Supernatural Material

Biodata

Properties and Classification

Concepts and Traits

• Supernatural materials contain fragmented concepts and traits. Their quantity and concentration differ between materials, even among materials of the same grade 219 251.
• A material’s most prominent concept does not represent its entire contents. A material associated with hardness may also contain concepts relating to endurance, dimensions, and load-bearing capacity 280.
• Every supernatural material contains a small proportion of the concept of the supernatural itself 280.
• Physical form does not determine usefulness: materials include organs, bones, clothing, books, water, toys, and apparently ordinary manufactured objects 106 166 196.
• Grade is not the only measure of practical value. Chu Sheng considers a Sequence Nine curse-removing material more useful than a Sequence Eight material that merely increases weight 243.

Grades

Chu Sheng initially classifies materials into three grades, then encounters Sequence Six materials beyond that original classification 220 277.

• The fivefold increase described for Sequence Nine through Seven is not a universal comparison established for every higher grade; the later Sequence Six observation shows a much larger jump 219 277.
• Large quantities of low-grade material become inefficient for improving highly ranked items. More than 700 Sequence Nine materials raise the Netherworld Light’s three-digit ranking by only a little over thirty places 219.

Acquisition and Detection

Harvesting Anomalies

• Supernatural materials can remain after an Anomaly dissolves into black mist. The Sequence Eight Eerie Pig leaves four trotters and a roughly three-meter spine 19.
• Extraction while the Anomaly is alive preserves materials that might otherwise disappear. Chu Sheng uses this method to retain the brat Anomaly’s heart and additional Eerie Cat claw blades 25 26.
• Skilled dissection increases the recoverable yield. Butcher’s dismemberment of the Winged Snake Woman produces seven materials, including wings, mouthparts, a heart, flesh, a tail section, and a scale 96 97.
• Connected parts may be counted as one material. The Winged Snake Woman’s wings count as a single piece because Butcher removes them with the connecting bone intact 97.
• The Netherworld Light can digest consumed Anomalies and recover their supernatural materials; stronger Anomalies take longer to process 115.

Revived Anomalies

• Black mist from slain Anomalies can gather and revive them, sometimes combining into a stronger creature 243 255.
• Revived Anomalies do not drop supernatural materials again. Fang Hong’s divination identifies this as the explanation for encounters with creatures that yield no materials 255.

Detection and Evaluation

• Sequence Adepts can naturally sense the presence of supernatural materials, but this does not automatically reveal their contents 219.
• Chu Sheng’s Human Eyes, Cat Pupils reveal concentrations of black aura in an Anomaly’s body, allowing him to locate material-bearing parts during dissection 31.
• At Sequence Seven, the Heavenly Craftsman Sequence lets him perceive a material’s concepts and supernatural power. Continued development improves his ability to distinguish their quantity and strength 219.
• By Sequence Six, Chu Sheng can directly perceive and manipulate underlying concepts and traits during crafting 343.

Uses

Sacrificial Item Crafting

• The Heavenly Craftsman Sequence can combine supernatural materials with ordinary objects to create Sacrificial Items 12.
• Two supernatural materials can also be fused directly, as demonstrated by Human Eyes, Cat Pupils 30 31.
• Early fusion results are uncertain in both ability and appearance. Chu Sheng later develops much finer control over the outcome 48 187 343.
• Matching affinities guide the resulting item. A binding iron hoop and paper bearing a blood-written “master-servant contract” share an affinity that directs their fusion 67.
• A single material may reproduce only an incomplete version of its source Anomaly’s ability 98.
• Sacrificial Items normally impose usage costs. Chu Sheng is exempt from the costs of his creations, while ordinary survivors must meet their conditions 31.
• Forging depends on mental power with suitable Sequence characteristics. An Xi and Captain Hui fail to forge items with the same tools; Chu Sheng concludes that creation-oriented Sequences are better suited to the work 265.

Equipment and Structural Upgrades

• Fusing additional materials into an existing Sacrificial Item can improve its attributes, add abilities, and raise its ranking 135 166.
• Supplying materials can reduce the Survival Point cost of an upgrade 72.
• Material selection should match the user’s needs. Bone fragments give An Xi’s spear an anti-healing ability that helps her conserve her own combat powers 195.
• Hundreds of bone materials more than double the Netherworld Light’s defense, load tolerance, and hardness 219.
• Chu Sheng later incorporates his ordinary Sequence Nine stock into the Floating Island to strengthen it 351.

Other Sequence Applications

• Ghost-Taming: Supernatural materials act as anchors from which controlled Anomalies are summoned. If a summoned Anomaly dissipates without sufficient mental-power nourishment, its material disappears with it 148.
• Mechanism Puppets: Materials provide a foundation for stronger puppets. Their effectiveness depends on both material investment and the maker’s craftsmanship 315.
• Medicine: Crafting-related Sequences can use materials to produce medicine and other supplies 336.
• Cultivation spaces: Old Man Li’s space accepts supernatural materials and Sacrificial Items. Fusing yellow sand into it changes the soil and initially reduces growth acceleration from one hundredfold to fiftyfold 176.
• Intelligence development: Youming absorbs the supernatural concept within materials to nourish its intelligence or soul, with Chu Sheng’s permission 280.

Artificial and Sequence-Created Materials

Umbral Iron

• Chu Sheng uses the Flame Hammer to forge a Sequence Nine supernatural Iron Pot together with ordinary iron, producing a large quantity of umbral iron, described as pseudo-supernatural material 261 262.
• The transformation sacrifices a genuine supernatural material’s original form but creates enough usable material for numerous weapons 262.
• Umbral iron supports multiple related item types: daggers absorb and transfer energy, sabers convert mental power into slowing cold, and shields absorb and reflect energy attacks 265.
• Identical material and similar quantities do not guarantee identical strength. Chu Sheng notices that the later daggers are weaker than the first Frostshade Dagger 265.
• His forged items’ shared anti-betrayal cost reflects his own will and subconscious concerns, rather than material properties alone 265.

Supernatural Bones

• Lu Guan produces supernatural bones through the White Bone Sovereign’s power. One contains a trace of the Sovereign’s will and can summon mindless buried skeletons within one kilometer 236.

Notable Materials and Results

Trade and Economic Value

Supernatural materials initially appear useless to survivors who lack crafting abilities. Chu Sheng’s services turn those stockpiles into weapons and tools, and materials eventually become hard currency usable across crafting-related Sequences 32 336.

Documented Crafting Prices

Large-Scale Exchange

• Mechanical City recruitment: Wang Jianguo offers Chu Sheng control over a stockpile exceeding one thousand materials to encourage him to join 187.
• Energy contract: Chu Sheng offers either 333 random items from 1,000 materials or custom endless-energy items at 100 materials apiece. Mechanical City chooses four generator-based energy items and other items made from the remaining 600 materials 204.
• Stockpile depletion: After exchanges with the convoy, Mechanical City has fewer than one hundred of its original 2,132 materials remaining 208.
• Contribution-based distribution: The convoy allocates recovered materials according to combat and support contributions, with negotiated selection orders 19 97 250 259.
• Utility-based valuation: A Sequence Seven heart is counted as two materials because Chu Sheng can turn it into an engine that runs indefinitely 250.