Chapter 546: The New Cang Tie Han Armor
A silver-gray chanical Battle Armor quietly hovered in midair.
The armor was covered with scars. The faint treasure light that once circulated across its surface had long vanished without a trace. The entire armor was dim and dull, and all the talismans embedded within it had been completely exhausted. Due to being pushed to its limits, the armor was already on the verge of collapse.
It was the Cang Tie Han Armor.
Ning Zhuo stood before the Cang Tie Han Armor with his arms folded, frowning as he pondered deeply.
His battle with the Heaven and Earth Twin Ghosts had brought him trendous gains. It was not only the various spoils of war he had obtained—after surviving such a life-and-death battle, Ning Zhuo felt profound reflections and saw many of his own shortcomings.
“The Cang Tie Han Armor was left to by Mother. It consud a Foundation Establishnt Pill, allowing to possess Foundation Establishnt–level combat strength even while I was still in the Qi Refining Stage.”
“But after I advanced to the Foundation Establishnt Stage, I used this chanical Battle Armor much less.”
“After coming to Liangzhu Kingdom to join the army, the enhancent from military strength and national power allowed my own strength to reach Golden Core–level combat ability. That pushed this chanical Battle Armor even closer to being obsolete.”
“When facing the Heaven and Earth Twin Ghosts earlier, after the Sorsault Cloud was destroyed, I could only rely on this chanical Battle Armor as assistance for flight.”
Thinking of this, Ning Zhuo said to Sun Lingtong beside him, “Boss, I’m planning to modify the Cang Tie Han Armor and turn it into my flight tool.”
“After fighting the Heaven and Earth Twin Ghosts, I realized how necessary flight ability truly is!”
“My previous perspective and experience were far too narrow.”
“In normal combat, I must possess powerful flight capability.”
Upon hearing this, Sun Lingtong turned to glance at Ning Zhuo. “Normally speaking, Little Zhuo, you’re already at the second stage of Foundation Establishnt. You can start practicing flight now.”
For cultivators, flight was indeed a fundantal ability.
Qi Refining cultivators could not ride swords to fly. Foundation Establishnt cultivators could fly using flying swords, but their own mana could not sustain it for long.
Only at the Golden Core level could cultivators maintain long-distance sword flight and begin to master light-escape techniques. However, light-escape consud Golden Core power too fiercely and could not last long either.
That was the norm.
But what Ning Zhuo wanted was clearly not the standard under this norm.
He wanted extrely powerful flight capability so that when he fought the Heaven and Earth Twin Ghosts again in the future, he would have the ability to respond.
Sun Lingtong understood Ning Zhuo very well and tried to persuade him. “Look, we’re only Foundation Establishnt cultivators. Don’t always think about fighting the Heaven and Earth Twin Ghosts. That’s far too forced!”
“The proper approach is to flee far away, avoid them, escape, and patiently cultivate until your strength is closer before taking action.”
“Who tries to figure out how to deal with Nascent Soul cultivators while still in the Foundation Establishnt Stage?”
Ning Zhuo let out an “Ah,” looking sowhat enlightened but also confused.
He scratched the back of his head. “Would enemies spare you just because you’re weak? Just because we’re weak, does that an we’ll only encounter enemies around our own level?”
“Reality is cruel.”
“No matter how powerful the enemy is, we must do everything we can!”
Sun Lingtong fell silent.
He knew Ning Zhuo’s words ca entirely from the heart.
After all, since the age of two, Ning Zhuo had been constantly thinking day and night about how to deal with the City Lord’s Mansion led by the Nascent Soul cultivator ng Kui.
Ning Zhuo truly did not think there was anything strange about this way of thinking.
After all, this was how he had grown up. And during the struggle for the Lava Immortal Palace, he had defeated ng Kui, Zhu Xuanji, and others, ultimately becoming the one who benefited the most.
Sun Lingtong thought to himself again:
“To be honest, Little Zhuo’s combat strength is indeed sowhat monstrous.”
“His cultivation is only at the second stage of Foundation Establishnt, but by leveraging military strategy, chanism arts, Five Elents mastery, and other factors, he already possesses powerful Golden Core–level combat strength.”
“For such a cultivator, planning to fight Nascent Soul–level experts doesn’t seem that strange anymore.”
In ancient tis, when the cultivation arts were not yet developed, the primary standard for asuring a cultivator’s combat strength was their own cultivation level.
Later on, as the various cultivation arts flourished, magic treasures, divine abilities, and other thods beca major components of combat strength, allowing many cultivators to defeat opponents of higher realms.
By the later era, cultivation arts blossod like flowers. For example, the military strategist path’s collective power reached a qualitative transformation, further reducing the importance of cultivation level in combat strength.
And now, in this prosperous age of cultivation—like blazing oil poured upon a raging fire—cultivation level was rely one factor influencing combat power.
Sun Lingtong shrugged. “Little Zhuo, do whatever you want. Normal standards don’t apply to you. You’re a genius!”
Ning Zhuo gave a bitter smile. “Boss, between the two of us, there’s no need for polite words right now. I’m just an unlucky guy being hunted by the Heaven and Earth Twin Ghosts.”
“What else can I do?”
“I can only do everything I can to grow stronger and face such powerful enemies.”
Ning Zhuo focused his gaze on the Cang Tie Han Armor.
“Boss, the Cang Tie Han Armor was left to by my mother. I have feelings for it.”
“This ti, it helped again during battle.”
“When I wear it in combat, it feels like my mother is helping . That feeling is truly wonderful.”
“So I want to properly modify it and upgrade it, turning it into a flying weapon for facing powerful enemies.”
Sun Lingtong asked curiously, “Then what’s your preliminary modification plan?”
Ning Zhuo clearly had already thought it through and imdiately replied:
“First is its energy core. Originally it used a Foundation Establishnt Pill, but I’m thinking—could we replace it directly with a cultivator’s Golden Core?”
Sun Lingtong froze briefly. “That should be possible.”
“Think about it—the Wanli Dragon requires a Nascent Soul as its energy core. Upgrading the Cang Tie Han Armor’s energy core from a Foundation Establishnt Pill to a Golden Core is perfectly reasonable.”
“Exactly!” Ning Zhuo said. “My design for this part is mainly referencing the Wanli Dragon.”
“It’s just that Golden Cores are hard to obtain…”
Sun Lingtong imdiately interrupted, “What’s so hard about that?”
“Before, Golden Cores might have been hard to find. But Little Zhuo, don’t forget—we’re in the middle of a war right now.”
“In the battle against the Heaven and Earth Twin Ghosts just now, many Nascent Soul cultivators died. I’m certain even more Golden Core cultivators died.”
“Don’t we have a large amount of military rit about to arrive?”
“Use it to exchange for a Golden Core from Liangzhu Kingdom.”
“Even if the Thousand Peaks Forest campaign hasn’t captured one yet, I refuse to believe Liangzhu Kingdom’s treasury has none.”
“We just need to pay attention to how much military rit a Golden Core costs.”
“After all, soone else’s Golden Core is an external object. National Power Bricks are still the most beneficial for us. Opportunities like having a cultivation nation open its National Power Bricks are extrely rare!”
After Sun Lingtong reminded him, Ning Zhuo’s eyes suddenly lit up.
“Boss… if we can exchange for a Golden Core… could we also exchange for a Nascent Soul?”
“If we had a Nascent Soul, we wouldn’t need to use Spirit Stones to power the Wanli Dragon anymore—we could use the Nascent Soul instead.”
Previously, Sun and Ning had used Fire Essence. Later, when Fire Essence was insufficient, they switched to Spirit Stones.
But whether Fire Essence or Spirit Stones, they were consumables that would eventually run out.
Using a Nascent Soul was different.
If its energy was depleted, the Nascent Soul could operate its cultivation thod and absorb surrounding spiritual energy to recover.
Not only that, when a Nascent Soul used its own mana, it was far more efficient than directly consuming Fire Essence or Spirit Stones.
In short, using a Nascent Soul was extrely cost-effective.
Sun Lingtong paused slightly. “Exchanging for a Nascent Soul would be very difficult!”
“Because a Nascent Soul has self-awareness. For a cultivation nation to hand it out as a reward is quite taboo.”
“That’s practically no different from the actions of demonic paths.”
“But Golden Cores are fine. Many dicinal pills use Golden Cores as ingredients, and formations sotis use Golden Cores as formation nodes.”
Ning Zhuo nodded. “I see.”
“I’ll first contact the Three Generals Camp—no, I’ll contact Zhao Xi directly. Through him we can see if it’s possible to exchange for a Nascent Soul.”
“If that’s impossible, we’ll just exchange for a Golden Core.”
Previously, Zhao Xi had helped Ning Zhuo exchange for the Three-Yuan Treasure Exchange Talisman with remarkable efficiency. That ability left a deep impression on both Sun and Ning.
No wonder Zhao Xi thrived in Liangzhu Kingdom’s official circles.
So even though he knew exchanging for a Nascent Soul was taboo, Ning Zhuo still retained a bit of hope.
It was an expectation placed on Zhao Xi.
Ning Zhuo continued:
“Besides upgrading the energy core to a Golden Core, most of the materials of the Cang Tie Han Armor also need to be replaced with Golden Core–grade, or even Nascent Soul–grade materials.”
“I have three chanical work platforms, all at the Nascent Soul level. I also possess a large batch of precious materials. Processing materials and producing semi-finished products, chanical parts, and components won’t be a problem.”
Once the energy core was upgraded, the original body of the Cang Tie Han Armor would fall far behind.
A Foundation Establishnt–grade body could not support the power of a Golden Core. Once pushed to a certain level, it could even collapse and disintegrate on its own.
Sun Lingtong strongly agreed with Ning Zhuo’s plan. Improving the body materials was both necessary and inevitable.
“The next step will be the key modification,” Ning Zhuo said with a solemn expression.
He gestured toward the Cang Tie Han Armor while explaining:
“I plan to add a pair of wings to the Cang Tie Han Armor, modify its chanism structure, retain the chanism technique Wind-Thunder Movent, improve the chanism technique Azure Dragon Soaring Strike, and remove the chanism technique Iron Garnt Frost.”
After thinking for a mont, Sun Lingtong nodded again.
“Our Sorsault Cloud was destroyed, and even the treasure-grade Black Iron Cloud is gone.”
“To fight Golden Core cultivators and above, flight is essential. It’s the foundation of combat.”
“If you’re stuck on the ground, you’ll be extrely passive!”
“You’re modifying the Cang Tie Han Armor to achieve this goal. That’s excellent. I fully support you—but how exactly will you do it?”
“Will the wings mimic so bird species, or will they just be a simple shape pushed by formations?”
Ning Zhuo thought for a mont.
“For long-duration flight, it’s best to mimic nature. That’s the most natural and suitable approach.”
“A simple shape would rely on brute force—pushing forward violently using Golden Core power.”
“I’d rather take the technical route, haha.”
Sun Lingtong smiled and nodded.
The two began designing blueprints together.
Since the Cang Tie Han Armor had originally been a ground combat ch, converting it into a flight-focused device required modifying not only the wings but also the armor’s entire structure.
They first designed separately, then compared their designs, selecting and refining them until reaching a final result.
The shoulder armor ends were no longer raised upward but reshaped into streamlined downward curves.
The waist beca slimr. The arms and legs were lengthened. The arms could tightly adhere to the sides of the body and even lock into place. At the heels of the legs, fin-like structures could extend to help adjust flight direction.
A talisman formation was also designed under the feet. By igniting the talisman suppressing the formation node when necessary, it could unleash powerful thrust.
The most important design elent was the wings.
As expected of partners with great tacit understanding, both Sun and Ning chose swallow wings as the model. However, one used a spring swallow design, while the other used a sea swallow.
After combining their ideas and matching them with the new armor structure, the final design mimicked the wings of a Golden Swallow.
The Golden Swallow had an extrely high top speed—astonishingly fast.
Its weakness was poor burst acceleration.
However, when applied to the Cang Tie Han Armor, that weakness disappeared.
Because acceleration and burst power could be strongly boosted through Golden Core power and talismans.
This was the strength of chanism arts—it could compensate for weaknesses while amplifying strengths.
Since the wings were Golden Swallow wings, tal-attribute materials were naturally the most suitable.
At the beginning, Ning Zhuo had no strict material requirents, so he used one of the most common materials: tal Essence.
Modifying the external structure was easy. Using the chanical work platform, Ning Zhuo completed it very quickly.
He did not add talismans or formations yet. Instead, he first wore the armor and conducted low-altitude flight tests.
The test was initially successful.
The shape of the Cang Tie Han Armor was excellent, allowing it to cut through the air and effectively reduce wind resistance.
Ning Zhuo then began designing formations.
The most fundantal core of the formation system was the energy core.
Only by designing around it could the rest expand outward.
Since it would no longer use a Foundation Establishnt Pill but instead a Golden Core, the previous energy core structure had to be entirely discarded.
Considering the attribute of the Golden Core was unknown, Ning Zhuo decided to adopt a Five Elents Golden Core Wheel structure.
This concept ca partly from the old Foundation Establishnt Pill slot and partly from the Five Elents Spirit Conversion Wheel.
The Five Elents Spirit Conversion Wheel was one of the items Ning Zhuo had obtained while exploring the Lava Immortal Palace.
After combining the design principles of both, Ning Zhuo quickly created the Five Elents Golden Core Wheel.
The wheel contained a slot for embedding a Golden Core. As long as the Golden Core belonged to one of the Five Elents, the wheel could convert its mana into the other four elents.
After completing the energy core design, Ning Zhuo expanded outward.
A Piercing Arrow Formation was placed on the Golden Swallow wings to break through the air.
An Evergreen Formation was placed at the waist and abdon to sustain endurance.
Inside the armor, nurous Returning Flow Formations were engraved to balance and regulate internal and external air pressure.
A Fire-Spouting Formation was designed at the soles to accelerate the ch.
And a Earth Shield Formation was installed in the helt to enhance defense.
Using the chanical work platforms, the two quickly engraved formation runes across all the chanical components.
Once assembled, the new Cang Tie Han Armor retained only its internal spine structure; all other parts were rebuilt with new materials.
After connecting all the formation runes, Ning Zhuo began activating them one by one.
All formations passed on the first try without any issues.
Sun Lingtong sighed sincerely, “If we were arranging these formations ourselves, we’d probably ss up at least one or two. These chanical work platforms are really useful!”
With the preliminary version complete, Ning Zhuo imdiately wore the armor and began testing.
Since all the formations had been designed conservatively, the results were quite good.
After more than thirty tests, only five issues appeared—and they were minor.
For example, the thrust from the foot formations was uneven and needed adjustnt. Also, during long-distance flight the knee joints bent slightly, increasing wind resistance and causing overheating.
Ning Zhuo resolved these problems one by one.
After extensive improvents, frost circulation rings were added to the knee joints to resolve overheating.
The fire-spouting formation at the soles was upgraded into a Li-Fire Tongue-Spitting Formation, increasing thrust by more than ten tis.
The Piercing Arrow Formation on the Golden Swallow wings was upgraded to the White Tiger Army-Breaking Formation.
The Evergreen Formation at the waist was moved outside the armor and installed onto a specially designed chanical rope wrapped around the waist.
The Returning Flow Formation inside the armor was upgraded into a Yin-Yang Returning Flow Formation.
These improvents increased the performance of each formation by more than tenfold, dramatically boosting the ch’s overall power.
However, new problems appeared.
The tal Essence material could not withstand the enhanced performance. The Golden Swallow wings bore the greatest pressure and collapsed first.
Ning Zhuo replaced the material and modified the wing structure.
Previously the wings used a double-fold design.
Now they used a triple-fold structure.
After fixing the wings, further tests allowed Ning Zhuo to optimize the curvature of the wings.
He also adjusted the tolerance of the Five Elents Golden Core Wheel.
Twelve Divided Mind Mirrors were installed along the spine to improve control.
At last—
The Cang Tie Han Armor was reborn!
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