"To this day, no one at Divine Weapon Ridge has been able to subdue the malevolent qi of the Red Flood Dragon within the armor. Back then, after Ancestral Master Ou Ye Zi fastened the Heart Protection Mirror, his entire right arm turned to white bone in just three breaths. He died from forcefully donning the armor. At the time..."

Zhan Yan’s expression was filled with a sense of ruefulness. "The common man is guiltless; his only crime is possessing a treasure. It is, in the end, a path to ruin. Thirty years ago, when Divine Weapon Ridge was attacked, *that person* came for it after hearing some rumors.

"This secret is passed down from one Sect Leader to the next. If it weren’t for the desperate situation back then, I would have never known that Divine Weapon Ridge had a true suit of Divine Weapon armor hidden deep underground..."

Xu Yunfan’s eyes were practically glowing with greed. This was a form-fitting suit of armor; those overlapping scales would surely conform to his body, allowing for unimpeded movement.

This suit of Dragon Scale Armor shimmered with a dark gold luster. The scales seemed to expand and contract as if they were alive, and every seam was embedded with the secret "Celestial Crafted Buttons" from the Weapon Casting Platform of Divine Weapon Ridge.

He recognized the technique. The Celestial Craft Forging Technique contained a related forging process that allowed armor to stretch and shrink with muscle and bone, fitting the wearer’s body like a second skin.

Zhan Yan looked back at Xu Yunfan, his gaze lingering on the Profound Steel Mechanism Box on Xu Yunfan’s back, which concealed the Gilded Mace.

An idea stirred in his mind, and he spoke up. "Within this Dragon Scale Armor lies the Divine Weapon Six Decrees, hidden by Ancestral Master Ou Ye Zi. He created them after observing countless battles, comprehending the six essential forms: Spear Pokes Thousand Soldiers, Halberd Sweeps the Wilderness, Axe Splitting Mountains, Halberd Suppresses Evil, Hook Lock Dragon Vein, and Hammer Shaking City Pass. With these, one can intimidate all weapons under heaven and command them. If you can learn them, you might just be able to truly master this Treasure Armor... Would you like to try?"

Xu Yunfan’s expression turned solemn.

"With such a Divine Weapon before me, this disciple would naturally like to try."

"Remove the chains first."

Zhan Yan nodded slightly and said no more. He retreated a few steps to give Xu Yunfan space, his eyes constantly scanning the surroundings to guard against any mishaps.

Seeing this, Xu Yunfan didn’t hesitate for a moment. He rolled his throat, and a visible arrow of air shot out, blowing away the scorching heat that rushed toward him.

He took off the weapon’s Mechanical Box and tore off his outer clothes until he was left with only the vest formed by the Extreme Dao Relic Shell and a pair of tight-fitting shorts. Then, Xu Yunfan opened the Ginseng Child’s Profound Steel Mechanism Box and took a deep breath of the Qi of Ginseng.

Xu Yunfan’s face instantly flushed red. Ignoring the Ginseng Child’s angry little eyes, he closed the lid of the Mechanical Box and staggered forward.

The dense Qi of Ginseng transformed into a scorching, lava-like energy that circulated endlessly through his muscles, bones, and skin. The Red Flood Dragon Mountain Coiling Strength moved in concert with it, flowing throughout his body. His Pure Yang Inner Breath continued to flow inexhaustibly, constantly converting his abundant Blood Qi into Red Flood Dragon Force.

He walked slowly toward the nine-foot-high platform, his eyes fixed on the Dragon Scale Armor before him, which was tightly bound by countless small chains.

Xu Yunfan let out a soft breath, his feet rooting themselves into the stone platform in the Red Flood Dragon Coiling Mountain Stake stance.

The instant the arrow of air from his throat pierced the heatwave, a crisp crackling sound came from his chest as his thirty-six vertebrae shifted. His skin had already taken on the color of Profound Steel; he had pushed his Profound Steel Hundred-Forged Body to its absolute limit.

His left hand suddenly clenched into a fist, the movement of his knuckles creating three sonic booms in the air. This was the opening move of Overlapping Waves Shattering Mountain from the Thousand-Pound Mountain-Shaking Hammer Technique.

Xu Yunfan flicked a finger against one of the chains on the armor.

TWANG!

The vibrations of the Triple Wave traveled along the chain to the Dragon Scale Armor, and all one thousand seven hundred and twenty Inverted Scales hummed simultaneously like trembling gold foil.

"Rise!"

As another arrow of air from his throat tore through the wave of heat, Xu Yunfan formed a fist and punched the air seven inches in front of him.

The explosive crack from the edge of his palm shearing through the air actually jolted three of the chains taut, straight as spears.

"What incredible Red Flood Dragon Mountain Coiling Strength!"

Zhan Yan’s pupils contracted.

He saw the muscles on Xu Yunfan’s back rippling like flowing lava, the characteristic sheen of the Profound Steel Hundred-Forged Body spreading from his spine across his entire body.

This was a sign of pushing a Cross Training Skill to its absolute peak.

On the ninth strike, the chains around the armor whined pitifully.

Thirteen chains snapped at once. Xu Yunfan seized the opportunity to spin and press in, his back making full contact with the Dragon Scale Armor for the first time.

All one thousand seven hundred and twenty Inverted Scales instantly curled backward, but the gaps between them were blocked by his pre-activated Profound Steel Hundred-Forged Body.

When Xu Yunfan’s spine settled completely into the groove of the armor’s backplate, the Inverted Scales suddenly split and reformed.

Three serrated secondary plates popped out from the edge of each Dragon Scale, ultimately forming one thousand seven hundred and twenty precisely interlocking Dark Gold Armor Leaves.

K-CHAK!

The neck guard’s pauldrons automatically tightened, and twelve sets of fish-scale-like overlapping plates slid down along the lines of his trapezius muscles. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Xu Yunfan could clearly feel that the scales over his carotid artery were the thinnest. This was a hollow structure specially designed to accommodate the throat-focused force channeling of the "Red Flood Dragon Mountain Coiling Strength." When he swallowed, three crescent-shaped gorget plates actually moved with the motion.

’No wonder Master wanted me to try...’

’This armor can only be used to its full potential by a cultivator with an extremely profound mastery of the Thousand-Pound Mountain-Shaking Hammer Technique and the Red Flood Dragon Mountain Coiling Strength.’

A mechanical, interlocking vibration came from his right shoulder blade as seven layers of ring-shaped plates rotated and locked into place along the groove of his triceps.

The inner wall of each Armor Leaf was lined with fine, file-like teeth. The heat generated from the friction against his Profound Steel Hundred-Forged Body was just right to stimulate the Blood Qi within him, causing it to surge.

Xu Yunfan tried bending his elbow and discovered that the scales at the joint grew in the opposite direction. As he bent and straightened his arm, the scraping sound of the Armor Leaves unexpectedly matched the breathing rhythm of the sixth form of the Thousand-Pound Mountain-Shaking Hammer Technique.

The most ingenious part was the design of the waist armor.

Thirty-six curved main plates formed an expandable abdominal cage. When he breathed, the gaps between the Armor Leaves automatically widened by half an inch, leaving room for the dramatic rise and fall of his diaphragm.

The inside of the leg armor was covered in honeycomb-like indentations. When Xu Yunfan lifted and shook his leg, the airflow through these grooves produced a whistling sound like the low growl of a Red Flood Dragon.

When the final piece of foot armor locked onto his navicular bone, Xu Yunfan discovered two mobile scales embedded at the location of the Yongquan Acupoint on the sole of his foot.

Whenever he stomped to Emit Force, these two Dragon Scales would move up and down like pistons, channeling the reactive force from the ground up through the arch of his foot, layer by layer, and sending it straight to his arms. This was precisely the Spiral Force he had always been missing when practicing the final stance of the Thousand-Pound Mountain-Shaking Hammer Technique, "Ten Thousand Mountains Pay Homage to the Sect"!

From a distance, Xu Yunfan’s entire body was sheathed in countless form-fitting Dark Gold Armor Leaves. With every move, one could clearly see his muscles bulge and the scales open and close.

Seeing this, Zhan Yan’s expression was a mixture of shock and delight. He truly hadn’t expected Xu Yunfan to be able to don the Divine Weapon just like that.

"How is it?"

Hearing Zhan Yan’s question, Xu Yunfan was about to answer when his expression suddenly changed.

Before Zhan Yan could finish his sentence, Xu Yunfan’s back suddenly arched like a shrimp’s.

A thousand strands of golden thread flipped out from within the eight hundred Dragon Scale Armor Leaves. They burrowed into the major acupoints all over his body like living things, as fine as the silk spun by a Western Ice Silkworm, yet they produced the sound of gold striking jade as they pierced his flesh.

Xu Yunfan’s eyes turned as red as blood, and a three-foot-wide red mist erupted from the pores all over his body. The armor was forcefully draining the Martial Artist’s Blood Qi and devouring it!

’So this is what it was waiting for.’

His Blood Qi, which had been about to settle down, was agitated by this stimulus and erupted like Earth Fire, causing a seismic upheaval within his body.

Seeing Xu Yunfan’s swaying body, Zhan Yan’s face changed in an instant. He was about to step forward when he felt an unimaginable heat suddenly erupt from Xu Yunfan’s body, a heat that was even more intense than the Thunderfire Melting Furnace in the Celestial Craft Cave.

"Yunfan!"