Under the influence of the powerful Military Conquest Power, the Little Stone Essence's body began to drift away from its original appearance. Its black, coal-like body started manifesting traits unique to weaponry—sharpness, resilience, extreme speed, and so on. One by one, powerful divine inscriptions belonging to weapons began to appear on its surface.
In Qi Ping's perception, the little creature now felt like a composite of countless powerful weapons. It was far stronger than any Rank 2 Spirit Tool he had ever seen!
At the same time, every weapon within Qi Ping's territory, including his own Abyssal-Stone Scale Armor, began to vibrate wildly as if cheering for and submitting to the Little Stone Essence's transformation!
"This transformation is incredible!" Qi Ping watched the various phenomena with shock. He had guessed it would be strong, given that it had consumed so many Rank 1 and Rank 2 Spirit Tools—each of which had been nurtured by their owners through half a lifetime of slaughter.
Furthermore, the Cloud-Dream Immortal Tiger had divined the outcome of the Stone Essence devouring those weapons, and the result had been "Highly Auspicious." Now, after nearly twenty years of digestion and nurturing by the Ghost-Iron trees and the spirit vein, the final result far exceeded Qi Ping's expectations.
As the transformation concluded, Qi Ping's shock only intensified.
"Sharpness Inscriptions, Resilience Inscriptions, Colossal Strength Inscriptions... there are more than ten types of special inscriptions completely etched into its body."
Qi Ping could hardly imagine how powerful its physical body was now. Its defense had already been legendary; with these enhancements, he doubted anything at Rank 2 could even scratch it.
"I can only say it lives up to being a Primordial Stone Essence. Its potential for transformation is immense. Coupled with the effects of 'Beastmaster's Grace' and 'Potential Ignition,' it achieved this level of success."
What truly stunned Qi Ping was the Stone Essence's new abilities: 'Commanding Ten Thousand Weapons' and 'Attribute Bestowal.' It could not only manipulate metal weapons with vastly increased efficiency but could also bestow its own sharpness or resilience onto any weapon it controlled!
"This ability has incredible potential. For instance, in a sword formation, if the weapons are controlled by the Stone Essence, their power will skyrocket!"
[Species: Military Conquest Stone Essence]
[Bloodline: Primordial Being]
[Talents: Military Conquest Physique, Lord of Weapons, Golden Stone Longevity]
Military Conquest Physique: A specialized variant of the Metal-attribute talent. Possesses extraordinary affinity for metal and supreme control over metal-based spirit tools.
Lord of Weapons: Can gain and enhance weapon-based attributes by devouring them, forging a unique military conquest body. Can also consume metal ores to increase bloodline purity and rank. It can bestow its weapon traits onto the spirit tools it controls. The stronger its mental power, the more weapons it can control and the stronger the bestowed traits become!
Golden Stone Longevity: Possesses an extremely long lifespan.
[Evaluation: Born from the providence of Heaven and Earth, it can devour all weapons in the world. It is truly the Lord of Weapons!]
Qi Ping's current evaluation of the Little Stone Essence was exactly that: a true Lord of Weapons! Its ability to grow stronger by devouring ores and weapons could easily surpass most human cultivation geniuses. This was the benefit of an advanced bloodline. Qi Ping even felt a trace of envy for such a talent.
But it was only a trace. Compared to the Stone Essence's traits, Qi Ping preferred the path of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements. As the most fundamental laws of the world, mastering them would give him a better chance at finding true immortality. Moreover, he trusted the power he had realized and mastered himself more.
"How do you feel, Little Stone Essence?" Qi Ping asked with a smile, looking at the creature that now possessed the aura of a weapon sovereign.
"Ding ding... (Boss, I'm so sleepy... I want to take a nap...)" it said with heavy eyes.
Its cute, bumbling image was quite a contrast to its majestic aura!
"Then go to sleep! Accumulate your foundation first. When the time is right, I'll wake you up to break through to Rank 3!"
"Ding ding... (Then I'm going to sleep!)"
The moment it finished speaking, it fell into a deep slumber. Qi Ping didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Any normal being would be ecstatic after such a transformation, yet the Stone Essence just went straight to bed! That was the advantage of being a primordial being—they could afford it.
"Awoo... (Boss, when the Little Stone Essence was transforming, it seemed like a special power of providence flowed into its body!)" the little Immortal Tiger, who had been watching, suddenly spoke up.
"Power of providence?" Qi Ping looked at the tiger in confusion. The Immortal Tiger had the bloodline of a beast of fortune, so it was natural for it to sense providence, but why would it appear in the Stone Essence?
"Awoo... (It might be related to its bloodline. I felt that providence and the Stone Essence's bloodline seemed to share the same source.)"
"Providence from the same source as its bloodline?"
This reminded Qi Ping of the history of the Stone Essence race, which had suffered a great catastrophe, and its strongest member who had forged a sword formation of 108,000 blades that shook the entire cultivation world.
"Could it be that the racial providence of the Stone Essence still lingers in the world, and this time it was drawn in by the Little Stone Essence's bloodline?"
With the Stone Essence's extraordinary transformation, Qi Ping was in a fantastic mood. Having such a powerful animal companion made it hard not to be happy! Once it reached Rank 3, he could hardly imagine how strong it would be.
However, thinking of the Heavenly Tribulation still gave him some worry. Aside from the lightning itself, the external risks were paramount. Once the news of the Stone Essence leaked, the number of people who would covet it and the danger it would bring were unpredictable. To ensure a smooth breakthrough, he had to make better preparations.
"The Yin-Yang foundation, the Heavenly Extinction Yin-Yang Array, the city purge plan..."
Having finalized a more secure plan, Qi Ping returned to his focused cultivation. He had already realized the Solar Intent; now, he only lacked the Lunar Intent...