Chapter 97: Memory Metal

The set of armor before him was perfectly intact—just as it had been before. He clearly remembered leaving a huge dent on it last time, so deep that it had almost rendered the armor unusable. How could it have disappeared now?
Upon closer inspection, not a trace of the dent could be seen. Though still simple in design, it appeared extremely smooth. Where could the dent have gone? He quickly picked it up to check if it had been replaced during his absence. Holding it in his hands, he felt the familiar weight and lightness. It was indeed the same armor—no replacement.
“Xuanyuan, Xuanyuan, are you there? Help me figure out what’s going on!” Unable to resolve his confusion, Rod turned to Xuanyuan for help.
“Hm, I’m coming. Why yell? I’m in the middle of training. What’s the matter? Let me take a look!” Xuanyuan’s voice sounded impatient. But Rod didn’t care; his attention was entirely focused on the armor.
“Self-repair?” In the next moment, Xuanyuan exclaimed in shock, “How is that possible? There’s something like this here? Yes, it’s really it—no doubt about it. It’s that stuff, along with Ice Gold. I finally get it—It’s Ice Gold! Ahaha… So that’s how it is. Master, we’ve made a huge profit this time. This is an excellent item—definitely as good as the Dark Dragon. Hehe, taking this with us will pay off!”
Xuanyuan’s tone shifted from initial impatience to surprise, and then to excitement. Such a dramatic change was astonishing. It was hard to imagine what kind of thing could leave Xuanyuan so amazed and incredulous.
“What is that thing? And what is Ice Gold?” Full of confusion, Rod frowned and wondered inwardly. He had only heard of a few materials that could be used to craft weapons: black iron, refined iron, precision steel, meteoric iron, secret silver, and heavy gold. Black iron and refined iron were the most common, while meteoric iron was already considered an excellent material. As for secret silver, he had only heard of it before—especially when that person praised it while selling the Dark Dragon in Qingfeng City. All his prior knowledge came from those divine artifacts. Secret silver was an indispensable material for creating divine artifacts. As for heavy gold, its presence in even divine artifacts was minimal, let alone in everyday use.
What exactly was this Ice Gold? And what was that thing that caused Xuanyuan to react so dramatically? It was unimaginable.

“That substance is called memory alloy; it has memory properties. Any piece of armor or weapon, or even anything else, as long as it contains an appropriate amount of memory alloy, can recover to its original state in a very short time, no matter how severe the damage, without leaving any trace. This is the utility of memory alloy, though it’s extremely rare. So rare that in all these years, I’ve only seen it once—yes, just once—contained in a weapon belonging to someone. Just that tiny amount made that weapon unparalleled!

I never expected to find it in this set of armor. As for ice gold, it’s no wonder you don’t know about it; this material is also incredibly scarce. It’s pure white in color and essential for creating divine weapons. My sword contains ice gold. Although its quantity is much greater than that of memory alloy, it’s still an absolutely rare material. Any weapon infused with ice gold becomes extremely powerful—unbreakable, invincible, impregnable to any attack! Moreover, its greatest advantage is its light weight. Even if you had a pile of ice gold in front of you, you probably wouldn’t feel its weight at all. It’s definitely the best material for weapons and armor. Of course, there’s an even greater advantage you’ll discover on your own. I’m sure you’ll fall in love with it!

I never thought it would be this thing. No wonder… hehe, no wonder it’s so light. If it weren’t for the memory alloy and that damned blacksmith using secret techniques, I would have recognized it long ago!”

With a hint of distant nostalgia, Xuanyuan explained slowly, his voice somewhat low, especially when talking about memory alloy, as if it reminded him of something terrifying. Although he hid a secret at the end, Rod didn’t care. After all, he said he would understand eventually. Wouldn’t it be better to leave some room for imagination?

“Unbreakable? Impregnable? Invincible to any attack? No way… Then how did I manage to dent it with just a few blows that day…” Xuanyuan’s words left Rod deeply puzzled. According to that, it should have been incredibly solid, but the reality seemed quite different. How could a casual strike from him have created a dent? That seemed utterly unreasonable.

“I’m not sure. It’s probably restricted by some kind of seal. I can sense the mysterious energy hidden within this set of armor. I believe breaking that seal will solve everything. For now, use it temporarily—it’s far better than any other armor! I’ll study it further later!” With that, Xuan Yuan fell silent. No matter how Rod called out, there was no response; his calls vanished as if swallowed by the sea, utterly ineffective. Examining the armor in his hands carefully, a faint smile appeared on his lips. He really had incredible luck to find such a treasure! Truly powerful. He handled the armor with great care, as if afraid of damaging it, wrapped it up, and placed it on his bed. As long as it wasn’t useless, he could deal with the rest later—there was plenty of time. Meanwhile, Rod comforted himself in his heart. With a cheerful mood and even humming a tune, he went to his bed. With nothing much to do, he meditated for a while before starting to train. He would be heading to the dangerous Collins Forest the next day, so he needed to get himself in top shape. He spent the entire night training. The next day, at dawn, he stopped training on time, washed up casually, picked up his belongings, and headed out. On the streets, many people were already walking around, most of them hurrying to buy supplies before heading in another direction of the town—toward Collins Forest. Without wasting time, he quickly bought everything he needed, cursing the high prices and complaining about the unfair shops. He followed the crowd of mercenaries toward Collins Forest. Led by the larger group, they soon reached another grim exit of Iron Bar Town. Here, Rod was shocked—finally understanding why the town was called Iron Bar Town. Before him stood towering city walls, much higher than those in the capital city, likely thirty to forty zhang tall. Made entirely of huge rocks, their thickness was invisible, but it was clear they were at least ten zhang thick. One could imagine just how terrifying such a massive construction must be, and thus, the formidable defense it provided.

Upon closer inspection, the walls were densely packed with thousands of soldiers standing in formation, firmly guarding the area. On both sides of the walls were steep cliffs and rocky ridges, rendering those sides impregnable. The towering walls stood in the valley, forming a massive barrier that separated the entire Collins Forest, Iron Bar Town, and the empire within.

With such defenses, it was no wonder they could withstand the attacks of those terrifying magical beasts! Taking a deep breath, Rod murmured to himself in awe.

He stepped forward and soon reached the city gates. Under the strict scrutiny of the guards, he passed through the checkpoint successfully. Only then did he realize the thickness of the walls—ten meters, yes, at least three zhang thick, made of solid rock!

After passing through these gates, another astonishing sight greeted him. Beyond them stood an even more magnificent wall in the distance. That wall was even taller and situated on even more treacherous terrain. Along the path leading to it was only a wide road, flanked by rows of military camps carved out of the cliffs—two enormous camps that stretched as far as the eye could see. This was the base of the Black Tooth Legion, which housed five hundred thousand soldiers!

No wonder, with two layers of robust defenses and the Black Tooth Legion guarding closely, all of the army’s resistance capabilities were concentrated here. It was no surprise it was known as the strongest defensive line on the continent.

Both sets of camps were under strict protection, with no one allowed to enter without permission. Rod, of course, wasn’t foolish enough to do such a thing. He strode forward and soon reached the edge of those massive walls.

The soldiers guarding this side were densely packed, clearly in a state of high alert. There were at least five thousand of them. His brother appeared spirited and solemn, and the atmosphere was extremely tense. These tall and strong soldiers were clearly not ordinary people—they must have undergone special training and were undoubtedly elite fighters.

Muttering in amazement, he passed another round of inspections before finally being allowed through. The gate leading to Collins Forest opened at that moment, and light streamed in through the thick doors, unveiling a brand new world. Rod embarked on a new journey in such an environment.

Following dozens of mercenaries, he headed outside. Listening to their conversations, Rod smiled bitterly inwardly—there were two mercenary groups, and he was the only one alone.

He quickened his pace and soon reached outside the city gates. Here, over a thousand soldiers were guarding the entrance, each holding a weapon with an indifferent expression; their cold stares made one feel uneasy. Looking around, Collins Forest amazed Rod.