sheng sighed inwardly. He had never imagined he could sweep through the Blood Trial all on his own.

Forget the fact that these troublesome Elite Trial Takers weren't that far behind him; Tuo Meng alone, a soul-less Prison Clan member, countered him completely.

If he couldn't use soul techniques and had to rely on close combat, with his current Planet Grade seventh-stage gene Primal Force, he'd definitely be at a disadvantage. Whether he could even escape with his life was uncertain.

"No, I need to speed up my breakthrough to Planet Grade ninth-stage. As opponents get stronger, Star Grade Trial Takers are bound to appear. I can't let my base power fall too far behind."

In the first year, Wu Sheng had spent most of his time on secret technique training, which meant his base power had increased very little. If he didn't patch this weakness now, he'd be courting death.

"Mm, got it!"

Wu Sheng's eyes lit up as he felt his soul illusion slowly seep into that spiritual psion's soul.

"No, don't! Block it, you have to block it!"

That Flood Abyss Clan member's face gradually showed despair. His proud soul defense had finally been breached by this Earth Grade eighth-stage Green-Robed Youth.

The next moment, he was plunged into an illusion. Though with his own strength, given enough time, he could easily break free, right now...

Swish!

Wu Sheng urged his Green Shadow Sword forward, cleanly severing the head of that Flood Abyss Clan member, who had lost his battle armor's defense.

The remaining three Prison Clan members were mere martial artists, unable to withstand Wu Sheng's soul sweep. He cut them down one by one with a single sword stroke each.

"Tsk, quite a haul. Every space ring has at least three or four hundred Primal Force battle armors! Mm, my Wind Wheel is just a Telekinetic Weapon focused on movement, but this spiritualist's Telekinetic Weapon is attack-oriented, perfect for me!"

Wu Sheng quickly checked and was very satisfied. In particular, that Third-Grade Mid-Rank Telekinetic Weapon, the "Flowing Cloud Needle," piqued his interest.

After all, his strongest asset was his spiritual telekinesis. Using a Telekinetic Weapon to attack would definitely be more effective than close combat!

"If only I could kill a Special Elite. They have Third-Grade High-Rank weapons, which can amplify perfect force and perfect telekinesis by three times. That would be the best fit for my power output."

Wu Sheng looked at the palm-length blue needle before him, filled with endless emotion.

First-grade weapons had no amplification effect, but starting from second-grade, as long as one could activate their corresponding control technique, they could achieve amplification matching that grade, up to fifth-grade weapons.

For weapons of the same grade, the higher the rank, the lower the requirements on the user.

Third-Grade Low-Rank weapons not only had a low amplitude cap but often required things like a domain.

Take the "Escape Shuttle," for example. Its three forms required telekinetic amplitudes of 12-fold, 30-fold, and 48-fold (max 60-fold) to activate the corresponding control technique Escape, but the third form demanded not only Cosmic Level but also a domain.

As for Wu Sheng's own Blood Trial-customized Third-Grade Mid-Rank Primal Force weapon, the "Green Shadow Sword," its three forms generally required Primal Force amplitudes of 20-fold, 40-fold, and 60-fold (max 80-fold) to activate the corresponding control technique Shadow Kill.

For him, though there were no domain requirements, the Third-Grade Mid-Rank weapon still didn't reach his upper limit.

As for Third-Grade High-Rank weapons, their three forms generally sat at 40-fold, 60-fold, and 80-fold (max 100-fold perfect amplitude).

So only the Third-Grade High-Rank weapons in the hands of Special Elites could satisfy his perfect amplitude power output.

As for Third-Grade Top-Rank weapons, the Planet Grade Prison Clan trial wouldn't provide them, at most offering some Second-Grade Top-Rank ones.

Third-Grade Top-Rank weapons actually had lower activation requirements. As long as one met a certain minimum amplitude, they could fully unleash their power, with no fixed forms.

Take Man Gu, for instance. His own force amplitude was only 52-fold, but if he had a Third-Grade Top-Rank Primal Force weapon he could activate, he could directly achieve a final amplification of 156-fold.

Third-Grade Top-Rank weapons were extremely complex to forge and used materials too precious, so they couldn't be mass-produced.

Additionally, after the trial ended, these weapons and battle armors would be uniformly collected. Trial Takers were only allowed to take treasures like Cosmic Crystals.

Otherwise, the Blood Trial couldn't be sustained at all. Even with subsidies from the Prison Clan's upper echelons, the Blood Sun Tribe would lose their shirts.

Of course, using weapons required knowing one's limits. If someone's amplitude didn't meet the requirements and they foolishly tried to use a stronger weapon, they probably couldn't even activate the first form and would just be waiting to die.

"Haha, Tuo Meng, you're finished! Who's going to save you this time?"

Just as Wu Sheng easily dealt with the four Elite Trial Takers from Thunder Star Mountain, Jin An felt as if he'd swallowed a calming pill, and his attacks against Tuo Meng grew fiercer than ever.

"No—he's just a spiritualist, useless against a non-soul race like me. You're delusional!"

Tuo Meng roared wildly, but his heart had already sunk to rock bottom.

To escape the Wolf Beast Pack, the Primal Force within him was nearly spent, and now, dragged on by Jin An for so long, what hope could there be?

"Scum, scum of Blood Sun City!"

Tuo Meng fought back frantically, but it was all in vain. Finally, amid his miserable howls, a pair of enormous golden fists smashed into his head.

"Senior Brother, why haven't you come yet? I won't accept this!"

With Tuo Meng's fall, Wu Sheng's side had annihilated this Thunder Star Mountain squad at zero cost.

Just as Jin An was grinning and about to say something to Wu Sheng, Wu Sheng raised a hand and spoke:

"The Wolf Beast Pack took out five Elite Trial Takers, and our side took out five as well—that's 10 million Cosmic Crystals."

"As for the ordinary squad members, there should be over 120 of them. By your rules, killing an ordinary squad member also nets 100,000 Cosmic Crystals, so that's 12 million Cosmic Crystals."

"That makes 22 million Cosmic Crystals. Time to settle the account!"