After seeing off Roth and the others, Li Ming returned to his studio and opened the slim, elongated briefcase on his workbench—the Prism Ion Sword quietly lay inside.
With a single hand, 80,000 points of metal energy flowed away, and the Prism Ion Sword vanished from Li Ming’s grasp and was placed into the main Control Bar.
Information related to swordsmanship flooded into Li Ming’s mind, from basic upward strikes and downward chops to routine swordsmanship techniques, and then to an array of sword methods that flowed into his mind and could be performed effortlessly.
In this interstellar era, close combat techniques were still quite important; combined with various high-tech melee weapons, they could yield an extremely dazzling brilliance.
After adjusting for a moment, Li Ming turned his attention to a prompt that popped up on the Control Bar—
[Swordsmanship enhanced to master level, acquired the ability [Sword Control], permanent fixation available through consuming Controlled Objects.]
[Sword Control: Can attach one’s abilities to the sword in hand.]
Attach abilities? Li Ming raised his eyebrows slightly, and with a thought, the Prism Ion Sword materialized again, and then thunder and flames surged, attaching to the blade.
Because of the materials involved, such precise control was necessary to achieve this.
Not bad, Li Ming nodded, but he certainly wouldn’t consume this Prism Ion Sword for it.
"I could look for swordsmanship teaching Controlled Objects to acquire a professional swordsmanship trait; judging from this [Sword Control] ability, it should be quite good."
Li Ming pondered and then made a note of it.
Next came the testing of the [Slicing Ability], he was already familiar with speed amplification, but what exactly was this so-called Slicing Ability?
After charging it for three seconds, the ability activated, and he suddenly felt something unusual about his body, but he couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was.
Moreover, it drained physical energy at a rate much higher than other abilities.
As his figure flickered, he reached the corner of the room where a thick iron plate lay on the ground. He tried to pick it up, then focused on the unusual sensation in his body as his other hand slowly approached the iron plate.
Then something astonishing happened. As soon as his hand touched the iron plate, without exerting any force,
the thick metal plate split into two, with a perfectly smooth cut surface, and the edges turned silver-white.
The plate was ten centimeters thick, and although he could tear it apart with his usual strength, it would take some effort; under normal circumstances, it wouldn’t be this easy.
"So, this is Slicing." Li Ming mused, his curiosity piqued, and he began experimenting on various items, gradually gaining understanding.
This ability was very similar to a superpower. If he had the Slicing superpower, it would probably manifest in this way, albeit more flexibly.
However, the ability’s conferred Slicing could only destroy what it touched, at least for now.
According to the Control Objects’ usual traits, all amplifications are based on one’s existing strength.
He speculated that if he became even stronger, there might be other changes.
"This means I could use this method to control some superpower-like traits." Li Ming thought of much, soon noticing the peculiar sensations in his body, as weakness and hunger assaulted him, making his calves go soft.
He quickly deactivated the ability; this superpower-like amplification inflicted tremendous drain on physical energy, almost like a water pump that quickly depleted his small reservoir of body strength.
"Tch..." Li Ming gasped for air. With more Controlled Objects and stronger abilities in the future, whether his physical strength could keep up was a major concern.
"The physical enhancements from developing gene seeds are far from sufficient." Li Ming mused, "I need to find more Controlled Objects that amplify physical strength."
He also planned to ask Luo Chuan if there were other ways to increase physical strength, since physical Control Objects needed to occupy bar slots, which couldn’t be too many.
"And this Prism Ion Sword..." Li Ming pondered, his perception of it changed after experiencing the Slicing ability amplification, making it a good main battle Controlled Object.
Its ability to amplify speed and the Power Amplification from the Justice Gauntlets didn’t conflict but complemented each other.
"Prism Ion Sword, Justice Gauntlets, Thunderclap Exoskeleton, these as main battle Controlled Objects; Tank Guard 211 could materialize and also handle internally..."
"I still need to find something for stamina, otherwise having so many Controlled Objects abilities active at once will quickly deplete me." Li Ming calculated.
His combat system began taking shape; the broad directions could be divided into internal handling and external control, which could stack. According to his estimates, if materialized, his combat ability would assuredly multiply.
His internal handling was further divided into several routes, one focusing on bursts of Power Amplification.
One focusing on speed as the standard.
The last was rather comprehensive, focusing on sustained combat.
Of course, these subdivided routes require a large number of Controlled Objects and metal energy to materialize.
"Ideals are beautiful, reality is grim, just take it slow." Li Ming tidied up, invigorated.
"Almost forgot, there’s also the [Bullet Sacrifice] ability, my Controlled Objects abilities could also apply to bullets, and naturally, Slicing works." Li Ming’s eyes gleamed.
Bullets enhanced with the Slicing Ability would likely see a significant increase in destructive power!
With 70,000 metal energy left, Li Ming picked out a D-grade shoe, threw in 60,000 metal energy, and upgraded it to C-grade.
With a significant increase in speed enhancement, he only upgraded this one item, leaving the others unchanged.
Its passive effect rose from 100% to 200%, mainly focusing on the ability, while the ability’s bursts improved from 200% to 400.