Cannon Fodder Cultivation Guide

Chapter 65 - Immortal Weapon

Zhang Yiyi willingly withdrew her divine sense and consciousness, allowing her master to use magic to examine all her storage spaces, including the storage ring that had fused with her body.

Although Jiang Heng could check anyone's belongings even without their consent, there was a significant difference between voluntary cooperation and passive compliance.

Seeing his disciple's trust and openness, Jiang Heng's smile deepened with satisfaction. With a wave of his hand and a sweep of divine sense, it only took a few moments for him to go through everything she had.

Apart from the disorganized spoils of war still sitting in storage pouches, Jiang Heng's primary focus was on Zhang Yiyi's personal possessions. After a brief pause, he said, "Yiyi, take out that small bronze mirror from your storage ring and show it to me."

Zhang Yiyi immediately complied with her master's request and retrieved the mirror.

"Hm, this bronze mirror looks a bit newer than before, doesn't it?" she remarked.

Zhang Yiyi was certain she wasn't mistaken, even though she hadn't looked at the mirror since buying it years ago and had never figured out what it was for. If her master hadn't brought it up today, she might have completely forgotten about the mirror, which she had casually purchased for just two spirit stones.

In fact, Zhang Yiyi's memory was not wrong. The mirror had indeed changed slightly over time. Not only did it appear newer, but most notably, what was once an inanimate object now seemed to carry a faint hint of life.

"Master, do you think it could be this?" she handed the mirror to her master, trusting his judgment over her own. After all, this was the very item he had specifically asked about.

When Jiang Heng first noticed the mirror, he found it peculiar. After examining it closely and hearing his disciple's musings, he finally confirmed his suspicions.

"Yiyi, where did you get this?" he asked with a smile, fully aware that his disciple likely had no idea what she had stumbled upon.

Zhang Yiyi recalled the day clearly, a smile spreading across her face. "Four years ago, when I was still an outer disciple, I went to a market at the foot of the mountain with Senior Sister Pan to prepare for the sect's grand competition. I spotted this mirror by chance. It only cost two spirit stones. Senior Sister Pan bought a small piece of Soul-Calming Wood, and this mirror was thrown in as a bonus. We got both for just two spirit stones."

By now, Zhang Yiyi understood that this bronze mirror was anything but ordinary. Otherwise, her master wouldn't have inquired about it so specifically. Back when she bought it, it had momentarily caught her attention, but afterward, she couldn't sense anything unusual about it. After several failed attempts to figure it out, she had tossed it into her storage ring and forgotten about it.

Who could have known that it would sit there for years, only to be rediscovered today when her master finally saw its potential?

"Two spirit stones? You really have an eye for things," Jiang Heng praised her, his words sincere. He didn't attribute it to luck but rather to her keen judgment, which was indeed impressive. "Make sure to find something nice for your Senior Sister Pan next time. Your good eye and her haggling skills saved you a fortune."

"Master, you're absolutely right. I'll do exactly as you say!" Zhang Yiyi beamed, eagerly asking, "Master, what kind of treasure is this bronze mirror? What's its use? Did it really absorb all that Divine Soul Stone essence?"

"If my guess is correct, this bronze mirror, when intact, should be at least an immortal weapon," Jiang Heng revealed a bombshell that left both his disciples stunned. "However, it seems to have suffered severe damage, reducing it to its current state, barely distinguishable from an ordinary object."

Jiang Heng continued, "But even though it's severely damaged, as long as it hasn't been completely destroyed, treasures of this caliber can slowly repair themselves under the right conditions. Of course, such a restoration requires great luck and an immense amount of time, and even then, it's uncertain how much it can recover."

"This mirror contains an artifact spirit. For an immortal weapon's spirit, even if it's hanging by a thread, it's still far more perceptive than the spirit of a regular treasure. So, four years ago, it wasn't you who chose the mirror, but rather the artifact spirit within it that chose you."

Jiang Heng wasn't wrong. Artifact spirits have a natural self-repair mechanism, and they are particularly attuned to cultivators with great fortune. Following such cultivators gives the spirit more opportunities to acquire what it needs for restoration, speeding up the process.

In a way, from the moment the mirror's artifact spirit chose Zhang Yiyi, their fates became intertwined, with each influencing the other. In the future, if the artifact spirit fully recovers and the immortal weapon returns to its peak, even if the mirror doesn't fully acknowledge Zhang Yiyi as its master, she would still benefit greatly from using it.

"So, all that Divine Soul Stone essence was absorbed by the artifact spirit inside?" Zhang Yiyi finally calmed down from the initial excitement of potentially owning an immortal weapon and began to think logically. "It absorbed so much, yet the mirror only looks slightly newer. It's like a bottomless pit! Does that mean it's going to take forever to fully repair?"

She couldn't help but feel disappointed. Divine Soul Stone essence was extremely rare and expensive, and the mirror had devoured so much of it with barely any visible improvement. The thought of how difficult it would be to continue restoring it felt overwhelming.

"If it were easy to restore, it wouldn't be an immortal weapon," Jiang Heng chuckled. "The fact that the artifact spirit was able to recover even 10% from all that Divine Soul Stone essence is already impressive. Don't worry about it. Just keep the mirror with you, and it will handle the rest on its own. Like last time in the Luoxian River Mystic Realm, whenever there's a benefit nearby, it'll find it without fail. You'll profit from it as well. With enough luck, one day it might truly return to its full immortal glory. Either way, you've got nothing to lose."

Jiang Heng handed the mirror back to his still slightly disappointed disciple, reassuring her with a smile.