Apotheosis

The Nirvana Pill had the greatest value of all treasures and the other two spiritual weapons only had a relatively low value. Those were selected by Zen.

As Zen observed the two spiritual weapons, he found that the only valuable parts of them were the Phoenix Crystal and Emerald Crystal that were inlaid on each weapon.

Typically, these two crystals were useless for outsiders but very practical for Zen.

After Zen left the Imperial Army Treasury, he was given a big room to stay. After the battle was won and demons retreated, the Imperial Army continuously sent people to clean the rubble brought by the destructive fight. So Zen was going to leave the White Emperor City after two days.

He was satisfied with the big room, but what he wasn't happy about was that his room was next to Yolande's.

Dealing with Yolande was uncomplicated as he only needed to avoid her wrath. Not to provoke her or at least stay away from her so she wouldn't lock him again inside the box...

When he settled down inside the big room, he took a refreshing bath and washed away all the filth of the past few days. He felt better afterward and sat down in a dark corner of the room. Then he took out and studied the broken Jade Butterfly from the space ring.

From what Zen knew, top-grade spiritual weapons were not usually inlaid with crystals. The power of this weapon might come from the crystal itself which was similar to a fairy weapon!

Undoubtedly, the Jade Butterfly was a great knife and might have served his owner faithfully. It was such a pity that it was destroyed.

"I will remove this Phoenix crystal first!" murmured Zen as he stretched his hands and tried to snag the Phoenix Crystal out from the knife but failed. He could try again with harder force this time but was afraid that the Phoenix Crystal would be chipped. For a moment, he didn't know what to do.

The crystal was precious to him and shouldn't be taken down roughly. There must be a smart way to do it. Then an idea hit him. In the Weapon Refining Principle, there was a trick on how to take down crystals. He took out the Weapon Refining Principle in no time from his space ring and scanned the pages.

The booklet had recorded and kept well-hidden secrets and that included tricks used by Chase in his lifetime. It encapsulated Chase's skills and experience.

Zen found what he was looking for and on this specific page, the methods on how to remove crystals embedded in treasures were recorded in detail.

Zen read the method carefully, word for word, and then his face sank with disappointment. He mumbled, "According to this book, life fire is needed to take down the crystal. Oh, this is tough."

Zen

nd what he meant.

It took him four long hours to teach the black fire. It seemed to him that the black fire had finally understood that he wanted it to enter the runes.

The moment the black fire entered the runes on the Jade Butterfly, it lit up a light that wasn't too vivid.

Zen could see the runes move, the outer and inner parts twirled in opposite directions. He looked closely and saw the Phoenix crystal in the center of the runes waggled.

Then he gently shook the blade.

"Flip-flop!"

The Phoenix Crystal twitched and fell to the ground.

"Thank God. It's finally loose!"

said Zen with a beaming smile. He then waited for the black fire to emerge from the runes. When it was out, he threw the blade of the Jade Butterfly into the air. The black fire rushed to the blade like a hungry lion and devoured his reward. The blade soon disappeared, leaving drops of heavenly essence.

The Phoenix Crystal no longer had its color and luster after it was removed from the runes. Zen put it down and planned his next step. "Now, it's time to think how to inlay it on one of my arms," said Zen to himself.

It brought a shiver to his bones when he thought that a crystal would be deeply embedded inside his body.

Although he was a special human, a spiritual weapon in a human figure, it was still strange to inlay a foreign matter into his arm.

But he had to embrace it because it would make him more powerful.

The runes on his arm must be activated to inlay the precious gem into it. And they must be activated by the black fire. Although the black fire was a part of him, he must be very careful not to burn his arm with its powerful yet damaging energy.

"Well, I gambled once, and I will do it again!" said Zen as he made a decision to take the risk.