Chapter 459: +12, +13, and Insights on Upgrading

Chapter 459: +12, +13, and Insights on Upgrading
Inspired by the sudden epiphany he had, Bai Yunfei took out the Ardent Sun Glove after having the previous short sword reach +10.
Thinking for another two seconds, he took out the +11 upgrade stone.
Equipment Grade: Low Heaven
Elemental Affinity: Fire
Upgrade Level: +10
Attack: 2236
Defense: 2580
Additional Attack: 1060
Additional Defense: 1215
Soul Compatibility: 16%
+10 Additional Effect: Summon a fireball with strength no greater than 50% of this equipment's attack.
Upgrade Requirement: 10 Soulpoints
At the time he upgraded this glove to +10, it had only 10% soul compatibility. With repeated usage though, Bai Yunfei was able to up that number by 6%.
“It sucks that I wasn’t able to refine my equipment when I became a Soul Exalt, otherwise, I would’ve had the chance to increase the soul compatibility even more….” sighed Bai Yunfei.
In the eyes of any crafter, the breakthrough to a higher level of cultivation meant another chance to increase the soul compatibility of one of their soul armaments. Many crafters intentionally stopped training when they were at the verge of becoming a Soul Exalt in order to increase the soul compatibility of their soulbound armament. That way, they’d get a stronger soul armament.
Unfortunately for Bai Yunfei, he had completely forgotten about this chance when he was being chased by that thunderwing bat.
……
“Upgrade.”
He used the upgrade stone without hesitation, it was time to upgrade the Ardent Sun Glove!Upgrade Successful
Equipment Grade: Low Heaven
Elemental Affinity: Fire
Upgrade Level: +11
Attack: 2236
Defense: 2580
Additional Attack: 1600
Additional Defense: 1700
Soul Compatibility: 26%
+10 Additional Effect: Summon a fireball with strength no greater than 50% of this equipment's attack.
Upgrade Requirement: 160 Soulpoints
It took only a second to upgrade, but Bai Yunfei didn’t bother looking at the stats. What he was more focused on was the moment when the upgrade stone was absorbed into the glove. Meditating as he did, Bai Yunfei could distinctly feel the changes going on as the glove was absorbing the stone.
Since that process had only been a moment, much like the upgrading process, Bai Yunfei had only been able to further his theories and understandings by a single step. The Upgrade Stone was gone, but the Ardent Sun Glove was shining a faint shade of red just barely brighter than what it was before.
“That’s not enough….again!!”
His eyes flew open a few moments later, his hand taking out a +12 upgrade stone this time!
“Upgrade!”
……Upgrade Successful
Equipment Grade: Low Heaven
Elemental Affinity: Fire
Upgrade Level: +12
Attack: 2236
Defense: 2580
Additional Attack: 2400
Additional Defense: 2600
Soul Compatibility: 40%
+10 Additional Effect: Summon a fireball with strength no greater than 50% of this equipment's attack.
+12 Additional Effect: Steal 10 points of the enemy's attributes (Strength, Spirit, Endurance, and Agility) up to 10 seconds.
Cannot seal over 50% of the enemy's original attributes.
Upgrade Requirement: 160 Soulpoints
The upgrade was a success, though Bai Yunfei didn’t seem to care for the new +12 additional effect on it. Instead, his eyes were closed in order to focus on something.
His eyes opened again roughly ten minutes later. Blinking a few times, Bai Yunfei put a finger to his chin, “Hm….I think I’m starting to get it. It’s a little foggy though, why can’t I seem to understand it completely?
“Is it a problem with the soul compatibility?” He asked himself, his eye still lingering on the glove. It had a 40% soul compatibility with him, and though that was relatively high, it wasn’t enough to satisfy his curiosity.
“Should….should I try again?” The shadows of hesitation crossed over in his eyes.
“I can’t just give up! This is my chance to finally understand this huge secret, I don’t even know if I’ll get this chance again!”
The Violet Soul Ring flashed once with light as the Fire-tipped Spear tumbled out onto his hand!
And then….a +13 upgrade stone came out with it!
He was going to upgrade the Fire-tipped Spear!
Clenching onto the spear with his right hand and the stone with his left, Bai Yunfei concentrated on the task at hand.
“Upgrade!”
“Bang!”
He didn’t know if it was just him or not, but Bai Yunfei could’ve sworn he heard a small sound of some sort from the upgrade stone. Strange ‘white smoke’ started to pour out from the upgrade stone like water into a bucket before it was sucked straight into the spear!
In the next moment and under the watchful eyes of Bai Yunfei, his soulsense poured into his spear as well!
Two short seconds later, the white smoke had entirely disappeared into the spear, where shining red light started to pour out into the cave. Its glow felt warm to the skin and bright enough to perk the attention of Xiao Qi, who turned its head to look into the cave.
Though it was only two seconds that had passed, Bai Yunfei felt as though he was being ignored by the passage of time. Inexplicably, he felt estranged from it, with his soulsense being strangely moved about in a strange space.
This space was familiar to him. Back when he first made the Fire-tipped Spear his soulbound armament, Bai Yunfei had the same sensation. And with the spear being his first soulbound armament, Bai Yunfei was extremely familiar with it. Each marking, notch, and material was no stranger to him, and nothing about it was unknown.
But right now, there was also a sensation he had never experienced before. In this familiar ‘space’, there was a deviation of sorts happening.
This was what Bai Yunfei was aiming for.
In order to soak in on this sensation, Bai Yunfei ignored everything else in the world to hone in with his senses. His eyes, mind, and soul were all focusing in on this strange deviation in order to divine something from it….Upgrade Successful
Equipment Grade: High Earth
Elemental Affinity: Fire
Upgrade Level: +13
Attack: 1380
Defense: 3200
Soul Compatibility: 88%
+10 Additional Effect: 20% chance to create an explosion with an attack of 150% of this equipment’s attack when stabbing.
Cooldown of 20 seconds.
+12 Additional Effect: Summon two doppelgangers with strength equivalent to 50% of the user’s total strength for up to 3 seconds.
Cooldown of 1 minute.
+13 Additional Effect: Expend half the user's soulforce to ignore any one elemental-based defense upon the next strike.
Cooldown of 10 minutes.
Upgrade Requirement: 110 Soulpoints
At last, a string of notifications started to stream into Bai Yunfei’s head.
This time, Bai Yunfei didn’t put away the spear without looking at the stats. He first looked at the 88% soul compatibility he had with it, and concentrated on the part of the spear he was holding onto. The pulsations from within the spear was slightly different than what he remembered.
One minute went by.
Then ten.
Half an hour...
The Fire-tipped Spear had long since fallen into its normal state, but Bai Yunfei remained still, unmoving, like a statue.
Another hour went by before Bai Yunfei opened his eyes, revelation clear to be seen in them.
“Is this how it works? I think I understand now….”