Bai Yunfei took the spatial ring from Li Chengfeng, told him to get some proper rest, and wasted not a single minute. He immediately shut himself in his room and began strengthening the batch of daggers.
Strengthen. Strengthen. Strengthen again. When his Soul Force was nearly depleted, he would stop the enhancement, circulate his Soul Cultivation Art, and recover his Soul Force. While this method wasn't as effortless or rapid as the growth achieved after completely exhausting his Soul Force, it saved him the time spent unconscious.
Strengthening a single dagger to +8 required, on average, nearly one hundred Soul Points. Bai Yunfei, now approaching the mid-stage Soul Warrior level, possessed over 1500 Soul Points. From morning until dinnertime, he managed to enhance thirty-six daggers to +8.
Dragging his slightly weary body, he hastily ate some dinner and returned to his room to continue the strengthening.
With a flick of his wrist, an exceptionally ornate dagger appeared in his hand – one of the few highest-quality daggers Li Chengfeng had mentioned.
"Equipment Tier: High-Grade." "Attack Power: 76." "Enhancement Requirement: 6 Soul Points."
He had encountered 'High-Grade' equipment twice before: one was the spatial ring, the other was the gem-encrusted dagger used by Zhang Yang. That dagger had an Attack Power of 85, slightly higher than this one, though it had gotten blown to bits during an enhancement attempt days prior.
"Common, Superior, High-Grade, Rare, Heritage... those are all the equipment tiers I've seen so far..." Bai Yunfei stared at the dagger in his hand, not immediately strengthening it, but instead summarizing the information he had about equipment tiers.
"The Attack Power of the first three tiers is below one hundred. Yet the next tier I know, Rare, like the Subzero Thorn, has Attack Power exceeding two hundred... So... does that mean there should be another tier in between?"
"Does Attack Power above two hundred fall within the range of Soul Artifacts? Equipment of the first three tiers requires very little Soul Force to enhance, increasing only gradually with higher enhancement levels. But equipment of Rare tier and above, which reaches Soul Artifact range, requires a fixed number of Soul Points..."
"A Superior dagger's base Attack Power is comparable to a Common dagger enhanced to +10. But... a +10 Common dagger is clearly more powerful. Why? Is it because... it can channel a small amount of Soul Force? Ordinary equipment that isn't a Soul Artifact can't channel Soul Force. But the equipment I've enhanced... can, even if it's just a tiny bit. It definitely becomes stronger."
"This means the actual power of a piece of equipment isn't solely determined by its attribute data. How it's used also matters..."
"Alright then, onwards. I need to create high-enhancement daggers quickly. Time is short. I hope I'm not as unlucky as last time."
"Always having to gamble on luck... Is there really no way to increase the success rate? Damn it..."
"Strengthen..."
......
The next day, Bai Yunfei remained secluded, strengthening daggers for the entire day.
On the morning of the third day, Li Chengfeng looked at the tightly closed door, a trace of worry in his eyes. Just as he was about to go over and call Bai Yunfei out for breakfast, the door creaked open from the inside. Bai Yunfei emerged, looking somewhat tired but his face alight with excitement.
"Yunfei, you... Does this mean... it worked?!" Li Chengfeng was momentarily stunned seeing Bai Yunfei come out, then quickly reacted, asking with anticipation.
"Hmm. Luck was on our side. Finally succeeded," Bai Yunfei nodded, already moving to walk outside. "Come on, let's go test them out!"
"W-Wait! Yunfei!" Li Chengfeng called out, though he was burning with curiosity to see what kind of weapons Bai Yunfei had created. "You look tired. Wash your face first, then have breakfast. It won't hurt to wait a little longer." He pointed towards the breakfast on the table.
"Oh... Alright," Bai Yunfei glanced at the food and nodded. "I am pretty hungry. Breakfast first." He turned to Linger beside him. "Linger, there's a pile of iron filings in my room. Could you clean it up? Sorry for the trouble."
After breakfast, Bai Yunfei looked much more refreshed. The two then hurriedly made their way to a clearing outside the village.
Seeing the eager anticipation on Li Chengfeng's face, Bai Yunfei smiled. His wrist flicked, and a dagger appeared in his hand.
"Equipment Tier: Superior." "Enhancement Level: +12." "Attack Power: 45." "Additional Attack Power: 176." "+10 Additional Effect: When attacking, there is a 3% chance to inflict Blindness on the enemy for up to 3 seconds." "+12 Additional Effect: When clashing with an enemy's weapon, there is an 8% chance to trigger the Blade Breaker effect (The higher the tier of the enemy's weapon, the lower the trigger chance; if the enemy weapon is Heritage tier or above, the effect cannot be triggered)." "Enhancement Requirement: 61 Soul Points."
Re-confirming the weapon's attributes, Bai Yunfei handed it to Li Chengfeng. "Hold this for now. I'll explain it in detail shortly."
His wrist flicked again. Another dagger appeared.
"Equipment Tier: High-Grade." "Enhancement Level: +12." "Attack Power: 78." "Additional Attack Power: 202." "+10 Additional Effect: When attacking, there is a 4% chance to trigger a Phantom Image effect." "+12 Additional Effect: When striking downward with the tip, Attack Power is doubled." "Enhancement Requirement: 66 Soul Points."
The information appearing in his mind made Bai Yunfei grin again. He looked at Li Chengfeng.
"I have to say, Chengfeng, why does it always feel like your luck is better than mine?" He chuckled. "While strengthening this batch for you, nearly all the other daggers got blown to bits. But among the two that survived, one happens to be this high-quality piece, one of only a few. And this effect... even I'm feeling a little envious..."
Li Chengfeng was taken aback, then looked slightly embarrassed. "Then... why don't you keep it for yourself? Honestly... I was perfectly fine with the two I had before."
"Oh... those two?" Bai Yunfei blinked innocently. "They blew up."
"..." Li Chengfeng stared at him, speechless.
"Heh, I'm joking!" Bai Yunfei laughed. "I promised to strengthen them for you, how could I keep them? Besides," his expression turned confident, "do you really think I would lack such enhanced equipment?" He softened his tone. "And I did save those two for you. I know you wanted to keep them as mementos."
His expression turned serious. "Alright, now let me explain the effects of these two daggers. Pay close attention and remember them well. You need to understand them thoroughly for when you use them in battle."