Chapter 6

Midi led the Earl to the family's armory. As compensation for Midi agreeing to act as a stumbling block, the parliamentary faction generously agreed to several conditions, one of which was to sell the swords and armor produced by the Seth family at a lower price to the Asreks family, which lacked iron ore in their territory.

The first batch of swords had already been delivered, and Midi remembered that even his usually cautious father had praised the quality of these weapons.

The long swords were neatly arranged on the weapon racks, and the craftsmen had clearly been very responsible. Any sword that Midi casually drew had been meticulously maintained. On the hilt, the Seth family's crest was engraved, proving that it was a product of their proud family workshop.

Midi held a long sword and casually slashed at a spear from their own family in the corner of the armory. With little effort, he split the spear shaft in two.

"According to the Seth family, they added rare spinel during the forging process, which is why these long swords can cut through iron like butter. For this reason, although they are sold at a discount, they are still priced at more than twice the cost of ordinary weapons," Midi said coldly, looking at the sword's sharp edge. "However, when I was hanging out with Fenrir and the others, I accidentally overheard that what was actually added was not spinel, but something else."

The Earl seemed to realize something and quickly asked, "What is it?"

"Black hard stone!" Midi's tone was filled with certainty.

"What!" The Earl drew a sharp breath.

Although black hard stone, like spinel, makes metal more resistant to wear and sharper, it has a fatal flaw—when it comes into contact with acid, it quickly decomposes. However, such a scam is not common in the Belmar Duchy, as black hard stone is mainly found in the Delos Empire. If it were transported to Belmar, it would be very expensive, classified as a "high-priced material."

No one would use high costs to produce inferior weapons.

However, following Midi's method, the Earl personally poured acid on the sword's edge, and the effect was immediately apparent. Corrosion began to appear on the edge that could cut through iron like butter.

In just a few minutes, the seemingly bright long sword broke into two pieces due to its own weight. The sword's edge fell to the ground with a heavy thud, as if a heavy punch had struck the Earl's heart.

But Ingman, after all, was an extremely experienced Earl. He quickly calmed down from his momentary panic, then laughed and patted his son's shoulder hard, "Midi, you did well. Since the parliamentary faction has completely ignored honor and integrity, we no longer need to abide by the previous agreement. The rest is up to me!"

Being praised by his father from the heart was probably the first time? Midi smiled with relief and nodded.

Although he had the memory of the next twenty years, at present, his influence was still slight. In the eyes of others, Midi was still the irresponsible and incapable playboy, and this was the extent of what he could do.

Moreover, Midi believed that his father could definitely help the family escape the current predicament. What he needed to do was to perfect the things that belonged to him.

"Father, I want to ask Lothar to purchase some rare materials. Please allow me," Midi thought for a moment and added, "Mainly to prepare a potion that enhances endurance and vitality. You know, the academy trials are coming up soon."

"Still with the Hamilton family's young lady, Fina, right?" The Earl looked thoughtful.

If originally Midi was a stumbling block planted by the parliamentary faction in Fina's team, now, with the complete rupture between the parliamentary faction and the family, this matter had fundamentally changed. The Asreks family, with only an Earl's title, always needed a powerful backer, and now, the Queen's faction was the best choice.

If Midi could truly become a help to that young lady, the negotiations between the families would be much easier. Seeing his son's vision truly broaden, Earl Ingman's eyes showed relief, and he nodded resolutely, "Go ahead and do it. Ask Lothar for whatever you need, and your father will fully support you."

Hardening agent, blood drop stone, soul crystal, mandrake flower, shadow grass... various high-priced materials were gathered in just half a day and then delivered one by one to the magic laboratory in the castle. Although the relationship between father and son was no longer as it was in the previous life, Earl Ingman's doting remained unchanged.

Although Midi was somewhat at a loss about his father's excessive indulgence, he now needed this complete trust and indulgence.

To explain why, what Midi was about to do was not to refine any endurance or vitality potion.

As dusk fell, after dinner, Midi made a show of being so engrossed in his experiment that he could not sleep, and instructed Lothar not to let anyone disturb him. Then, he checked the materials in his bag, silently opened the window on the third floor, and threw down a rope he had prepared in advance.

The castle's defenses were clearly strengthened, apparently due to fear of any actions by the Seth family. However, for Midi, who had lived here for over a decade and had years of adventuring experience, it was no problem.

With little effort, he successfully avoided the guards' sight and left the castle through an inconspicuous passage used for transporting garbage.

Under the cold moonlight, Midi, wearing a heavy backpack and a broadsword suitable for combat, walked through the cold winter night.

His destination was not far from the castle, a canyon thirty kilometers away. The terrain there was rugged, with little vegetation, and it was very desolate. Even hunters rarely visited, let alone nobles, making it a place rarely trodden by humans.

But Midi knew that in that canyon, there was a cave with a broken sword attached to an iron chain.

On that sword, a ghost god was attached.

In the previous life, when the Delos Empire's army invaded the Earl's territory and plundered everywhere, Midi, in a panic, fled the castle alone, eventually ending up in that canyon. There, he discovered the ghost god, which gave him the power to protect himself and finally find a way to survive.

However, the awakening at that time was far from perfect.

It was more like the ghost god trying to take control of Midi's body, followed by the resistance of the young boy's consciousness. During this process, the imperial search team attacked again, forcing the struggle to be interrupted, resulting in a very low fusion rate between the host and the ghost god.

Thanks to this, for the next ten years, Midi found it extremely difficult to use many of the skills unique to ghost swordsmen.

But even so, the ghost god attached to his left arm still provided Midi, the playboy turned ghost swordsman, with great assistance, even helping him defeat many well-known ghost swordsmen, including Fenrir, who was then known as the first ghost swordsman.

Looking back now, Midi could estimate that the ghost god hidden in that broken sword was definitely a rare and exceptional one.

Moreover, his rebirth seemed to be related to the final power凝聚 of that ghost god, so after being reborn, Midi had long made up his mind to quickly fuse with the ghost god and then, as a ghost swordsman, undergo a class change in the largest magic array in the Belmar Duchy to achieve a perfect effect.

What kind of power would he possess then?

Just thinking about it was very exciting.

A few hours later, Midi finally arrived at the canyon.

The place was strewn with boulders, and the ground was occasionally cracked. There was little vegetation, and no water source could be found, so no animal activity was visible. Under the cold, pale blue moonlight, it looked like a gateway to the abyss or a silent graveyard where the dead rested.

He's almost there!

Midi tightened his outer coat and walked deeper into the canyon. Although he had only been here once in his life, the memory was so vivid that almost no detail was missed. However, even though he knew the location of the cave, he still suppressed his excitement and cautiously waited for half an hour to ensure no one was following him. After confirming he would not be disturbed, he entered the cave.

Walking on the damp, stalactite-covered stone path, sometimes passing through narrow gaps that required him to squeeze through, and sometimes crawling into hidden tunnels, Midi's field of vision finally opened up.

This was a vast hollow deep underground, where an underground river revealed its course, forming a tranquil lake. The moonlight seeping through the cracks in the ceiling and the orange glow emitted by the luminescent moss on the stone walls made the entire space dreamlike.

In the center of this lake, on a small island made of white sand, a broken sword was embedded in the sand, with an ancient chain, made of unknown material, winding beside it.

In an instant, Midi felt all his consciousness drawn to it, his heartbeat synchronized.

The ghost god was here.

Midi suppressed his excitement and did not immediately approach. He stopped at the lakeshore and took out various potions and materials he had prepared during the day from his backpack.

He needed to prepare first.

Most of the time, the fusion between a swordsman and a ghost god is sudden and without warning. Unconsciously, the left arm is parasitized by the ghost god, followed by a mutation. This is the simple process by which most ghost swordsmen are born.

However, in the worst possible circumstances, as in Midi's previous life, the fusion could be said to be extremely unlucky.

But now, Midi clearly knew that the ghost god was right in front of him, and he was mentally prepared.

More importantly, he knew that under predictable conditions, there was a method to increase the fusion rate between the ghost god and the body, even to the point of mutual enhancement and perfect fusion.

This knowledge was imparted to Midi by the Mist Maiden Alice, a powerful woman who was on par with the Queen of Magic Bullets.

Among the three, Alice had the most extensive knowledge and the strongest magic. If the Queen of Magic Bullets, F