Qi flowed through my Meridians, rushing through various parts of my body as I guided it along, changing the cells, thousands at a time. I had neglected the Spirit Body Cultivation technique for long enough. The fact that it would take me decades, maybe even a century, to complete the Immortal Blood Undying Body technique, made me realize I was still too weak. Too weak to advance without first forging a Spirit Body. My flesh simply couldn’t take the strain for the next upgrade.
I had to follow the natural laws, even if I didn’t like them, slowly improving over time. My advantages would compound on each other and eventually, I would become truly invincible. Until then, though, I had to play by the rules.
While I slowly reformed my body into one of solid energy all by myself, Thener and his two helpers were busy testing the supposed growth capabilities of our new ebony alloy. While it might sound like a fantasy, the fact remained that the Dreadstone was everywhere, and the density of it got higher the deeper one went underground. Almost as if it was spreading. A possible remnant of an ancient weapon? Something similar to the infamous gray goo?
I didn’t dismiss the possibility. Crazier things happened when magic was involved, and the long-dead ancient people had millions of years to figure out the secrets of arcane arts and materials.
I didn’t even dare consider what I would do if a weapon growing in power would be possible. Such a thing was too fantastical to be real, too perfect for my needs. It would remain firmly in the realm of fantasy, I had no doubt.
That’s why I focused my all on enhancing my body. Making a copy of my flesh out of Qi was relatively easy, it just took a lot of time to do so with the many cells in my body. Reshaping those cells down the line, like the Immortal Blood Undying Body technique dictated, would become much easier if they were already made out of Qi.
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Another month went by and the research team came to me with exciting results.
“Master! We bring great news!” Thener announced.
[What is it? What did you discover?] I requested.
“A lot! With the new resources, we were able to figure out a lot of things.” The man summoned a table and slapped a stack of papers on top of it. “First thing, we discovered that pure Dreadstone can indeed be enhanced with Qi!”
[Oh?] We already suspected that, but I knew there was probably more to it if he brought it up.
“The stuff has a set saturation capacity, after which the material properties change. They improve by a significant margin!” He gestured at a graph showing how the strength of the material increased proportionally to the energy it contained, with a significant spike at the point of saturation.
“After reaching saturation, its inherent property of absorbing Qi disappears and it can be handled safely without effort or danger like any other piece of stone. However, the dissipation rate of Qi scales with size, so bigger pieces return to their active form much faster.” Thener continued.
“After each saturation and dissipation cycle, there was noted a small decrease in material strength, but-”
[Hold on, decrease?! I thought you said the strength increased?] I demanded.
“Ah, I’m getting there. After a full power cycle, the strength decreases, yes, however, if the object is left to slowly recuperate in a low Qi environment, not letting it get to the point of saturation, the strength gradually increases over time.”
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[Increses?] I lifted an eyebrow. That made no sense.
“We speculate that the saturation point boosts the strength of the material for a short time with the trade-off being the weakness until it slowly recovers back over time.” Thener explained.
[Hmm.] I rubbed my chin. [Could the true ceiling of the Dreadstone be much higher then? It can’t recover in this place, so maybe this is actually some sort of a super material that was rendered weak and fragile over time? Wait! Does the saturation point change in any way?]
“Ah, very smart, Master.” Thener nodded with a grin. “We thought of this as well and have made extensive tests. If left to slowly bathe in energy in a low Qi environment, the saturation point gradually increases, and similarly, if saturated multiple times over a short period of time, without the opportunity to recover, the material grows increasingly weaker.”
He patted a few papers and showed graphs where it was clearly visible how the material properties changed. My eyes went wide at that.
That was it. That was the ace I was looking for! A weapon that would grow and accumulate strength over time and could be powered up for an extra boost of power! It could be only used a few times in a row before it would start to deteriorate, but with time it could recover, maybe even grow stronger!
I leaned back on my throne, sighing, thinking of the possibilities.
“We have also tested the new alloy, and I can confirm that the same rules apply. The difference is that our creation has a much higher base set point, and the power-up is also much more pronounced. We are not sure if the decline is more extreme as well. It could be that we created a new kind of super material.”
[Interesting...] I grinned. That discovery had deep implications. [Keep a piece and see how far you can push it. This Dreadstone might be much more powerful than we originally imagined.]
“Yes, Master.” The man nodded. “Actually, we are already doing such experiments. The results should be known shortly. Until now, the longer the material was left to charge, the greater the improvement. The longest charge we have tested has been three weeks, and so far, there doesn’t seem to be any limits.”
I began to chuckle quietly. I refrained from rubbing my hands like an evil mastermind, but I was feeling great. How lucky was I to get thrown into the Lower Plane? The place was a massive treasure trove for me.
“Ah, I brought with me some early designs for the sword you requested. The sketches are still a bit rough, so please don’t hold back any judgment. I’m happy to change them.” Thener spread out a few papers on the table in front of me.
[Hmm!] I looked through the designs. I honestly didn’t know what I wanted, but every piece looked great, so I couldn’t decide which one I liked more.
[How is the resource production going? Need anything?] I asked instead of giving a definitive answer.
“Yes, well…” Thener hesitated a bit. “With the research going on at the same time, we are a bit behind schedule, but we should be able to catch up fairly soon. With the more hands-on experiments out of the way, only the long-lasting ones remain. The refinement of Celestial Metal is a slog, but I suspect we should be able to finish in a year, as promised.”
When I melted the golems, a lot of other contaminants were mixed in with the metal, forming a messy clump. Thener and company had to first refine the stuff back to its 99.999% purity before it would be good enough to use in the superalloy creation.
[Good, good.] I smiled. I liked the guy a lot. He was quick, reliable, and up to the point. His discoveries were a real ray of sunshine on my otherwise boring day of Body Cultivation.
Spirit Body was progressing well as I slowly, piece by piece, upgraded my body and changed from a physical being into an energy construct. Despite all my efforts, I still barely just stepped on the path of shedding my mortal vessel and exchanging it with something… greater.
I sadly lacked the ability to accurately measure my progress, but since the last measurement put me at about 5% conversion, I judged my state to be at around 7-8% after the conversation. A fast growth by any means, yet it still seemed slow to me.
I was at the Fourth Level of the Spirit Realm. Reaching 10% of Spirit Body was usually reserved for those at the cusp of breaking through to the Sky Realm. Yet I was already so close. With any luck, I would be able to fully complete the transformation before reaching that threshold. I could hardly wait.
As soon as I completed the Spirit body, I would be able to properly begin messing with the Immortal Blood Undying Body technique, and that’s what I really wanted. What I was doing, sitting on the throne and training, was just a stepping stone to true power.
It was a hard requirement for greatness. And so, without wasting any more time, I closed my eyes and concentrated.