Excellent Ice Flesh, Making Me Fragrant

Lu Li stared blankly at the "young girl" in the mirror. She had a head of glossy black hair, and her skin was so fair it seemed unreal, gleaming with a porcelain-like luster.

Because his family had been poor and he had gone hungry for so long, Lu Li's skin had originally been sallow and waxy. They said that fair skin hid three flaws; Lu Li's features had always been delicate, and now that he had changed into this smooth, pale Painted Skin, his looks seemed all the more strikingly handsome.

Lu Li incredulously brushed a hand over the "girl's" face. The skin was fine and smooth; even from the closest distance, he could not find the slightest flaw.

Perhaps because of the bond of blood, Lu Li suddenly felt that the girl in the mirror was gradually overlapping with the Lu Ling in his memories. They looked as though they had been carved from the same mold.

If he had to name a difference, it was that Lu Ling's complexion had been pale from being bedridden for so long, while the "girl" in the mirror was another three shades fairer still.

The former had held a trace of weakness and sickliness in her eyes, while the latter's gaze was resolute.

Other than that, Lu Li truly could find no further differences. Perhaps it was because they had been apart for too long. Three years had flashed by, and she had been sold away three years ago as well. The face in his memories had become blurred.

In the end, as he looked at the girl's face in the mirror, he felt inexplicably dazed.

"I will find you."

Lu Li clenched his fists. His brows gradually eased, though a touch of sorrow appeared on his face. After changing skins, Lu Li felt that even his facial expressions had become much richer.

"If we really get the chance to meet again, will you still recognize me?"

Shaking his head, Lu Li gave a helpless bitter smile. He moved the bronze mirror farther away, then stepped back several paces until his entire body was reflected in it.

Continuing down from the slender neck, a zipper like a shrimp vein split the unremarkable chest in two. Its tiny pull tab rested quietly against the xiphoid process, adding a few touches of unearthly seduction and sensuality to this body.

Speaking of Painted Skin, Lu Li could not help recalling a passage from Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio—

[Stepping softly, he peered through the window and saw a hideous ghost, its face blue-green, its jagged teeth like saw blades. It spread a human skin upon the couch, took up a colored brush, and painted it. Then it tossed down the brush, lifted the skin as though shaking out a garment, draped it over its body, and became a woman.]

In his previous life, he had taken it for nothing more than a story. Yet now, he discovered that he coincided perfectly with the Painted Skin demoness described in Strange Tales. It was as if, the moment he pulled open the zipper across his chest, a vicious blue-faced, fang-toothed ghost would crawl out from within.

Yet reality was more fantastical than the tales, and more nakedly grotesque.

Of course, Lu Li knew that if he opened the zipper, there would be no evil ghost inside—only stark white bones, humming vessels, and heaps of flesh, blood, and organs.

Farther down lay a flat, delicate abdomen and slender jade-like feet. If not for one jarringly out-of-place thing, the girl's body in the mirror would have been flawless.

That thing simply did not seem as though it belonged there.

"Elder Duan, tell me honestly—do construct artifacts come in male and female models?"

"What nonsense are you talking about? How could construct artifacts be divided into male and female?"

Lu Li pinched the "girl's" cheek. That skin, so tender it seemed as though a breath could break it, slid beneath his fingertips, making him unable to suppress the urge to pinch it several more times and leave red marks behind.

Lu Li was somewhat doubtful. Could skin like this truly have any defensive power?

To test his suspicion, Lu Li picked up the saw used for cutting spirit ore. Its blade had been forged from Void Stone mixed with black iron; hard and sharp, it could cut through most first-rank spirit ores.

Carefully, Lu Li aimed the saw blade at his own wrist and gently drew it down. As expected, the teeth sank into the flesh.

"Be bolder. Saw harder. That saw of yours does not even count as a construct artifact—it cannot possibly harm it in the slightest."

"Mm..."

Lu Li gradually increased his strength, dragging the saw blade back and forth. Yet no matter how much force he used, the teeth merely sank in without causing any actual damage. When he moved the saw away, he found that not the faintest mark had been left behind.

"Soft though it is, it's incredibly resilient."

Right—Azure Underworld Painted Skin was still a first-rank construct artifact. Testing it with ordinary crafting tools truly was looking down on a first-rank construct artifact.

Among first-rank construct artifacts, the Qi-Combining Cauldron, when paired with spirit ore, ranked among the best in offensive power, while Azure Underworld Painted Skin was likewise among the very best in defense.

If this spear were used to strike this shield, what would happen?

With that thought, Lu Li activated the Qi-Combining Cauldron. He then pinched up a wisp of Azure Underworld Stone powder and condensed it into a milling cutter as thick as a finger, carefully pressing it against his wrist.

Bzzzz—

The milling cutter spun at high speed, sending faint ripples across his fair wrist. Through the Azure Underworld Painted Skin, Lu Li felt a trace of pain. He eased off, then rubbed his slightly reddened hand.

On the surface, it seemed that the Qi-Combining Cauldron had won. This Azure Underworld Painted Skin was not as formidable as he had imagined—perhaps the Qi-Combining Cauldron's power was simply too great.

"You mentioned its normal state just now. Does this Azure Underworld Painted Skin have other states as well?"

"You can be taught. Besides its normal state—which is merely its usual state, more than enough to deal with ordinary mortal weapons—Azure Underworld Painted Skin will enter Steel State when you infuse it with spiritual power, becoming as hard as iron."

"I see."

Lu Li's cultivation aptitude was lacking, and he did not possess much spiritual power himself. Moreover, his dantian had yet to be opened, so he could only draw upon the spiritual power within the Qi-Combining Cauldron to sustain the Azure Underworld Painted Skin.

Once Lu Li infused it with spiritual power, he immediately felt the skin all over his body begin to harden. It felt as though he had put on a suit of close-fitting scale armor.

Lu Li condensed the spinning milling cutter again and thrust it at his arm. The instant the two collided, dazzling sparks erupted, and for a time neither side could gain the upper hand.

At the same time, the spiritual power within Lu Li's body was being rapidly depleted. If the stalemate continued, a victor would eventually emerge—and the outcome would depend on whose spiritual power ran dry first.

When a sharp weapon struck something hard, there were only two outcomes: either the hard object was pierced through, or the sharp weapon's edge curled.

Blunt weapons were different. A blunt weapon had no edge to curl. Even if it could not penetrate a hard object, it could still use overwhelming force to damage what lay inside through that hard surface.

"This layer of Azure Underworld Painted Skin is indeed not bad, but what if it encounters a blunt weapon?"

"It naturally possesses a certain degree of resistance to that as well. I told you before: Azure Underworld Painted Skin and Ice Flesh were originally one whole. Azure Underworld Painted Skin triumphs through hardness, while Ice Flesh triumphs through resilience. Only when the two work together can they display their greatest effect."

"Then what rank of construct artifact is Ice Flesh?"

"For the second advancement, Mystic Ice Lotus Root powder must be used as the primary material, supplemented with Extreme Yin Water and twenty other spiritual materials, to shape flesh and blood throughout the body."

"Lotus root powder... sounds pretty tasty."

"Not exactly tasty, but it does carry a faint fragrance~"

"Huh? It doesn't?"

The Qi-Combining Cauldron had made his voice thinner, and the Azure Underworld Painted Skin had turned him pale and soft—Lu Li could grudgingly endure those two things. But Ice Flesh was going to make his entire body give off a natural fragrance too? What was he supposed to become?

All fragrant and soft... th-this-this-this was right?

It really was the Southern Liang Arsenal!