As a wealthy beneficiary, Blood Spider’s family prepared advanced dark gold equipment for her after she leveled up.

"You think artifact spirit recognition is harsh? If the Exile’s Soul Stone didn’t have an artifact spirit, could you meet the basic full attributes requirement of 60? Be grateful," Wushan Divine Lady gave Blood Spider a sidelong glance.

It’s not that all dark gold equipment has artifact spirits.

Many advanced dark gold equipment pieces don’t have artifact spirits, which may seem like it skips the step of artifact spirit recognition, but this isn’t necessarily good.

Because artifact spirit recognition itself can reduce equipment attribute requirements by half! It’s a shortcut. Moreover, only with artifact spirit recognition can dark gold equipment exert 100% of its power.

Wielding the Doomsday Spear with a swing, even a phantasmal slash produced a hissing sound as it sliced through the air, indicating its formidable might.

Taking advantage of the buff state, Bai Pu split the Doomsday Spear into two parts: holding the spearhead part named "Doomsday Blade" in his right hand, and the back half of the spear shaft named "Savior" in his left.

The end half of the spear shaft, combined with the protruding counterweight of the grip, resembled a solid hammer staff.

[Doomsday Blade (Bound)]

[Equipment Quality: Two-star King-level (Purple) / Component] 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

[Equipment Requirements: Basic Power 80, Basic Agility 80, Basic Endurance 60, Basic Spirit 60] (If holding the hand guarding staff ’Savior’ simultaneously, equipment requirements increase)

[Equipment Position: One-Handed]

[Additional Attack Power: 120~250, Attack Strength +70]

[Additional Skill 1: Rapid Speed: Agility +30 for the holder.]

[Additional Skill 2: Final Breath: Passive, each successful hit on an enemy with ’Doomsday Blade’ grants a layer of Final Breath (in cycles with ’Wall of Despair’), lasting until combat ends by default.]

[Durability: 800/800]

[Explanation: The reunion of this blade with its brethren foreshadows the coming of an end.]

Now, the [Doomsday Blade] no longer appeared incomplete but as a component of a King-level Purple Weapon. The equipment requirements are the same as before, but when dual-wielding ’Doomsday Blade’ and ’Savior,’ the requirements rise to match the full version of the Doomsday Spear.

Previously, there were no additional skills, but now there are two more. The Rapid Speed skill increases agility, which is self-explanatory, and [Final Breath] obviously is the key that requires cooperation with the hand guarding staff.

Bai Pu immediately checked the skills of the hand guarding staff.

[Savior (Bound)]

[Equipment Quality: Two-star King-level (Purple) / Component]

[Equipment Requirements: Basic Power 80, Basic Agility 80, Basic Endurance 60, Basic Spirit 60] (If holding the short spear ’Doomsday Blade’ simultaneously, equipment requirements increase)

[Equipment Position: One-Handed]

[Additional Attack Power: 100~220, Attack Strength +50]

[Additional Skill 1: Rapid Speed: Agility +30 for the holder.]

[Additional Skill 2: Wall of Despair: Passive, each successful parry of an enemy’s attack with ’Savior’ grants a layer of Wall of Despair (in cycles with ’Final Breath’), lasting until combat ends by default.]

[Durability: 800/800]

[Explanation: The reunion of this hand guarding staff with its brethren foreshadows the coming of an end.]

Combining the two weapons, Bai Pu saw the specific effects of "Final Breath" and "Wall of Despair."

Final Breath: Each layer increases attack speed by 3 points.

Wall of Despair: Each layer increases fixed damage reduction by 3 points.

The explanation is straightforward, but it omits two crucial words:

Limit.

This means that the layers of Final Breath and Wall of Despair theoretically have no limit!

The only restriction is "cyclic augmentation."

Bai Pu checked, and the concept of cyclic augmentation is this:

First, Bai Pu uses the Doomsday Blade to hit an enemy, earning one layer of "Final Breath," increasing attack speed by 3 points; then he needs to use ’Savior’ to parry an enemy attack, earning one layer of "Wall of Despair," increasing fixed damage reduction by 3 points, completing one cycle before continuing to stack Final Breath!

If he continuously uses the Doomsday Blade Short Spear, even if he hits the enemy a thousand times, he’d only have one layer of Final Breath.

"These two weapons... seem more suited for ground combat. Whether in duels or group battles, once the layers stack through cycles, it becomes progressively stronger, ultimately delivering doomsday-like despair to enemies, quite befitting the name ’Doomsday’."

Wushan Divine Lady averted her envious gaze.

"Gangxin, you and Qingyun are in a team, and I think there’s still one spot left? Do you have any candidates for a new teammate?" Wushan Divine Lady inquired.

"No. Even with Blood Spider, I seldom act together unless she needs help, then I can be summoned to assist," Bai Pu replied.

"Yes, in the Heart Demon World I used the teammate summon function, allowing Gangxin to help me significantly," Blood Spider nodded.

Wushan Divine Lady hesitated for a moment before saying, "Gangxin, with your current strength, you can team up with a top-level Awakened. Now is a critical time in the Spirit Realm war, and you’ll soon encounter stronger Otherworld Travelers. Three people exploring the Spirit Realm separately, with the ability to call for backup if necessary, surely provides more opportunities and greater risk resistance than soloing."

Bai Pu put away the Doomsday Spear and said, "If I can be assured final decision-making rights within the team and priority in spoils selection, I wouldn’t mind adding another teammate. However, top-level Awakened usually have pride and might find my conditions stringent. Thus, I plan to wait until the end of this year, after the Title Battle, before recruiting a new teammate."

Bai Pu thought that he is currently just a rising star, and only by proving his strength in the pinnacle Title Battle can he attract top-level Awakened teammates willing to accept such stringent conditions.

Wushan Divine Lady smiled and said, "So-called top-level Awakened usually stagnate in the Awakened stage for years, with the loot box drop rate reduced to very touching levels... like me, I’m preparing for the Ascension Plane, so I don’t mind not getting loot. As for final decision-making, of course, it’s yours. I don’t think anyone would question the decision-making ability of a super genius, especially one who has grown so much in just a year."

Wushan Divine Lady’s intent to volunteer was quite evident in her remarks.

Bai Pu looked towards Wushan Divine Lady, "If Elder Divine Woman wishes to join, she’d be more than welcome."

With connections and alliances exceeding new friendships, inviting Wushan Divine Lady instead of an unknown top-level Awakened was undoubtedly advantageous — she also had Candidate Level strength.

Wushan Divine Lady also had the networking advantage of major powerhouse leaders; she was the acting patriarch of the East Sea Witch Family and the leader of the ’Hero Gang,’ far surpassing Bai Pu in intelligence gathering and networking.

Wushan Divine Lady exhaled a sigh of relief, not quite understanding why she was so worried Bai Pu might refuse.