Set Test

"Sure enough, after my body evolved again, Steel Armor's bonus has dropped even further."

Wu Ming was not surprised by this result. After all, an Official Martial Artist's body could already withstand small-caliber firearms. Ordinary metal might not be much stronger than his own body.

Once he advanced to Advanced Warrior, this equipment's talent would probably hit rock bottom, leaving only a 1% bonus or even dropping to zero entirely.

"Looks like I need to look for equipment with greater durability. I'll ask Qingzhu later and see whether her family has any stronger equipment materials."

With that thought flashing through his mind, he continued reading. Then his pupils suddenly contracted. "A second Equipment Bar?!"

"Wait, there are set effects too?"

Wu Ming's eyes filled with delight. "Although I guessed there would be more Equipment Bars when I saw 'Equipment Bar One,' I didn't expect it to come so soon!"

He had originally thought that even if there were a second Equipment Bar, it would only appear after he advanced to Planetary Level. He had not expected one to appear after merely breaking through to Apprentice.

What surprised him even more was that after unlocking two Equipment Bars, the panel had actually gained set effects.

"This set... should work the way I think it does, right? Different pieces of equipment can be combined to gain additional abilities?"

Unfortunately, he did not have much usable equipment at the moment. After some thought, Wu Ming raised a hand, and Spiritual Force carried a fountain pen into his palm.

With a thought, he equipped the fountain pen in the second Equipment Bar, then looked at the panel.

[Equipment Bar One: Steel Armor (effect omitted)]

[Equipment Bar Two: Fountain Pen]

[Talent 1: Hidden Weapon Genius, throwing-type talents +60%]

[Talent 2: Study Hard, learning talent +20%]

[Talent 3: Strive Upward, memory +20%]

[Talent 4: Virus Controller (RR), able to observe and control the RR Virus]

[Two-Piece Set Effect: Assassin, Genetic Energy talent +20%, movement-type talents +30%, slightly increases concealment ability while this set is equipped]

"So this is a set? Just as I thought."

Wu Ming nodded in satisfaction. "I just don't know whether any two pieces of equipment can form a set, or whether they need to be related."

After thinking for a moment, he used Spiritual Force to fetch a bottle of glucose and replaced Steel Armor with it. The next second, he discovered that the set section had become "Empty."

He then tried the combination of Steel Armor and glucose, but it still failed to trigger a new set effect.

"Looks like it's the latter. The two pieces of equipment need to be connected in some way to activate it."

With the test complete, Wu Ming let out a soft breath. Then a thought suddenly struck him. "Right. Since I've awakened Spiritual Force, I should also look for equipment that can improve related talents."

When it came to Spirit Readers, the first thing that naturally came to mind was Psychic Weapons.

However, genuine Psychic Weapons were incredibly precious. Even all the ancient ruins on Earth combined might not yield more than a few. They were naturally beyond the reach of a mere Second-Level Apprentice.

But that was fine. If he could not find a real Psychic Weapon, he could use a weapon with similar functions as a substitute.

For example... throwing knives.

He thought of this because, before Luo Feng obtained the Sky-Shuttle in the original work, he had used throwing knives as Psychic Weapons.

Thus, Wu Ming guessed that weapons like throwing knives might provide clues related to Spirit Reader talents. As long as he confirmed that it worked, he could later try using high-quality materials to forge a set of exclusive Psychic Weapons for himself.

"Throwing knives, throwing knives... Too bad I don't have anything like that at home."

He shook his head slightly. He had only been a student before, and his parents would never have allowed him to buy dangerous items like those.

Armor could still be regarded as a hobby, but anything related to weapons, such as throwing knives or daggers, was absolutely forbidden in his home.

Still, he found a substitute in the house: a fruit knife for peeling fruit.

Judging solely by their construction, there was not much difference between the two.

"You'll do." With a thought from Wu Ming, Spiritual Force controlled the fruit knife and sent it flying over. But the moment it landed in his hand, he could not help frowning.

[Equipment Bar Two: Fruit Knife]

[Only Talent: Hidden Weapon Talent +10%]

"It only boosts Hidden Weapon Talent." Wu Ming felt somewhat helpless. His idea had failed!

Moreover, if a fruit knife did not work, that meant throwing knives would not work either. Both consisted of a blade and a handle, making them exactly the same type of weapon from a weapon's perspective.

"Makes sense. After all, the original work never said that throwing knives were weapons meant for Spirit Readers. They were probably used as thrown hidden weapons. Otherwise, why would they have designed a handle?"

Shaking his head, Wu Ming was about to consider other weapons that could serve as Psychic Weapons when he suddenly froze.

"Wait, the handle... What if I remove it?"

His eyes lit up. "At the end of the day, throwing knives are classified as hidden weapons because they can be held by their handles, making them easy to throw."

"Then if I remove the handle and leave only the blade, with nowhere to grip it, would it no longer be called a hidden weapon?"

At that thought, he immediately grew excited and hurriedly used Spiritual Force to remove the fruit knife's handle.

Yet when he touched it again, the fruit knife's talent still provided a hidden-weapon bonus. He could not help feeling disappointed, thinking that his guess had been wrong.

Just then, Wu Ming noticed the fruit knife's shape again and discovered that at the end of the blade was still a threaded metal shaft used to secure it.

"Wait, this metal shaft can also be used for gripping, right?" A thought stirred in his mind. Since he had no other ideas anyway, he might as well try again.

He then applied Spiritual Force to the blade and exerted force in the middle. The blade instantly snapped in two.

After throwing away the metal shaft, Wu Ming touched the sharp blade again. This time, however, the result delighted him.

[Equipment Bar Two: Sharp Blade]

[Only Talent: Spiritual Force talent +1%]

Seeing this result, Wu Ming's eyes shone. "It actually worked!"

But an even greater surprise was still to come. Once the blade was equipped, the set effect at the bottom changed as well.

[Two-Piece Set Effect: Dual Spirit-Martial Cultivation, Genetic Energy talent +10%, Spiritual Force talent +10%]

"Dual Spirit-Martial Cultivation? It can increase both Genetic Energy and Spirit Reader talents at the same time?!"

Wu Ming was both shocked and delighted. He had never expected armor combined with a Psychic Weapon to form such a powerful set.

"In that case, I have some ideas about what equipment to choose next."

After pondering for a moment, he used Spiritual Force to control the pen and sketch equipment designs onto paper.

From the notebook, it was clear that he had designed a total of three pieces of equipment.

The first was a battle saber, one that could be gripped with both hands. He wrote down its weapon specifications: total length of over 150 cm, a 20 cm handle, a weight of around 90 to 100 kg, with a style that could reference a Goose-Feather Saber.

The second was a flying sword shaped like a willow leaf, sharp at both ends and edged like a blade. It could be used for thrusting or cutting.

However, in the weapon specifications section, Wu Ming wrote only a few words: the stronger the material, the better; the lighter, the better; tentatively ten pieces per set; specific requirements to be decided after seeing the materials.

These two pieces of equipment were naturally the main combat weapons he had prepared for himself, corresponding to the Martial Artist and Spirit Reader paths respectively.

After all, the beast tide would erupt in eight months. He needed to master decent combat skills in advance to increase his chances of survival.

As for the final piece of equipment, the armor, he completely abandoned practicality in combat. He wanted to use a method of relentlessly piling on materials to raise the upper limit of the talents gained after equipping it.

As for future battles, he would naturally choose lighter combat uniforms.

But Wu Ming also knew that the quality of such equipment would definitely be inferior to metal armor. Only if stronger combat uniforms were invented in the future, or if he acquired a Black God Set, would they surpass the talents granted by armor.

After confirming the design drafts, Wu Ming took out his phone and sent Ruan Qingzhu a message.

"Will you be home tomorrow? There's something I want to ask you."

Almost the very next second, she replied.

"Come!"