Chapter 131: Supreme Weapon Talent Infusion (Bonus Chapter 5/5)
The Thousand Mist Forest was silent as death. It was nightmare in the cultivation world, so there was no one at the entrance and probably very little chance of meeting anyone.
Liam sighed and walked into the forest. He walked carefully, every footstep crunching against damp leaves and stone. Hours passed as he searched. His eyes scanned the twisting roots and gnarled trunks for a place that felt both secluded and defensible.
At last, he found it: a cavern mouth, jagged and dark, yawning like the maw of some ancient creature. He pulled out his phone, switching on the flashlight, and stepped inside. The beam of light swept over damp walls and long shadows. The deeper he went, the colder the air grew.
He observed his surroundings, spreading out his senses and making sure that he was careful. He had walked for a couple of minutes before he started hearing the sound of heavy breathing.
It was like a deep rumbling of breath, vibrating against stone.
Liam froze and his first instinct was to retreat, but his eyes narrowed as the beam of his flashlight touched a hulking silhouette sprawled at the far end of the cave.
The Ironblood Bear.
The same beast he had fought on his very first night in this world. Its massive body shifted slightly with each breath, chest rising and falling like a living mountain.
Liam’s lips curved into a strange smile. "So it’s you."
He walked closer, cautious but unafraid. The bear stiffened, its breathing faltering for a moment, as though it sensed him even in its slumber.
Liam frowned slightly, then smiled.
"Are you really sleeping or pretending to be asleep?" He asked the bear.
He naturally didn’t get a response and wasn’t expecting to get one in the first place.
He smiled, as he lowered himself to the ground beside the massive creature, the cold stone pressing against his legs. Slowly, gently, he reached out and laid a hand against its fur, caressing it gently, but the beast didn’t move.
"You can sleep as much as you want," Liam murmured, his voice quiet but steady. "But please... protect me. Just this once."
He wasn’t sure if it understood. Perhaps it didn’t. But his heart eased at the thought. He would face something terrifying tonight, something even he couldn’t fully comprehend. To have even the illusion of a guardian by his side was a relief.
He exhaled deeply, his nerves taut. "System. Begin the infusion process."
[Initiating infusion of Myriad Armament Constitution...]
At once, Liam felt like something broke inside him. It was like a dam shattering and a flood of power surged into his body.
And immediately, the world around him began to change.
The bear’s eyes snapped open the next moment and it was filled with fear. It wasn’t just because of Liam’s figure, but the aura radiating from his body.
It felt that it was in danger and would die if it doesn’t get as far away from this human as possible, and it immediately made a run for it.
***
Outside the cave, across nearby sects and clans, disciples jolted awake in terror as swords unsheathed themselves from their racks.
Spears rattled violently against walls, bows bent taut without arrows, and shields glowed faintly as if saluting an unseen master.
In forges, blacksmiths dropped their hammers as half-finished blades trembled in their fires.
High above the Thousand Mist Forest, constellations blazed with unnatural brilliance. Swords, sabers, spears, bows, axes, and staves shimmered across the night sky, their outlines clearer than the stars themselves, burning like divine proclamations etched into eternity.
Wind screamed through the forest as a storm of metallic qi erupted. The very air turned sharp, filled with invisible blades. Mortals across the land clutched their chests as their blood surged, their minds swept by phantom war cries. For a moment, they felt themselves as soldiers again, marching to war.
In the heavens, Tribulation clouds boiled into existence, black and violent, thunder roiling in their depths. Yet they hesitated to strike. Instead, they churned uneasily, as though trying to smother the phenomena, to hide it from the eyes of the wider cosmos.
***
Inside the cave, in Liam’s mind’s eye, he stood on an endless battlefield. Weapons rained from the heavens — swords plunging into the earth, spears falling like meteors, arrows blotting out the sky. Each weapon pulsed with its own Dao, pressing against him with suffocating force.
"This is... insane..." he gasped, staggering.
Instinctively, his hand reached for a sword. The instant his fingers closed around the hilt, knowledge flooded him — sword intent, slashing patterns, the Dao of sharpness.
He released it in shock, only for his hand to brush against a spear. Instantly the flow shifted — thrusts, momentum, the unstoppable force of piercing heaven and earth.
And like that, every weapon he touched carved its Dao into his soul, their wills colliding, threatening to tear him apart.
His mind screamed under the weight. Yet something within him absorbed them, wove them together, began harmonizing the chaos into unity.
***
The phenomena outside escalated, as the air around Liam quaked. Sword qi slashed outward, saber intent cleaved through stone wall of the cave, spear force drilled holes into the cavern walls, bow pressure bent the very air.
Within miles, cultivators and mortals alike staggered, feeling as though they stood on an ancient battlefield. Ten Thousand Echoes thundered in the fog, the clash of steel and cries of armies long gone. Phantom soldiers marched, banners snapping in ghostly wind.
Around Liam, golden glyphs in the shape of weapons spun in orbit around him — Dao Manifestations, inscriptions of supreme weapon paths inscribing themselves into the void.
The Heavens could no longer hold back as lightning ripped the sky and crashed into the cave.
The first strike slammed into Liam’s chest, agony exploding through him. Flesh charred, bones fractured, and blood boiled. Smoke rose from his skin as his body convulsed violently.
"ARRGGHHHHH!" He let out a raw, primal scream that shook the cavern.
Yet even as his flesh blackened, his regenerative traits did their job, as his body healed rapidly, with his torn muscle re-knitting and closing up.
The second bolt fell before he could recover completely. Then the third. Then the fourth.
Each strike tore him apart and each strike rebuilt him. Death clawed at him again and again, and again he resisted, dragging himself back with sheer will.
Sweat and blood drenched him, his voice long gone and his throat raw from endless screams. His teeth clenched until they cracked.
"This... is... NOTHING!" Liam roared through the storm, his voice thundering through it.
***
An unknown amount of time passed and things started changing. The intensity of the lighting strikes reduced and same was for the phenomenons around the world.
But it wasn’t over as across the land, every weapon — from peasant blades to divine artifacts — tilted slightly, bowing toward Liam’s direction: the forest. Cultivators froze in terror as their weapons betrayed them, acknowledging a new master.
Above, the constellations themselves rearranged. The Sword Star stretched into a perfect blade. The Spear Star elongated, unbroken. Bow, axe, staff — each constellation shifted, as if declaring to all: a new wielder of every arm had risen.
But the intensity of the phantom army increased, as for dozens of miles, mortals and cultivators gasped in horror as soldiers of light and shadow continued to march with banners high, drums booming like war thunder, their weapons clashing in eternal battle.
From Liam’s battered body, a pillar of golden light burst forth, streaked with rainbow hues. It tore into the heavens like a beacon.
***
Back in the cave, Liam’s body collapsed forward, steam rising from his skin. His chest heaved as the final bolt of lightning dissipated.
The golden runes slowly faded, the phantom armies vanished into mist, and the constellations dimmed to their normal state. The forest fell eerily silent once again.
Liam opened his eyes and they gleamed with sharpness, as though countless blades lived within them.
Immediately, he took the best possible action, as he vanished from the cave and appeared in his room back on Earth.