Chapter 484: Chapter 50: The Evil Master
On the Canglong Continent, soldiers and mercenaries are the two populations that most commonly use armor.
Although Dark Practitioners cultivate Dark Energy and can form a layer of protective Dark Armor around themselves, because most of them focus on refining Dark Energy and neglect the cultivation of spiritual power, the formation of the Xuan Qi Armor unavoidably takes time.
Depending on individual Cultivation levels and the specific Dark Skill practised, the time it takes for the Xuan Qi Armor to form also varies.
But in the heat of battle, even the blink of an eye is enough to cost a person their life.
Therefore, with the exception of certain support-type mercenaries such as Array Masters, Tattoo Masters, Healers, etc., particularly those proficient in close combat, most would wear armor.
Armor can effectively guard against enemy attacks, especially against the fierce claws and fangs of Dark Beasts, and can protect vital areas, making it an excellent tool for preserving life.
However, the majority of armors on the Canglong Continent are outdated in style and extremely heavy.
Take an ordinary two-star Heavy Crossbow mercenary for example, excluding other equipment, just the chest protective armor alone often weighs dozens of pounds, which greatly affects the mercenaries’ movement technique and speed.
By comparison, it is unavoidable that the Rao Ri Armor, one of the five pieces of Dragon Slayer Holy Armor from the Liu Xing Xuan Fire Array, stands out.
Made from a single piece of Red Bright Sun Stone, the Rao Ri Armor truly lives up to its name; it resembles the rising sun, and even under the dark night sky, the armor still flows with magnificent fire-oriented Dark Power.
At the heart protector on the chest, there is a sparkling Sunrise Stone, and each piece of the armor is only the size of a fingernail, pieced together nearly perfectly, with almost no gaps visible.
This design provides excellent protection against attacks, and even a needle as fine as an ox hair would find it nearly impossible to shake the defense of the Rao Ri Armor.
What’s more impressive is that the total weight of the armor is only six kilograms, so even a petite woman can wear it with ease.
No wonder Sha Xi took a liking to the Rao Ri Armor at first glance.
Indeed, several female mercenaries present, including Yue Jinghua, felt that among the five Holy Armors, the Rao Ri Armor was the most exceptional.
When they realized that Sha Xi had ultimately chosen the Rao Ri Helmet, a hint of disappointment appeared in their eyes.
"Oh, brainless, lacking discernment, ugly, don’t you go choosing something that looks good but is useless like that Goddess," the Gold Eater Worm said gloatingly, causing Yue Jinghua to wonder, was the Rao Ri Armor the worst among the five Holy Artifacts?
"Oh, silly, the name says it all, Rao Ri Armor – obviously it’s supposed to include both helmet and armor; take a look, what you see isn’t a complete Rao Ri Armor, it’s clearly just the armor without the helmet," the Gold Eater Worm pointed out, and only then did Yue Jinghua notice that the armor, which had captured everyone’s attention at first glance, indeed lacked a helmet.
For a set of armor, it can only exert its full potential when both helmet and armor are present; missing the helmet means the Rao Ri Armor has lost at least half its power.
The incomplete Rao Ri Armor naturally became a piece of junk in the Gold Eater Worm’s eyes.
However, Yue Jinghua also secretly wondered where the Rao Ri Helmet could be, or if there were more tricks behind the Liu Xing Xuan Fire Array, with the helmet hidden somewhere in the Dragon Palace.
As she pondered this, the Liu Xing Xuan Fire Array emitted a pulse of Dark Power, apparently, the Divine Court had already begun to Break Formation.
The pulse of Dark Power emitted by the five pieces of the Dragon Slayer Holy Armor differed from one another, although they were all located within the Liu Xing Xuan Fire Array, they were not completely stationary, but drifted in different areas of the Dark Fire Array.
The color of the Rao Ri Armor is fiery red, making it stand out the most among the Holy Armors’ Dark Light.
Sha Xi had set her sights on the Rao Ri Armor, but with her strength, entering the Liu Xing Xuan Fire Array alone would be quite risky, yet she must take action herself, which requires leveraging the help of others from the Divine Court.
It’s known that the Rao Ri Armor, a Holy Artifact, differs from Spiritual Artifacts. A Holy Artifact without an owner for many years is known as a Chaos Artifact.
To claim the Holy Artifact of Soul City as one’s own, one must first pass through the basic artifact awakening process.
This is done either by using one’s own Dark Power or Essence Blood to awaken the Holy Artifact.
Though Zong Shaoqing had agreed to Sha Xi’s request, he did not act personally; instead, two individuals from the Divine Court faction stepped forward.
One of them was Song Mu, who had been seen by Yue Jinghua, and the other wore a Judgement Envoy mask, rendering their face unrecognizable.
Song Mu leapt into the air, his sleeve flickering with Dark Light, causing everyone to momentarily lose their vision.
Suddenly, a dense ambush of Hidden Weapons raged down like a sudden storm upon the Liu Xing Dark Fire Array, where the first wave of Hidden Weapons was akin to nails sized Dark Energy Nails, each striking their target on the Liu Xing Dark Fire Array with unerring accuracy.
It turned out that Song Mu was also a master of Hidden Weapons.
The Hidden Weapons were both dense and rapid, striking with the ferocity of a tempest, omnipresent.
Upon impact with the Liu Xing Dark Fire Array, the array spat out a great number of sparks as if provoked.
Looking again, one could see Song Mu, unperturbed, his hands moving as swiftly as the wind, and even Yue Jinghua could only glimpse the rough technique behind his launch.
Amid the Dark Fire Array, sparks flying everywhere, he managed to resolve each with his Hidden Weapons.
After several waves of attacks, a small breach finally appeared on the Liu Xing Dark Fire Array.
It was then that the unidentified Judgement Envoy began chanting a Dark Technique, and with the majesty of a great roc spreading its wings, their tall figure shot up by several meters.
The Judgement Envoy then pushed out both hands in unison, as a shadowy and sinister Dark Wind found its way through the breach.
This Dark Wind was quite peculiar; as the Rao Ri Armor, which was originally drifting ceaselessly within the Liu Xing Dark Fire Array, approached the Dark Wind, it became sluggish as if a clay ox had sunk into the sea.
"Take-" The man inhaled deeply into his chest, and the Dark Wind seemed to voluntarily break through the Dark Array, acting as a sentient hand, forcibly pulling the Rao Ri Armor away from the Liu Xing Dark Fire Array.
"Please invite the Goddess," seeing that the Rao Ri Armor had been extracted from the Liu Xing Dark Fire Array, the pair respectfully invited Sha Xi forward to seize the treasure.
The spectators, except for Yue Jinghua and others, found such a concept of cooperative assault to be nothing unusual.
Sha Xi, far from feeling ashamed, gloated and sneered at Yue Jinghua before she leaped into action.
Just when everyone thought the Rao Ri Armor was already within Sha Xi’s grasp, an unexpected twist occurred.
Suddenly, just as Sha Xi was about to reach the Dark Fire Array, there was a violent fluctuation within the array, and from the breach pierced by the Hidden Weapons, a fierce burst of flames erupted violently.
The Rao Ri Helmet, tightly bound by the Dark Wind until now, let out a long wail amidst the fierce flames.
The unknown Judgement Envoy’s mask trembled slightly, as the Dark Wind in the sky scattered of its own accord.
Startled, Sha Xi cried out as the Rao Ri Armor she was nearly upon was about to be engulfed back into the Liu Xing Dark Fire Array.
Once again the vision blurred for the onlookers, as the unidentified Judgement Envoy flew in front of Sha Xi, only to be met with a fierce, raging Lie Huo directly spraying onto the face of the unknown Judgement Envoy, causing their mask to peel away and reveal their true face.
"Ximing," upon seeing the true face of the unknown Judgement Envoy, Yue Jinghua couldn’t help but be taken aback.