Zongwu: Aspiring to be the mastermind behind the scenes

Chapter 286 Armor Evaluation, Xuan Universe Acquired
"The basic battle armor can temporarily boost a person's attack power to the level of a Grandmaster of the First Flower, and its defense power can be one grade higher. If the user's will is strong enough, they can also directly mobilize the power in the energy box to launch an attack."

However, the energy in the energy box can only last for about fifteen minutes, and it will be consumed rapidly during intense battles.

Several people knew this information.

Master Yoda understood this as well, so he only gave a brief explanation; the important part comes next.

"Due to time constraints, I only managed to create one upgraded energy box, which can provide more powerful energy and also serve as a carrier for the Celestial Crystal."

Master Yoda said, "However, to use this energy box, one must possess an even stronger mind and will!"

The three Blue brothers clearly lacked such mindset and willpower.

Ying Zheng said, "Zhang Han."

A figure clad in black armor appeared.

However, he was the leader of the Shadow Guard under the First Emperor.

Zhang Han, clad in black armor, exuded heroic spirit, with a small mustache that added to his masculine appearance.

After receiving the beast-head-shaped upgrade energy box from Master Yoda, Zhang Han fastened it to his waist and was about to press the switch.

"Ahem!" Master Yoda coughed twice, reminding him, "This... sir, you are still missing one step."

"Huh?" Zhang Han was taken aback, only then remembering that when the three Blue brothers summoned their battle armor, they all shouted "Energy Activation".

"Master Yoda, is this slogan really necessary?"

"No, no, no, that's the essence!"

Master Yoda insisted that Zhang Han shout this.

Zhang Han, a normal adult male, served by Ying Zheng's side, and the concept of discipline was deeply ingrained in his heart.

It was truly shameful to make him utter those words.

But seeing that Master Yoda insisted, and that no one else stopped him, Zhao Gao even showed an expression of watching the show.

Helpless, Zhang Han could only say, "I can... activate the energy..."

Then press the switch.

A golden light leaped out and transformed into a full suit of armor that enveloped him.

The entire suit of armor features a black and gold color scheme, giving it a mysterious and unpredictable look.

"The color of the armor is determined by both the celestial crystal energy and the user's will energy, so each person's summoned armor is different."

Master Yoda gave a brief explanation.

"Upgraded armor is based on basic armor, adding armor with higher defense, arm guards that amplify punching power, boots that enhance leg strength, a cape that increases agility and speed, and even the ability to summon weapons for combined use..."

"Master Yoda".

Ying Zheng interrupted, "These accessories you mentioned are all added on top of the basic battle armor? In other words, you can set which accessories will be summoned yourself?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Ah."

Ying Zheng nodded, a thoughtful look appearing in his eyes.

"By inserting the Celestial Crystal into the upgraded energy box, you can directly extract the energy from the Celestial Crystal to transform it into a higher-level Celestial Crystal Armor."

Master Yoda took out the Purple Star River Crystal and handed it to Zhang Han.

"But this also requires an even higher level of willpower..."

Zhang Han remained silent, simply taking the Heavenly Crystal and inserting it into the center of the beast's head.

The power of the crystal was instantly extracted and flowed across the surface of the energy box.

The beast's eyes shone with purple light, and it suddenly opened its mouth, emitting a deep sound that seemed to echo from the heavens.

【Purple Star River】

A light, flowing with starlight, leaped out from the dark purple, instantly transforming into a new suit of armor that enveloped Zhang Han.

The armor is still dark gold overall, but only the gold is left on the edges. The dark color reveals a hint of purple, and there are also specks of starlight all over the armor, making it even more mysterious.

Ying Zheng nodded with great satisfaction: "Who among you would like to test the power of this armor?"

The Moon Goddess stepped forward and said, "Your subject is willing to give it a try."

"Alright, Zhang Han, you are only allowed to use the abilities inherent in this armor."

"The minister obeys the order."

The Moon Goddess, dressed in white with a veil over her eyes, exuded an air of elegance and nobility. With a wave of her hand, she released a dragon-like aura that flew towards Zhang Han.

Zhang Han released the power of the Purple Star River Heavenly Crystal, and the area within three zhang around him instantly turned pitch black, with a swirling star river within, easily knocking down the dragon's aura.

With a wave of his hand, a galaxy coiled around his arm, unleashing a swirling galaxy blade of light that was both beautiful and incredibly powerful.

The Moon Goddess used the Dragon's Roaming Qi to block in front of her, but was forced back several steps by the Star River Blade Light before she could neutralize it.

"As expected...powerful!"

Zhang Han was not as strong as her, yet he defeated her with a single move.

It is worth noting that Lao Tzu, the ancestor of Taoism, created Taoist martial arts after reading through the books of the Zhou royal family. These martial arts combined the essence of both martial arts and magical cultivation.

Therefore, the path of martial arts cultivation is the foundation, while the path of magic cultivation is the branches and leaves.

Simply put, it involves cultivating martial arts internal energy and using magic to fight enemies.

Therefore, the martial arts skills of Taoist practitioners are often much more powerful than those of masters of the same level.

The Yin-Yang School is a sect that separated from Taoism. Compared to the Heaven and Man Schools, the Yin-Yang School pursues magic and techniques more, and therefore its martial arts are more powerful.

As an elder of the Yin-Yang Clan, the martial arts she displayed at this moment were quite extraordinary, something that only a very few high-ranking members of the Yin-Yang Clan could cultivate.

Despite such tactics, they were still repelled by Zhang Han's Star River Blade Light.

This further demonstrates the power of this suit of armor.

Even if Zhang Han himself had cultivated the Purple Star River Technique, he could not have achieved such power.

Master Yoda, watching from the side, nodded repeatedly and explained, "The armor with the Heavenly Crystal inserted as its energy source can continuously draw energy from the Heavenly Crystal and manipulate the power of heaven and earth. Theoretically speaking, it has a nearly inexhaustible energy source."

Zhang Han had already understood this point. With a wave of his hand, streaks of starlight sword light swirled out, and in the blink of an eye, dozens of sword lights were scattered.

The power of each blade of light remained undiminished.

Under this onslaught, the moon goddess could only retreat repeatedly.

Seeing this, Ying Zheng said, "Zhao Gao, go and help the Grand Preceptor."

"Yes."

Zhao Gao appeared like a ghost and joined forces with the Moon Goddess to fight against Zhang Han.

With their combined efforts, resisting the starlight blade was not difficult.

The problem is that Zhang Han has almost inexhaustible power of heaven and earth to support him, and can freely unleash countless starlight sword beams with undiminished power, like scattering beans.

Two people can block one or two attacks, but they can't block dozens.

"It really is almost endless..."

Ying Zheng was overjoyed and said, "Master, in that case, wouldn't this set of armor inlaid with celestial crystals be able to contend with a Grandmaster?"

Master Yoda pondered for a moment and said, "Your Majesty overestimates it. This battle armor can at most exchange a few blows with a Grandmaster, and is far from being a match for one."

He exclaimed, "The Grandmaster's three elements merge into one, and in the final leap, his will and martial arts unite to form martial intent. How powerful is the energy of his will? At the same time, the power of heaven and earth that a Grandmaster can control far exceeds that of this battle armor!"
Moreover, the user of the armor is ultimately only a grandmaster. Although the armor was freed from the 15-minute usage limit with the support of the Heavenly Crystal, it is still affected by the user's will and mind.

Once the user is mentally exhausted and unable to control the armor, it will naturally disintegrate.

Upon hearing this, Ying Zheng pondered and said, "So, while this set of armor is powerful enough to suppress Three Flowers and Gathering Peak Grandmasters, it still doesn't quite reach the level of a Grandmaster?"

"Exactly."

"Hmm." Ying Zheng nodded and said, "Alright, no need to fight anymore."

"Yes."

The group quickly stopped.

Zhang Han also removed his armor and returned the energy box and the Heavenly Crystal.

Ying Zheng instructed Zhao Gao to put the two treasures away safely, and then dismissed the group.

Only he and Master Yoda remained in the main hall.

"Master, if I want to forge armor with the combat power of a Grandmaster using Heavenly Crystal, is there a way?"

Master Yoda said, "I dare not deceive Your Majesty. I do have some ideas about stronger armor, but I dare not say whether it can ultimately reach the level of a Grandmaster."

Ying Zheng said, "Master, just speak freely. Whether or not you can ultimately achieve it, you are innocent."

"Your Majesty is magnanimous."

Master Yoda said, "In my opinion, to create stronger armor, certain conditions must be met. First, it must possess extremely powerful mental strength. At the very least, it must be able to condense a divine flower. On top of that, the stronger the better."

Ying Zheng nodded: "From what I've observed, all armor sets place considerable demands on one's mind and will; this is, I suppose, unavoidable."

"Secondly, I have handled several Heavenly Crystals and found that the power of White Cloud Smoke is not as good as Purple Star River, and the power of Purple Star River is not as good as Golden Dawn. Therefore, the power of Heavenly Crystals is also divided into levels. If you want to create a higher level of armor, you will naturally need a higher level of Heavenly Crystal."

Ying Zheng nodded again; he knew this better than anyone else.

After all, he had come into contact with all the Heavenly Crystals and practiced all the martial arts within them, so he naturally knew that the strength of the Heavenly Crystals was different.

"Third, it requires higher strength materials. The greater the power, the stronger the energy box it needs to match. One of the reasons I used the Purple Star River as a cover is that the energy box I created could not perfectly withstand the power of the Golden Dawn."

Ying Zheng's gaze sharpened.

That's a problem.

"Are the materials we transferred previously still insufficient?"

"Your Majesty is very kind. Among the materials previously summoned were rare materials such as the finest metals, cold iron, and black iron. However, the energy box that was made still could not perfectly withstand the power of the Golden Dawn."

In my opinion, to withstand the Golden Dawn, or even higher-intensity Celestial Crystals, one must use a material that is extremely rare in the world.

Ying Zheng pondered.

The strongest of the ten Heavenly Crystals is naturally the 'Mysterious Universe' that is still in his hands.

The armor he desires most is naturally the armor built around the 'Mysterious Universe'.

However, even materials of the level of Xuan Tie cannot withstand it.

"I will order the entire world to collect those rare treasures. Are there any other conditions?"

Master Yoda said, "One more thing, it would be best if the user could cultivate the Heavenly Crystal Martial Arts, thereby achieving a resonance with the Heavenly Crystal. This is because all the energy boxes forcibly extract energy from the Heavenly Crystal."

If this is achieved, the Heavenly Crystal can more proactively send out energy and cooperate.

The above four points are the main ways I can think of to enhance the power of the battle armor.

In addition, the design of the armor and the user's own strength can also enhance its power to some extent.

"Mind, Heavenly Crystal, Materials, Martial Arts..."

Ying Zheng nodded: "I understand. The empire will fully support the master. Also, this item is entrusted to the master for careful study."

As he spoke, Ying Zheng took out a Heavenly Crystal from his sleeve.

This celestial crystal is dark in color, yet it has a few specks of starlight. At first glance, it is somewhat similar to the Purple Star River, but upon closer inspection, not only starlight, but also the sun, moon, mountains, rivers, and the heavens and earth can be vaguely seen within it.

"This...this is..."

"The tenth, and also the strongest, Heavenly Crystal... Xuan Universe!"

"The Profound Universe? The tenth Celestial Crystal!"

"good."

Ying Zheng said, "I want you to study this Heavenly Crystal carefully, and then, based on its characteristics, create a set of armor specifically for it."

"Your Majesty, I will certainly not fail your trust!"

"Yes, go ahead. If you encounter any difficulties along the way, remember to tell me, and I will take care of them."

"According to the order!"

Master Yoda walked out of the main hall with the celestial crystal and hid it in his sleeve.

But what no one knew was that right after he stepped out, a tiny golden portal appeared in his sleeve.

The dark-colored celestial crystal then fell into Zhou Ming's hands through the teleportation portal.

"Finally... I got it!"

As Zhou Ming played with the celestial crystal, a hint of surprise appeared in his eyes.

After working so hard for so long, we finally got our hands on this most difficult-to-obtain Celestial Crystal.

"Xuan Universe..."

A glint of silver light appeared between Zhou Ming's brows.

With its Heavenly Eye wide open, a powerful spiritual force poured directly into the Heavenly Crystal, from which endless mysteries surged forth.

Zhou Ming quickly consumed a stream of perfect energy to ensure he could withstand these profound mysteries.

The Heavenly Mirror.

This is the strongest martial art Zhou Ming has encountered so far.

Or perhaps, this is not martial arts at all, but countless mysteries.

From white clouds and smoke to the mysterious universe.

The Heavenly Crystal records the goddess Nuwa's understanding of ten different forces of heaven and earth.

Prior to this, Zhou Ming had already obtained nine of them.

What he was most looking forward to was not the supposedly strongest tenth one, but the sixth one.

That one is called 'Mysterious Chaos'.

The word "chaos" has been overused in various films, television series, and novels from my previous life.

In any work, chaos is a relatively high-end or even top-level power.

But after truly understanding it, Zhou Ming discovered that strength really does depend on the environment.

Chaos refers to the state before the separation of heaven and earth.

But in this dazzling and magnificent world, where is there room for chaos to exist?

In such a world, it is only natural that the Xuan Hun Chaos technique cannot compare to other Heavenly Crystals.

The seventh one, which is one level higher than the Primordial Chaos, is the 'Indigo Ocean', which represents the power of the ocean.

The world is said to encompass nine provinces and four seas, with the ocean occupying half of the globe. How could such a force not be powerful?
The eighth golden dawn symbol represents the power of the great sun in the sky.

As for the ninth Blood Sky, although it is named after blood, it truly represents life and the power of all living beings!
And the strongest... Xuan Universe.

The word "universe" says it all.

The sun, moon, stars, mountains, rivers, and all living beings exist within this universe.

All-encompassing!

This is the tenth Heavenly Crystal that Ying Zheng, who had cultivated the previous nine Heavenly Crystal martial arts, still could not comprehend!

The strongest, without a doubt!

(End of this chapter)