Chapter 404: Talent Equipment
Boss Huang revealed a confused gaze as he lifted the Demon Infant’s body. He was honest as he explained, “All these are considered fossils, but this...this one is somehow still alive, so it can’t really be called a fossil.
Tang Ling was frightened. He was fortunate enough to kill the Demon Infant, yet the boss said it was still alive? With that in mind, Tang Ling quickly recalled every single detail during the kill.
He quickly grabbed his backpack and took something out. It was a normal-looking ceramic bottle containing water inside.
Back in the dream, the man with the blonde hair had fused with the Demon Infant although he had been running away from those black-robed clergies. Tang Ling believed it was not because the man was not a match for those black-robed clergies because the latter were the most powerful goons even in the Purple Moon era.
He believed the man with the blonde hair escaped because of this bottle of water. When he got the chance to speak with the man, the man had not been in good shape and had also been in a hurry to kill the reinforcements from the Fallen Star Church, thus he did not have the time to discuss the bottle.
“What’s this?” Boss Huang took the bottle.
“When I killed this thing, I have a feeling that this bottle of water played a crucial part, but I don’t have any evidence to prove its use,” said Tang Ling.
Boss Huang analyzed the bottle in silence. His eyes were more powerful than some tester machines, but even so, Boss Huang was perplexed. It was obvious that he had no answers to Tang Ling’s questions either.
“I’ll have to study the contents before I give you an answer in three to five days.” Boss Huang kept the ceramic bottle away.
He then pointed at the Demon Infant and said, “You might think it’s still alive but it’s not. It’s actually dead, but there’s something in its body that is still alive like a dead person that has some live cells or nerves inside the body. Do you get what I mean?” Boss Huang himself was not very sure about his explanation.
After all, there were a plethora of strange living beings in the Purple Moon era, let alone the Dream Domain. Anything was possible inside the freaky dream and it was only normal for Boss Huang to not have an answer or be confused.
“Okay...” Tang Ling was slightly depressed. It seemed like he could not get answers from Boss Huang.
That bastard Kun must have known Boss Huang would not have the answer. Otherwise, he would not have told Tang Ling to keep the Demon Infant first. If Kun knew, why did he not tell Tang Ling about it? As the owner of the Mysterious Store, did he not have the duty to inform his customers?
However, judging from Kun’s reaction, the man was not worried about Tang Ling not knowing what to do with it, so what should Tang Ling do with it?
Since he was at a dead-end, he had to suppress the depression and ask the boss about the pile of gloves and crusts.
“These are all decent materials that can be used to make weapons and inner armor, especially these few pieces and the gloves...Well, it should be a type of skin from a certain living being. It’s like the skin between the crust and the flesh. It can be used to forge an inner armor with decent defenses.” Boss Huang was over the moon. After all, he was a blacksmith, and it was normal for a blacksmith to discern decent materials.
“Decent defenses? How decent?” Thrilled, Tang Ling actually had his own thoughts about the materials.
“First of all, aside from the solid defense, it’s tough enough. Even a Grade A alloy weapon will have a hard time breaking it. Of course, it depends on the user as well. Why don’t you wear it and I’ll attack? I can take you out with a Grade A alloy weapon.
“Other than that, it’s light. It won’t affect your movements and it’s tenacious enough, so it can sustain more impact. More importantly, folding technology can be applied to this material.”
“What’s folding technology?” Tang Ling asked.
“The armor of a Purple Moon Warrior.” Although Boss Huang’s explanation was simple, Tang Ling understood it. A Purple Moon Warrior’s armor was usually kept in a pendant which was made possible by the folding technology.
“On top of that, its structure can mitigate a portion of the impact and reduce the possibility of an internal injury greatly. It can also sustain high temperatures, but since heat can be conducted, even if it doesn’t burn, you will die from the heat first,” Boss Huang added an ironic comment.
Tang Ling was sweating nervously. He had killed one of the white-robed apologists by fire and the effect was as Boss Huang said. While the white-robed apologist might have died, a lot of its crust was left behind.
“Most importantly, using the skin to make gloves is a total waste. First of all, the defenses and stretchability are great with the latter compared to the former. It can also sustain shock. The best thing you can use it for is to make a padding mail under the armor, but since you have these many, you can make a tactical movement disk out of it.” Boss Huang fished out a cigarette and explained as he lit it.
A tactical movement disk!
Tang Ling’s eyes shone. One of his most desired equipment would certainly be the tactical movement disk. It was the perfect match for his Precise Instinct! The life-saving equipment of all life-saving equipment!
Boss Huang did not notice the yearning gaze in Tang Ling’s eyes as he continued, “All the crusts can also be used to make what I said just now. These few pieces are the best. They can be forged into the best armor, but aren’t better than a piece of talent equipment. Do note that defensive gears are more valuable than weapons since they are harder to forge.”
“Boss, what’s talent equipment?” Tang Ling’s curiosity was always overflowing and he would want to find out about a new term whenever he heard of it.
“It’s simple. An equipment with talent is called talent equipment. Your Blood Bulrush Sword is also a talent equipment.”
“Do you mean that all weapons forged using superalloy are talent equipment?” Tang Ling asked.
“It’s not that simple though. A piece of equipment cannot be categorized based on its material. For example, if a weapon uses Grade S alloy as its main ingredient and a tiny bit of superalloy is mixed in the process, does that make it a piece of talent equipment? No, the talent equipment must have the talent to be categorized as one, and the odds of that are slim, probably a little better than zero. Therefore, these weapons cannot be labeled talent equipment.”
“Besides, that’s just one of the reasons. There are also other reasons like the effect of super technology and the varieties of materials. I suppose you’ve heard of the varieties of materials like how your Blood Bulrush Sword came from a natural source but can still be categorized as talent equipment. Meanwhile, super technology can also affect the properties of talent equipment.” Boss Huang’s explanation was lengthy and full of gusto.
He stood up and opened the mysterious storeroom in the smithing room. He went in and searched for something while Tang Ling patiently waited.
Less than a minute later, Boss Huang came out with a greatsword and passed it to Tang Ling.
The greatsword was heavy. Even though Tang Ling already possessed the strength of nine bulls and a tiger, he could not wield it properly.
With the cigarette in his mouth, Boss Huang said with a mocking smile, “This is one of the weapons that my client has ordered from me. I just finished it a few days ago.
“This client is a Rank 4 Purple Moon Warrior. Just think about it. How shabby can the weapon of a Rank 4 Purple Moon Warrior be? However, his luck doesn’t live up to his name. Even until now, he still hasn’t found himself a suitable attribute and a sufficient amount of superalloy. He didn’t want to compromise, so he spent a fortune buying a super technological chip and asked me to make this greatsword.
“This greatsword is an interesting one because the client is someone who’s infatuated with a certain culture of the old civilization. This greatsword is a replica of a weapon shown in an old civilization movie called ‘Final Fantasy’ if I got the name right.”
As he spoke, Boss Huang took the greatsword from Tang Ling and meddled around with it. Then, the greatsword split up into five swords and a saber and floated behind him.
The sudden transformation shocked Tang Ling to the core. It was probably the coolest thing he had ever seen but was it useful?
Boss Huang did not explain verbally. He reached out to the saber and with a single slash, a blue flame swirled from the blade. At that very moment, another saber appeared in his other hand, and with a tight grip, the saber burst into flames.
The boss then released the two sabers, and as he clapped his hands, all the separated weapons were combined into the greatsword again. Wielding it with two hands and bringing it down with a swing, the fierce flames formed a roaring tiger head and flew towards Tang Ling.
Right before it hit Tang Ling, the boss casually scattered the flames.
“Not much use, I see...” Boss Huang looked asquint at Tang Ling.
Tang Ling was awestruck. He was not frightened but envious! This greatsword was even cooler than the coolest weapon that he saw—Anthony’s Night Lightning.
“The weapon’s separation and combination are all commanded by the super technological chip installed inside, including the control over the flames. I didn’t use a tinge of superalloy while forging this weapon. Everything was done with Grade S alloy because other than lacking the attributes, be it the rigidity or the tenacity, Grade S alloy is tougher than a lot of superalloy. Of course, the chip was only one of the important parts of the weapon. So, what do you think of its effect?” Ever since Boss Huang had the thought of letting Tang Ling take over the smithing business, his explanation had been exceptionally detailed without him even realizing it.
Tang Ling’s eyes were shining while his heart was beating vigorously and he was deeply impressed. A man could never escape his love for weapons.
Boss Huang was pleased by his reaction. He put the greatsword back into his storeroom and said after he came back, “First, you must understand that in the Purple Moon era, all equipment has its own category, but of course, talent equipment also acts as the divider between categories as talent weapons and armors have their own categories. All weapon grades below the talent equipment line also have their own categories.”
“Weapons and armors above the Talent grade are categorized as Heavenly, Earthly, Onyx, and Gold. As for the others below the Talent grade, they all share the same categories as materials such as Grade S, A, B, and so on. However, Grade A alloy doesn’t always forge into a Grade A weapon.”
Boss Huang believed he must fill Tang Ling up with the best material knowledge from this particular aspect.