The tactical plan demanded not brute force, but surgical precision. A prolonged battle against a Stage Four enemy, even a flawed one, would consume valuable Stage Three Qi and alert the entire city—including the deeper, unknown factions Lin Xuan knew must exist. The core doctrine of the Emperor was always efficiency: maximize destruction of the enemy's capability while minimizing the use of personal resources. This required a custom-synthesized weapon.
Lin Xuan reviewed his limited resources. He was down to his last two Synthesis Points, a treasury that he guarded fiercely. He would not waste them on a general-purpose artifact. He needed a specific, single-use tool designed to exploit Ma Feng's structural flaw: his unprotected Spiritual Sea.
He called upon the System for the synthesis of the Spiritual Paralysis Pin. The item itself was D-Rank, yet its execution required a precise application of Rank C knowledge to target the enemy's consciousness.
The components were mundane, yet perfect: the Discarded High-Purity Quartz Crystal Shard and the Oxidized Tungsten Alloy Tip.
Lin Xuan began the synthesis, dedicating his Divine Will entirely to the process. The Quartz Crystal, typically used in mortal electronics for stabilizing frequency, was instantly vaporized. Lin Xuan commanded the System to structure the resulting Qi field into a high-frequency vibrational lattice. The purpose was to create a carrier wave—a spiritual resonance pattern that, upon impact, would instantly override and scramble the delicate Qi flows within the target's central nervous system.
The Oxidized Tungsten Alloy Tip was next. Tungsten, stable under massive stress, was the ideal material for kinetic transfer. Lin Xuan commanded its essence to form a perfect, microscopic needle, designed not to cut, but to act as a spiritual shunt. This needle needed to survive the intense kinetic force of his Qi Filament propulsion and deliver the vibrational lattice deep enough to intercept a major meridian feeding the Spiritual Sea.
The synthesis was delicate. Lin Xuan's refined Stage Three Qi flowed through the reforming matter, acting as the structural adhesive and the final charging mechanism. He held the two energies in perfect balance, dictating the precise geometric angles of the pin's tip, ensuring it was engineered for seamless entry. This required a level of focus that would have been impossible before his breakthrough at D-12.
[Synthesis Query: Quartz Crystal Shard (D) + Oxidized Tungsten Alloy Tip (D) = ?]
Result:SpiritualParalysisPin(D+).Description:Asingle−use,projectileartifactdesignedtocarryahigh−frequencyvibrationalQipayload,temporarilydisruptingthespiritualsensorysystemofanytargetbelowFoundationEstablishment.PerfectforneutralizingtargetsreliantoncrudeQicontrol.Cost:1SynthesisPoint.
"Execute Synthesis," Lin Xuan stated, the process completing instantly.
The result was a barely visible spike of matte gray metal, cool to the touch. It had no power source of its own; it was merely a beautifully engineered shell. Its true power lay in Lin Xuan's ability to infuse it with a fraction of his Stage Three Qi and propel it with a force that far exceeded its minuscule mass.
To confirm the weapon's viability, Lin Xuan performed a silent, simulated test. He retrieved a cheap, discarded alarm clock from his scrap pile—a noisy object he wished to permanently silence. He held the Spiritual Paralysis Pin and channeled a hair-thin Qi Filament behind it.
Launch.
The Pin vanished. It didn't make a sound. His Spirit Sense tracked its perfect, linear trajectory as it slammed into the clock's internal quartz oscillator. The Pin didn't pierce the casing; it delivered its vibrational payload, and the clock's internal mechanics instantly seized and fried. The noisy flow of electronic energy sputtered and died. The clock was neutralized, internally destroyed without external mark.
The test was a resounding success. The Spiritual Paralysis Pin could deliver a localized shock that bypassed physical defense and targeted the very fabric of the enemy's system.
Lin Xuan secured the Pin up his sleeve, alongside the Molecular Phasing Edge. The Emperor was now armed with the perfect tool for assassination. The strike was no longer a question of capability, but of timing.