The Attack of the Wastrel

Before Xin Yi’s battle ended, Gu Lingzhi was able to find out that the Town of the Brave was a battleground for people below the Martial Sage rank.

Gu Lingzhi stood silently in the corner as she watched the battle on stage.

Other than the battle arena that Xin Yi was on, there were nine other battle arenas in the area that were arranged in a circle. However, Xin Yi’s battle was far too alluring that Gu Lingzhi could not avert her eyes and did not bother checking out the others.

It is no wonder Xin Yi was ranked first among the Martial Students in the Royal School. His opponent was someone that had obviously been stuck in the Martial Student rank for quite a while and had a lot of experience in fighting. Despite this, Xin Yi did not seem to be disadvantaged at all. In fact, he seemed to be using his opponent as a validation to his accomplishments.

His opponent knew that his chances of winning Xin Yi was very low and cursed under his breath as he admitted defeat. He did not want to continue helping Xin Yi ‘train’.

As he shouted out ‘I lost’, the battle arena that Xin Yi was on flashed and the middle-aged man jumped off the stage.

It was only then that Gu Lingzhi realised that there was a transparent protective shield covering the battle arena. This allowed the participants to fight however they liked on stage without affecting the audience below.

After understanding the rules, she had to make preparations before registering!

She found the place that Ye Fei said was the best inn in the entire capital city. The inn was said to be the easiest to hide your identity and prevent people from finding you. Most importantly, it was an inn that was opened by the Ye Family. Gu Lingzhi requested a room and immediately entered the Inheritance Space the minute she stepped into it.

She first headed to the Spiritual Essence Spring to check on the status of the Palm Lotus that she grew. She realised that when she created an icy cold environment that mimicked the Snow Mountain, the roots of the Palm Lotus had actually developed quite healthily. Gu Lingzhi then went to the Weapon Forgery room.

She was thankful for the fair at the end of the Flower Hunt that allowed her to obtain numerous items. One of them was a material that allowed for concealment.

Gu Lingzhi had bought this piece of Black Steel Ore for 500 spirit stones. More accurately, it was the Black Liquid that was located in the rock.

The Black Liquid was a special ingredient used in weapons that had the ability to disconnect objects. It was found very occasionally in extremely old pieces of Black Steel Ores.

Gu Lingzhi happened to chance upon it when she was reading a book on special artefacts. She had thought that it had a very unique ability and took note of it. She did not expect that she would actually be able to find one.

It was not difficult to retrieve trapped liquids and was easy even for a first-timer like herself. The difficulty was in shaping the mask with the Black Liquid.

First, she had to heat up the piece of Black Steel Ore until it split open to expose the black concentrated Spiritual Fluid within it. Thereafter, she would then separate the fluid from the ore.

Gu Lingzhi took a few objects that she had in her Storage Ring that was similar to practice.

As all she needed was to shape the material she had into a mask, she did not require any intricate technique and her practice went relatively smooth. After practicing on over ten similar materials, she could finally shape the material into the shape that she wanted.

“Whew, it seems like I am more suited to make medicine,” Gu Lingzhi laughed at herself.

Eventually, she started to use the Black Liquid to create her mask.

Due to its special ability of isolation, the Black Liquid was a very precious material. However, most artefacts did not require this ability, hence it was of little value. The Black Liquid only took up the space of a thumb within the entire piece of ore which was almost as big as an entire human’s head.

Due to its low formation rate, the Black Liquid was slowly replaced by other materials.

Once she poured the Black Liquid into the weapon stove, Gu Lingzhi concentrated on controlling it. The small amount of liquid slowly changed and moulded itself into the shape of a mask.

As the mask formed, Gu Lingzhi knocked on the weapon stove repeatedly, making use of the tremble of the weapon stove to solidify the Black Liquid.

After an hour, Gu Lingzhi managed to successfully create a simple but imperfect mask that was as thick as an egg-shell.

As she retrieved her mask from the weapon stove, Gu Lingzhi tried to inject some spiritual energy through it. However, the spiritual energy bounced off the mask and was reflected elsewhere seeming to be controlled by something else. Satisfied, she tied two strings to her mask.

“Oh, it’s so ugly…” Gu Lingzhi could not help but looked down on her own mask as she tried it on.

Due to her lack of skills, both the right and left side of the mask was different and all she saw in the mirror was a rough-looking black mask.

Coming out of the Inheritance Space, Gu Lingzhi returned the room. After walking around in the vicinity for a bit, she found a quiet place and put on her mask, completely changing her identity as she headed back into the inn.

It was from that day that a talented young girl appeared in the Town of the Brave wearing an ugly-looking mask. No one knew her identity or how she had suddenly came to appear in the city. In an unbelievable speed, she emerged victorious amongst the many competitors.

From this moment, Gu Lingzhi who was not yet a legend, carried her apprehension and excitement with her as she entered the Town of the Brave, taking the first step to become an expert Martial Artist.