The Dawn of the New World

"Means me well??" Hao Xuan could barely hold back his laughter, "I don't think she is capable of such a feat," but his expression soon turned somber as he almost spoke into himself, "But...if I told you that by joining hands with her you could fix your mistakes, wouldn't you take that opportunity?"

"If you could save your wife and daughter, your clan, and your city, see them flourish, and live a good long life, wouldn't you take the hand of your mortal enemy?"

Lord Jyothi didn't have to think for very long since he answered without any hesitation, "I would."

"Then you have your answer," Hao Xuan replied in a stupor as countless faces flashed past his eyes.

"A lot of people died because of me, either because I wasn't there or...sometimes because I was. I made promises that I couldn't keep, let down people who depended on me and had asked for my help. I'm doing this on the off chance that by the end, hopefully, I can stand across from them once more with the ability to change things for the better."

His reasoning didn't leave much room for argument but that didn't stop Lord Jyothi from asking one last question.

"Even if it means that your own soul would be marked for eternal damnation?"

"Yes," Hao Xuan swiftly answered, "A small price to pay for the greater good, is it not? And I don't believe there isn't a way out of this...I have seen too much, done too much, and gone through far too much to believe that it will end that way. But even if it does, I will not have any regrets."

"...you are a better man than I, my lord. I wonder when was it that I lost all hope..." Lord Jyothi quietly whispered to himself before moving over to a workbench to get started, leaving Hao Xuan to his own devices.

And with nothing else to do in the meantime, he dove back into the books to learn more about the sanctum and its inner workings.

All of the weapons and armor were divided into different tiers and each tier had three enchantment levels corresponding to the general power classes.

For example in the case of cultivators like Hao Xuan, the 1st tier weapons were made for everyone below Origin Realm.

2nd Tier weapons and armor were for Origin Realm warriors

3rd Tier weapons were for Spirit realm cultivators and so on.

Meanwhile, the enchantments were equivalent to the stages within each realm. For example, a 3.1 Tier weapon was best suited for an 'Early-Stage Spirit Realm cultivator' since it had one enchantment.

A 3.2 would be for a Middle-Stage Spirit Realm cultivator and a 3.3 would be for a Late-Stage Spirit Realm cultivator.

This was something completely new for Hao Xuan since he had never heard of enchanted weapons but apparently, it was privileged information used mostly by fanatics and those interested in either trading or creating such items.

Some of the higher-tier weapons and armor above Tier 4 even had special abilities of their own, although they were rare and could not be recreated at will.

Upon checking the market he found several of these armor pieces available for purchase but the cheapest one started at 500,000 CG (Cursed Gold) and it was only a tier 4.1 chest piece.

When he touched it some more information became available, along with the details regarding its ability which made him understand why it was valued so highly.

'A dark aura can be unleashed around the user that can absorb one full-powered attack from a higher tier weapon. Cannot be reused for the next 30 hours.'

Hao Xuan's brow began to furrow as he did the calculations. This was a tier 4 armor that was made for Profound Realm cultivators and it could absorb a full-powered attack from a tier 5 weapon, i.e. from a cultivator in the 'Saint Realm'.

"!!!"

His eyes shot open with realization.

'Isn't this basically a life-saving treasure?! And I could buy this in one day?' his mind began to churn with greed, bringing his attention back to the first thing he had thought about upon finding out how the Cursed Gold coins were created.

The pages flipped back and the explanation was in front of his eyes again.

'When normal gold coins are marked and then 'blessed' by the 'Servants' of each of the Nine, it imbues a small portion of their energies into it thus creating the Cursed gold coins.'

Hao Xuan stared at his hands while his mind raced with the countless possibilities of what this could mean for him.

It was a unique opportunity that only he could take advantage of because- 'I have marks of ALL of the Nine. Does that not mean I can create my own Cursed Gold Coins? As much as I want or need?!'