The sky above the square where the giant sword was on Mount Wuzhi was clear. The sunlight penetrated the thin cloud layers to radiate its light and warmth to the ground without reservation.
Even so, the people in the square could not sense this gift from nature at all.
Their view was already replaced by a red illusion while a penetrating cold intent surrounded them.
At this point, the Venerable Ones finally understood why Master Kurong kept a straight face and mercilessly drove away most of the people off the peak. It was not that he was trying to be strictly impartial nor was there an unspeakable secret behind this, but the formidable blacksmith had already experienced the suits’ enormous powers when he tested them earlier.
The red color looked simple as though the world was covered by a layer of light red luster.
Nonetheless, the people that were inside it knew very well the forceful power that the blood light contains. Even when nobody was using the illusion’s mightiness on purpose at the moment, they were feeling flighty and impetus by being inside the illusion alone.
Putting aside the Venerable Ones around Master Kurong, it was worth noting that apart from Ou Yangming and Qu Zhengde, the other people—including the powerhouses that were wearing the suits—that were left in the square were all top-grade Spiritualists.
Even they were affected by the blood light’s violent aura, so how could ordinary cultivators have remained calm? Those cultivators would have probably broken out into a fight due to their boiling blood and strong killing intents.
Moreover, in a situation where those cultivators’ will powers would be significantly weakened, they would not bother about the identities of their opponents. In a way, if the fight were to happen, they would attack and be attacked by everyone, and they would only end up in an unusually tragic situation.
This was the power of the Blood’s Illusion. As long as anyone was within the illusion’s range, they would be affected by the illusion’s power and would become so brutal and fierce that they would have the urge to destroy everything. Even if there were no enemies around them, they would go mad and take the initiative to attack their close friends. In fact, if nobody was around them, they would also shout at the top of their lungs until they eventually passed out due to exhaustion. If some of them were unlucky, they would even become depleted of their life forces and die.
Murder without a visible weapon—this was the best portrayal of the Blood’s Illusion.
Nevertheless, the illusion was not the only power that filled the peak.
The white frost and snow amidst the boundless blood light were not inferior to the illusion at all.
With that, the temperature at the peak began to drop bit by bit. Ordinary people might not be able to sense it, but the Venerable Ones had unimaginable sensing abilities toward the changes in the outside world. As such, even the slightest change could not hide from their spiritual senses.
As at this moment, they were surprised to find that the temperature around them had unknowingly reduced notably. What shocked them more was that it seemed like the temperature was going to drop without stopping. Although the reducing speed and margin had slowed down, it was still being lowered.
This ability had very much surpassed the limit of ordinary skills.
Ai Hongli remarked coldly and in a deep voice, “Master Kurong, the powers of these Equipment Skills seem to have reached the state where they can communicate with the universe.”
Master Kurong nodded and responded, “That’s right.”
Ai Hongli sounded confused as he asked, “But as far as I know, it’s nearly impossible for Equipment Skills to communicate with the universe. Isn’t that an ability unique to formation maps?”
At the end of the day, Equipment Skills were special abilities that were a level weaker than formation boards. Their advantage was their quick release speed and the fact that they almost did not have limits, but their powers could not be mentioned on equal terms with real formation maps.
After all, the materials, the energy, and even the preparation time that were required to set up a formation map could not be compared by that of a piece of equipment.
If a piece of equipment was mightier than a formation map, what would be the point of formation maps?
Master Kurong sighed and replied to Ai Hongli, “Normal pieces of equipment won’t be able to communicate with the universe, but these suits carry an incredibly precious treasure ore each.” He looked slightly regretful as he continued, “Those treasures ores are definitely qualified to be carved into formation eyes for large-scale formation maps. Ah, they’ll indeed allow pieces of equipment to communicate with the universe but… It’s such a pity.”
Everyone was struck dumb at first, then they immediately came to a sudden realization.
The illusion and the Ice Snow attribute were remarkable, but they could only threaten ordinary Spiritualists. Even though Venerable Ones like them would be troubled by the threats as well, the threats would not be lethal to them. On the other hand, if the precious treasure ores were carved into formation eyes for large-scale formations, nobody knew what the effects would be like.
Despite that, one could imagine how terrifying the power bred by a real formation would be by thinking about the Big Mountain-guarding Formations of the various sects.
In this aspect, the treasure ores might have created 2 rare equipment sets, but they were also wasted.
While everyone else fell silent, Yuqi the Venerable One asked out of the blue, “Master Kurong, pieces of Skill Equipment have withstandable limits, right?”
Master Kurong answered without any hesitation, “Yes, every Skill Equipment can activate its skill but each time they did, it would also be a difficult test for them. Normally, every activated skill should have a cooldown period so that the equipment can return to its peak state.”
Everyone had rather strange looks on their faces. When they listened to how Master Kurong described the pieces of equipment, they felt like he was talking about normal cultivators.
Perhaps top-notch blacksmiths like Master Kurong had regarded pieces of equipment as living things that were not much different from humans.
Yuqi the Venerable One kept quiet for some time before he further questioned, “But not that they’re continuously activating the Equipment Skills, won’t… The consumption be too high for the pieces of equipment?”
The red illusion and the falling snow did not weaken at all, and they were showing a growing trend instead. This meant that the 2 powerhouses were constantly activating the Equipment Skills to release their greatest powers.
Since Fang Kaiyou and Yi Haobo were top-grade Spiritualists, their foundations were so profound that they would not lack spiritual powers at all. However, how long more could the suits be used like that?
Everyone else including Ai Hongli was unwilling to see the suits being exhausted like that.
This was because they knew the pieces of equipment would likely be destroyed once they were over consumed.
It was an experience that they learned from countless bloody lessons in the past.
Many famous pieces of equipment had also been overused during special times, causing them to have cracks or their properties to decline. Furthermore, the damages were always irreversible.
As the competition went on, the powerhouses began to have this feeling as well.
Even if an outcome was determined, one of the suits or both of them would probably become useless.
They had a hunch that it was going to happen, but nobody stopped the fight.
This was because it was not a fight between the 2 powerhouses, but a fight that would affect the reputations of the 2 prefectures. Regardless of who might stop the fight, that party would be suspected of showing weakness, and it might cause their defeat in this competition. None of the Venerable Ones—not even Master Kurong or Ai Hongli—could bear the responsibility.
Everyone could only wait quietly at this time.
It was no longer a competition between the suits’ mightiness as it involved their endurances and durabilities. This was a higher-level test, and it was beyond the imaginations of ordinary people.
Ou Yangming quivered slightly and sensed the strong threat from the powerful energies around him.
He had smithed the Cold Snow Suit, but he could not withstand the might of the ice and snow when it was released. Besides, he could also sense the Blood’s Illusion’s power around him.
When the 2 skills combined, they became so harsh that they could not be withstood by ordinary Intermediate Spiritualists anymore.
Fang Kaiyou and Yi Haobo seemed like they were unmoved, but it was not only because they were top-grade Spiritualists. More importantly, since they were in charge of executing the Equipment Skills, they were immune to one of them and only needed to resist the other skill.
If not, they could not have been so relaxed.
All of a sudden, Yuqi the Venerable One’s soft voice was heard. “Master Ou, please come and join us here.”
Ou Yangming nodded. When he was about to go over, he noticed through the corner of his eyes Qu Zhengde, who was standing not far away from him.
The smithing master from Zhangzhou retrieved an equipment set from his interspatial bag and quickly put it on. Subsequently, a visible ripple was released from the equipment set and formed a light shield 10 meters away from him.
Whether it was the spiritual threat from the illusion of the physical pain from the ice and snow, they were offset by the light ring.
‘What a notable equipment power!
‘Now, that’s a blacksmith’s greatest trump card.’
Ou Yangming raised his thick eyebrow and stopped.
He scoffed and smirked before he retrieved his Star Trace Suit from his interspatial bag.
The Star Trace Suit’s main ability was not defensive power, but it would also be perfect in this situation.
After putting on the equipment set, Ou Yangming waved his hand. A red light was released from the suit at once, causing the illusion’s impact and the cold intent to be driven away.
It seemed like the temperature within the range that was covered by the flame increased a little.
Qu Zhengde looked at Ou Yangming in shock but also in admiration. Having said that, he did not know the young fellow was feeling rather anxious.
This was because Ou Yangming did not release the suit’s power but the restless Heavenly Phoenix Fire inside his sea of consciousness.
