Chapter 223: Weapon System Launch (Begging for Monthly Tickets)

Meng Yuan Chu's altar.

Qi Sheng had watched the Divine King's encounter with his own eyes.

In fact, he had long since considered the question of how a player trapped in captivity might escape.

The solution, in truth, was very simple.

It didn't even require building an extra function — the existing Challenger System could handle it.

He only needed to have his guide avatar destroy the player's physical structure, so that death would trigger a Hyperdimensional extraction to Imperial Tomb Village for a Flesh and Blood Weight reconstruction.

It hadn't been opened earlier because there were simply no similar cases to consider.

Seeing the Divine King imprisoned this time, he had considered opening this function up for players to use.

Although the "Fixed-Point Teleport" exchanged for Enlightenment Info Orbs could also allow an escape at any time, the price was right there.

One Enlightenment Info Orb currently sold for 2 points of Shou Shou Jili on the trading floor.

A single Huicheng teleport cost 2,000 points of Shou Shou Jili.

For the Divine King it was nothing — he'd happily spend even twenty thousand Shou Shou Jili just to get free.

For ordinary players, however, that expense was genuinely steep.

But the exact timing of the opening was still to be decided.

A crisis in the players' eyes was nothing more than a problem Qi Sheng could solve with a single thought.

What concerned him more right now was the launch of the weapon system.

Just now, he had received a connection from the Hyperdimensional, confirming that the weapon system had officially been linked to the Challenger System.

As always, when it came to newly launched functions, he simply opened them up to players directly — he had no intention of hoarding a pile of features and dumping them all at once with a version update.

A few minutes later, a server-wide update notification rang through every player's mind.

The update contents were also posted simultaneously on the forum as an official thread, drawing large numbers of forum players into the discussion.

【Challenger Notice (Server-Wide): The game is about to undergo a content update. Upon completion of this update, a new functional building will be launched in Imperial Tomb Village: the Weapon Forge.】

Poster: Guide (Verified Official)

Contents:

Update Content 1: Weapon Forge.

Functional Building Coordinates: Imperial Tomb Village — East District (marked on the map with a "War Hammer" icon).

Functional Building Introduction:

Weapon Forging: Provides custom weapon services. Players can automatically assemble weapon types and craft exclusive weapons.

Weapon Enhancement: Custom weapons can be strengthened and upgraded at the cost of Shou Shou Jili (Note: enhancement has no failure rate — 100% success).

Damaged Weapon Repair: Spend Shou Shou Jili to repair weapons damaged in combat and restore them to optimal condition (Shangcheng Repair Stones can only repair template weapons, not rule-customized weapons).

Weapon Enchantment: Must be performed during the forging stage, granting the weapon additional characteristic attribute bonuses.

Update Content 2: Random Hidden Quests.

Update Introduction: When players explore regions of the Pale Continent, they have a chance to randomly trigger hidden resource quests. Completing them yields hidden resource rewards.

Update Content 3: Weapon Forging Competition.

Update Introduction: After the update concludes, a 72-hour Weapon Forging Competition will open. Players may participate by forging weapons to take on the event challenge. For full details, enter the Forging Competition space.

……

After the update notification, Imperial Tomb Village trembled.

In the East District, a brand-new building rose from the ground.

Night Is Coming, who was currently in the library, immediately set down the book in his hand and summoned the map function.

On the Imperial Tomb Village map, a war-hammer-shaped icon had appeared in the East District, bearing a line of golden text: "Weapon Forge."

"Something new to play with."

He immediately rose, left the library, and headed straight for the Weapon Forge.

Before long, he arrived at the spot marked on the map in Imperial Tomb Village's East District.

What greeted his eyes was a towering structure.

Massive black beams crossed and intersected like a giant's skeleton, bracing up the spine of the Weapon Forge building.

At the seams between the beams, rivets were densely packed like stars.

The building's roof was sloped, covered in thick sheet iron, with a giant war hammer standing imposingly at its center.

It looked like a divine artifact fallen from the sky, slammed brutally into the roof and fused with it as one.

The outer walls were built of heavy black stone, the surfaces covered in cracks and soot stains — weathered, with a rough and rugged style.

The main entrance was a thick iron door swung inward, flanked on each side by statues of smiths raising iron hammers high, the muscles on their bodies taut, as if about to bring the hammers down at any moment.

Above the lintel hung an iron plaque engraved with five golden characters — "Weapon Forge" — the lettering bold and forceful.

As he drew closer, he faintly heard the "ding-ding-dang-dang" of hammers striking metal.

The crackle of flames wove through it, like the sound of a furnace fire roaring.

He could also hear the "hiss-hiss" of steam — the sound of searing-hot metal plunged into cold water, vapor instantly billowing up.

The various sounds wove together into a symphony brimming with power, making Night Is Coming unable to resist imagining the fiery scene inside the forge.

Craftsmen stripped to the waist, furnace light reddening their faces, sweat streaming down their spines.

Hammers raised high in their hands came down again and again, the searing metal being beaten repeatedly on the anvil, sparks flying, the outline of a weapon gradually taking shape.

Passing through the great door, a Challenger notification rang in his mind:

【Challenger Notice: Spend 1 point of Shou Shou Jili to enter the Forge space?】

After paying the 1-point Shou Shou Jili fee, a brief wave of weightlessness washed over him.

What then unfolded before his eyes was a forge scene.

A wave of heat washed over his face. A massive metal furnace stood at the center of the room, thick smoke billowing from the chimney above and rising into the darkness of the ceiling.

On the broad forging platform ahead sat an anvil, hammer, tongs, molds, and other tools.

The surrounding walls were lined with every kind of weapon — daggers, short swords, hand axes, blades, swords… arranged in order.

Behind the forging platform stood a burly blacksmith.

He stood nearly two meters tall, his bare upper body a mass of knotted muscles, exuding an explosive, powerful beauty.

His skin, long exposed to high heat, had taken on an ancient bronze texture — the fine details were remarkably well-crafted, very immersive.

After scanning the forging room once, he could confirm this was yet another independent simulation space.

Black Night Approaches stepped forward two paces, stopping inside the ring of light before the forging platform. The NPC standing behind the platform immediately grinned:

"Welcome to the Weapon Forging Room. What can I do for you?"

Ding-ling!

As the NPC's words fell, the forging interface unfurled before his eyes like a lowering curtain, a ring of metal iron rings hanging along its edges.

【Weapon Forging Shop】:

Function Introduction: Players may select weapon modules in the forging shop and freely assemble a one-of-a-kind weapon design according to their needs. All weapon parts are initial parts and can only be enhanced through strengthening.

Weapon Settings:

Weapon parts consist of the following two components: Main Material and Enchantment Particles.

Product List:

Starfall (Main Material):

Trait: A specialty spirit ore from the Starfall region of Monster World, imbued with the power of the stars.

Attribute: Attacks carry the power of Starfall (damage scales with the weapon's enhancement level; no bonus from the player's own attributes).

Recommended Use: Suited for players pursuing high damage output.

Phantom Steel (Main Material)

Trait: A specialty ore from the Phantom Gorge of Monster World. Once built into a main material, it can autonomously absorb free-floating energy particles in the air, reducing the spiritual power consumed each time an ability is unleashed.

Attribute: Reduces spiritual power consumption (the amount reduced is affected by the weapon's enhancement level).

Recommended Use: Suited for spell-type damage dealers and utility/support-type players.

Frost Soul Silver (Main Material)

Trait: A rare ore found only in extreme cold environments such as the Frost Forest and the Bitter Winter Snowfields of Monster World. All attacks carry a faint frost effect.

Attribute: Inflicts a frost snare effect (specific effect is affected by the weapon's enhancement level).

Recommended Use: Suited for players of all builds.

Dragon Blood Gold (Main Material)

Trait: Fused from the blood of ancient creatures and metal.

Attribute: Attacks carry a life-steal effect (the life-steal value is not affected by player attributes, only by the weapon's enhancement level and the target's defense).

Recommended Use: Suited for melee physical damage dealers. The life-steal effect only triggers when the weapon contacts the target's blood, and there is a certain loss when converting it into self-health recovery.

Bone Steel Stone (Main Material)

Trait: A rare ore produced in regions such as the Bone Wastes of Monster World, naturally evolved from the fusion of ancient giant beast bones buried deep underground and metal.

Attribute: Possesses high hardness and toughness (specific effect is affected by the weapon's level).

Recommended Use: Suited for tank-type players.

……

After reading through the main material interface's descriptions, Black Night Approaches had a fairly clear understanding of the weapon forging function.

Weapons could be understood as an additional enchantment for the player.

Every type of enhancement could scale along with the weapon's enhancement level.

Among the hundreds of main materials, his favorite was Phantom Steel — it could actually reduce the spiritual power cost of casting.

It was simply the perfect weapon for spell-type players.

But he didn't rush to start crafting. His consciousness tapped the category bar on the weapon shop interface: Enchantment Particles.

Immediately, the enchantment products arrayed themselves before his eyes.

Armor-Piercing Particles:

Trait: Sharpness +5

Description: Armor-Piercing Particles are inscribed with the Enlightenment trait, capable of forming a microscopic serrated structure on the weapon's main surface to enhance its penetration.

Blaze Particles:

Trait: Inflicts 5 points of Blaze damage.

Description: Blaze Particles are inscribed with the Enlightenment rule trait, capable of forming a layer of searing energy film on the weapon's surface, dealing Blaze burn damage to the attacked target.

Swift Wind Particles:

Trait: Attack Speed +5

Description: Replicated from the Enlightenment rule trait "Wind Walk." Once fused with the weapon's main body, they form a wind-pressure field on the weapon's surface. When attacking, Swift Wind Particles automatically guide airflow, reducing air resistance and increasing swing speed, thereby achieving a faster attack frequency. After level-up, they can additionally grant a Wind Walk boost effect, further increasing the weapon's attack speed.

Infusion Particles:

Trait: Can absorb the player's elemental energy or qi-blood energy and release it through the main weapon; the additional bonus is affected by the weapon's main material, enchantment particles, and player attributes.

Free Particles:

Trait: Can freely adjust the weapon's appearance according to the player's will, changing it at any time.

Toughness Particles, Bloodthirst Particles, Toxic Particles, Decay Particles, Corrosion Particles…

……

There were over 1,300 types of enchantment particles to choose from.

According to the weapon shop's introduction, enchantment particles can be combined.

In other words, a single weapon can have multiple enchantment bonuses, and the specific number of enchantments is affected by the level of the weapon's main body.

Confirming the weapon forging settings, Darkness Falls enters forging mode.

Instantly, a forging furnace appears before him, with draggable weapon main-body materials and enchantment particle modules on the left side.

As a magic-class player, his first choice for main-body material is Phantom Soul Steel, which reduces spiritual power consumption.

"Alright, I'll fulfill your request."

After dragging the main-body material into the forging furnace, the burly blacksmith standing in front takes out a metallic block glowing entirely in a ghostly blue from somewhere and places it on the forging platform.

Next is the choice of weapon shape.

Besides traditional weapon shape templates like saber, spear, sword, axe, etc., one can also freely modify them through the customization option on the right.

He chose the customization mode.

Instantly, the Phantom Soul Steel he had just selected appears before his eyes in the form of a 3D projection.

Countless draggable structural particles appear on the metallic block, making it very convenient to change the weapon's shape.

To make customization even simpler, there are also auxiliary functions below for custom weapon design, allowing adjustment of specific position length, thickness, and other parameters.

Even more convenient is the drawing-generation function.

To satisfy players without customization ability who still want to shape their desired weapon, one can roughly sketch the weapon shape through the drawing function, then generate it with one click and make detailed adjustments.

Originally, Darkness Falls wanted to make a staff-shaped weapon.

But after thinking carefully, casting while holding a staff was truly troublesome, so he designed the weapon's shape as gauntlets.

Before long, the ghostly blue gauntlet-shaped weapon was generated.

After a simulated wear test, he made several more adjustments before being satisfied.

After the analysis scan, the weapon information appeared in his mind:

【Unnamed (Weapon)】:

Level: 1

Fusable Enchantment Particles: 11 slots (after weapon enhancement level increases, more enchantment particles can be loaded and fused)

Weapon Main Attribute: Each time a Painful Painful Minghun characteristic is released, spiritual power consumption is reduced.

……

A level-1 main-body weapon can only fuse 11 enchantment particles.

Darkness Falls's choices were: Infusion Particle (1), Toxic Particle (2), Blaze Particle (2), Frost Particle (2), Lightning Particle (2), Shadow Particle (2).

Next was the choice of weapon color…..

After the weapon's initial setup was complete, the blacksmith standing in front raised his iron hammer and began striking, sparks flying.

Before long, the gauntlet weapon was generated and automatically equipped.

Darkness Falls raised his right hand to look — the gauntlet surface bonded with his palm was covered in semi-transparent silver metal, with starlight flowing inside, as if compressed from the starry sky.

A gem was set in the center of the back of the hand, with blue-white light flowing inside like a river of stars, surrounded by flickering enchantment starlight connected by energy threads.

There was no discomfort after wearing it; it fit the skin very well.

He clenched his fist sharply, and after the starlight lit up, the weapon's energy network activated, with a floating star-ring phantom circling his wrist.

At this moment, he entered the testing scenario and generated a dummy for combat testing.

After spiritual power was rapidly consumed, energy surged into the gauntlet and an ink-flame fireball ignited in his palm, the fireball also carrying five elemental energy particles: blaze, frost, lightning, shadow, and toxic.

He threw the skill at the dummy, and the damage values fed back in his mind.

He then continued trying other Painful Painful Minghun characteristics, combined with the weapon's performance effects.

The conclusion was that the spiritual power consumption reduction from a Phantom Soul Steel-forged weapon was a fixed 13 points, not a percentage reduction.

But this effect could be improved by enhancing the weapon.

In theory, when the weapon level is high enough and the Painful Painful Minghun level is low enough, abilities could be released with nearly zero consumption.

Phantom Soul Steel automatically absorbs energy from the air, adapting to the released ability.

For example, when he wanted to release ink flame, the weapon was like receiving a command, automatically absorbing the required elemental energy from the air, then combining it with Painful Painful Minghun rules to generate an ink-flame fireball.

Secondly, the enchantment elemental damage fused into the weapon's main body was also a fixed value, needing to be enhanced by stacking enchantment particles.

The test results made Darkness Falls very satisfied.

After the weapon system went online, it could be said to have indirectly enhanced the diversity of the player legion system.

But there was one point that left him very puzzled.

If one only spent Shou Shou Jili to increase weapon strength, thereby improving player combat power, this didn't seem much different from directly spending Shou Shou Jili to improve combat power.

It seemed like just one more weapon item.

Speaking of practicality, it seemed to only target melee players.

After all, melee players frequently need to use various weapons to increase output range and even output efficiency.

But for magic-class players' spellcasting, it was better to just clap both hands and generate directly; using a weapon was superfluous.

To figure out the specifics, he began conducting more detailed test simulations.

The conclusion instead left him even more puzzled.

The weapon system's cost was expensive — the starting price for the weapon main body was 10,000 Shou Shou Jili, and the price of a single enchantment particle ranged between 1,000 and 100,000.

But the combat power amplification conversion rate it brought was not much different from directly spending Shou Shou Jili for amplification.

The only advantage was that the weapon system came with some characteristic effects not present in the existing player system, such as spiritual consumption reduction, elemental damage addition, and so on.

He had been playing Monster World for almost a year.

The game had never introduced a purely decorative feature; every update's content would allow the player's combat power system to develop in diversified ways.

With curiosity, he decided to enhance and upgrade the weapon.

Switching to the Enhancement panel, a forging furnace appeared on the interface, and the weapon automatically entered the center of the forging furnace.

Below was the "Enhance" option, and on the right side the amount of Shou Shou Jili required for this enhancement was also marked.

The price for the first enhancement was 5,000 points of Shou Shou Jili.

His consciousness tapped Enhance.

Ding!

The sound of an iron hammer striking rang out, and the flames in the interface's furnace suddenly surged upward.

The gauntlet hovered at the center of the furnace, wrapped in golden energy; fine cracks immediately appeared on its surface, absorbing all of the golden energy.

【Challenger Tip (Simulation): Enhancement complete. Unnamed weapon raised to Level 2. Obtained additional enchantment sockets: 5.】

After directly enhancing the weapon to Level 10, the number of enchantment sockets reached 56 sockets.

Each enhancement allowed five more enchantment particles to be fused.

At this moment, flowing light shimmered across the gauntlet's surface, and its appearance became even more dazzling. He could already imagine how flashy it would look walking through the village wearing this gauntlet.

Returning to the forging interface, he continued fusing in enchantment particles.

Just as he fused in 47 enchantment particles, a brilliant light suddenly burst forth from the gauntlet's surface.

This made him instantly puzzled.

He swept an Analyze over it, and an extra line of text description appeared on the gauntlet.

【Unnamed (Weapon)】:

Weapon Level: Level 10

Fusable Enchantment Particles: 47/51.

Enchantment Resonance: Weak Element Resonance (Level 1)

Resonance Requirement: Embed 4 types of elemental enchantment particles, and the quantity of each type of enchantment particle must reach 10. An elemental resonance field will automatically generate within the weapon, amplifying the energy intensity of each type of elemental enchantment particle.

Resonance Property: The elemental damage of the weapon's enchantments receives a onefold increase.

Embedded Enchantment Particles: Infusion Particle (1), Venom Particle (10), Blaze Particle (10), Frost Particle (10), Lightning Particle (10), Shadow Particle (6).

……

"Holy crap!"

Seeing the extra resonance property in the Analyze information, he immediately understood what the core of the weapon system was.

When different enchantment particles were combined, additional property bonuses could be obtained.

Producing an extra effect where 1+1 is greater than 2.

For example, once the combination effect of Weak Element Resonance was achieved, it could actually double the damage effect of the already-embedded elemental enchantment particles.

So, apart from Element Resonance, could other enchantment particles generate different resonance effects when combined?

He was instantly intrigued and immediately began testing.

(End of this chapter)