This s.h.i.+eld wasn"t an ordinary saint item. Although Qian Jin couldn"t forge a saint item yet, he had the knowledge and was confident in his ability to judge weapons.

However, when Qian Jin obtained the other half s.h.i.+eld, the first half was already shattered and had merged in his body.

Right now, Qian Jin"s body was tougher than the half s.h.i.+eld, and only those on Linguan Skylan"s level could harm him. It was tough for other peak soul-power warriors to injure him without a top-tier weapon.

If anyone else got a hold of this half s.h.i.+eld, they could only use it as a protection and nothing else. Its use could only be utilized in Qian Jin"s hands.

Now, only Qian Jin could find this treasure, and all of this was made possible by… Qian Zhanxuan.

A mocking smile appeared on Qian Jin"s face.

"Comrade, are you sure?" Fanta Kunge instantly became high-spirited as he thought, "Saint item set! I have seen saint items. How much power than they unleash if I"m equipped with them? I can probably battle saint warriors without being one myself."

Zence Matten"s eyes lit up as strange glints flashed. He asked, "A mysterious person? Since this person has access to a saint item set, why would this person give it away? Would you give it away if you were this person?

Qian Jin looked at the excited Duren Burg and thought, "This hydra bloodline warrior must have considered this issue. Who would be so nice as to secretly gift others this half s.h.i.+eld and give out the location of a saint item set? If this person knows all this, why didn"t this person go and get it? Duren Burg isn"t stupid, so he must have thought about it. But…"

"But…" Qian Jin played with the half s.h.i.+eld in his hand and said, "Now that you know there is something wrong, will you not go and claim the saint item set?"

Zence Matten smiled and thought, "I"m too focused on the potential scheme and forgot another important question. Everyone will want to go and find it. A saint item set! Even if we know that there is a scheme behind this, we would still try to fight for it!"

Even ignoring other things, they had to take the risk and fight so that they could have a better chance at the New Generation Compet.i.tion.

In that compet.i.tion, the seniors in different families wouldn"t be cheap and would fully support the younger warriors.

Since this year"s compet.i.tion would determine which ultimate bloodline was the strongest, it would be crueler and more cutthroat compared to the compet.i.tion from years past.

Saint items will appear on stage for sure. Only those ancient families could have such items, and it was an area that Qian Jin and his peers lacked.

Even though Qian Jin could forge soul weapons, they were better used to help warriors advance to the Saint Warrior Realm. Although they were stronger than supreme warrior weapons in combat, they were no match for saint weapons. The difference between a soul weapon and a saint weapon was similar to the difference between a soul-power warrior and a saint warrior.

"The Ancient Desert Sea is a place full of treasures of legend. Even if this treasure location is fake, we can still try to find other treasures. I"m sure that the Fanta Family has collected many treasure maps that can be either fake or real, right?" Qian Jin asked with a smile.

"That is for sure. Why don"t we try to find it? This s.h.i.+eld"s material is interesting, to say the least." Zence Matten glanced at the teapot beside Qian Jin and said, "If such a great s.h.i.+eld is only used to be a part of a trap, it is a little too wasteful. At least the location that this s.h.i.+eld doc.u.ments must be real."

Qian Jin continued to observe the half s.h.i.+eld in his hand as he tried to recall the other half s.h.i.+eld. He continued to compare the two and imagined how he could forge and fix them.

When forging better equipment, there were shortcuts, and one of them was observing great equipment. Through observing the forge hammers that Uncle Blake used in Endless World, Qian Jin understood many concepts, and he was more confident in forging soul weapons.

Now seeing this half s.h.i.+eld, he compared it with the surface of the cut on the other half s.h.i.+eld, and he suddenly felt like many concepts that he read about in Uncle Blake"s notes and couldn"t understand became more apparent in his mind at this moment.

"So, that is how it is." Qian Jin zapped his lips. Although he still couldn"t forge a saint weapon, his proficiency in making soul weapon increased. This was not a result of observing the half s.h.i.+eld in his hand but the internal inspection of the half s.h.i.+eld in his body.

Under the stimulation of the half s.h.i.+eld in Qian Jin"s hand, the shattered half s.h.i.+eld made Qian Jin experience how it was forged.

Inside a desert, there was a giant volcano. While suffocating heat flowed around, dozens of hammers were used as they forged this s.h.i.+eld from different angles. Just like what Uncle Blake said, only one hammer can never forge top-tier equipment.

Without top-tier materials, it was also impossible to forge top-tier equipment.

A ton of materials that Qian Jin drooled over was added into the s.h.i.+eld continuously.

"This forging technique looks familiar." Qian Jin"s mouth opened wider and wider as he thought, "Isn"t this the Eighteen Blade Elevating Strikes?"

There were so many things that Qian Jin didn"t understand.

Qian Jin only mastered the first five hammering techniques, but this s.h.i.+eld was forged using all 18 hammering techniques. The skill and aura of each hammering technique were shocking. It felt like as long as this creator wanted, he could break mountains and shatter the stars.

Gradually, Qian Jin forgot that there were others around him. He quietly watched the forging process of this s.h.i.+eld. At this moment, the warrior soul of the Heart of Earthly Fire rose into the air without Qian Jin"s control, and the warrior soul of the third warrior heart also rose up, creating a swirl and a suction force. It felt like it wanted to pull these scenes into the whirlwind forcefully. However, unlike the fighting techniques that Qian Jin learned, these scenes couldn"t be easily sucked into the vortex.

Difficult… it was challenging, but the scenes were being pulled slightly.

Qian Jin didn"t notice the changes around him and in his body; he was too absorbed in the forging process.

Gradually, Qian Jin felt like he wasn"t a bystander. It was as if he entered this creator"s body, he experienced the process from a first-person perspective. Experiencing it and seeing it were completely different concepts.

This experience was surreal. Qian Jin was surprised by and learned from each strike. He felt like his understanding as a blacksmith increased with every pa.s.sing second.

Time slowly pa.s.sed by.

Duren Burg sat beside Qian Jin in silence, and he didn"t make any noises to interrupt.

Zence Matten also kept quiet and observed on the side. Qian Jin didn"t have a confused expression but a unique expression showing that he was in a state of epiphany. Although he wasn"t sure where the inspiration came from, Zence Matten knew that it was best not to interrupt Qian Jin at this moment.

The state of epiphany was unique and rarely occurred. But when it happened, the person who experienced it would achieve a breakthrough.

Hammer! Duren Burg looked at Qian Jin"s second warrior soul that looked like a black-armored warrior whose face couldn"t be seen. At this moment, it started to twist and transform.

"d.a.m.n!" Duren Burg couldn"t hold it back and cussed quietly. After a warrior soul was formed, it wouldn"t change much. The small changes to a warrior soul signaled improvements in strength.

Right now, one of Qian Jin"s giant warrior souls was slowly transforming into a hammer. Duren Burg had never heard of such a situation.

"Monster!" Duren Burg looked at Qian Jin"s fast-transforming warrior soul and sighed.

Zence Matten rolled his eyes at Duren Burg and thought, "How can this guy call someone else a monster? Isn"t he a monster? He has an infancy soul realm before becoming a saint warrior. Also, he has a pair of unique eyes. He hasn"t told anyone about his abilities yet!"

Zence Matten even suspected that Duren Burg could awaken his bloodline at any time now. However, he was suppressing it and trying to acc.u.mulate more strength beforehand.

"You are all monsters." Zence Matten replied to Duren Burg.

"Aren"t you a monster as well?" Duren Burg smiled as he looked at Zence Matten and thought, "This kid is a mage who mastered spiritual energy. Although his combat strength is the weakest in the group, his supporting abilities in a group fight are crucial and significant."

In those high-level battles, life and death were only a millimeter apart, and a small error in judgment would end up with entirely different results. Zence Matten"s spiritual energy could affect others" minds, and it was lethal when two masters were fighting each other.

Zence Matten kept up his das.h.i.+ng aura and said, "I"m also a monster."

Bam!

In the sky, Qian Jin"s warrior soul that originated from the Heart of Earthly Fire wholly transformed into a giant hammer with many patterns; those patterns were the marks of warrior seals.

The hammer warrior soul slowly descended from the sky and landed in Qian Jin"s hand. Although the hammer was several times larger than Qian Jin, it didn"t look strange when he held it. At the same time, others could sense the intense and destructive power from the hammer.

Qian Jin"s eyes suddenly opened, and he smiled when he looked at the hammer in his hand. The Sixth Hammering Technique!

Out of the 18 strikes, Qian Jin had comprehended six of them. He was surprised that the shattered half s.h.i.+eld brought him such unimaginable benefits, but the price was a human life, the life of his loved one.

If he could, Qian Jin would choose not to have any warrior souls in exchange for Uncle Fabreidis" life.

"Qian Jin, treat the people around you well." Zence Matten said as he patted Qian Jin"s shoulder and smoothly grabbed the teapot beside Qian Jin before placing it in his warrior dimension. He continued, "We need to lament over the dead, but we also have to treat the people around us well. Otherwise, if you only think of them when they are dead, what is the meaning in that?"