hotmtlnovel Chapter 133 Artifact Refining
Chapter 133 Artifact Refining
Dragon Liang Academy.
One of only four grand academic institutions in the Nine Heavens Domain, which had a population of four hundred million.
It ranked within the top 50 of the 151 academies under the Nine Cauldrons Sect.
Every year, more than five million candidates from the Nine Heavens Domain took the examinations, but less than 5% could make it into one of the four grand academies. The rest either willingly settled for an ordinary life or continued their studies at higher educational institutions, waiting for an opportunity to challenge the Nine Cauldrons Sect's assessment before the age of twenty-two.
Every single person who could enter Dragon Liang Academy was considered a child of heaven.
After graduation, 10% would join the Nine Cauldrons Sect, truly entering the privileged and core class of the land's population of 88 billion, while another 40% could enter governmental positions in the Energy Department, securing a "steel rice bowl" job.
Even the remaining 50% would scatter across various sectors of society, serving as elite individuals with annual salaries often starting at a hundred thousand.
Therefore, as Alkaid walked through Dragon Liang Academy, every young face he saw was confident and hopeful, filled with limitless aspirations for their futures.
After asking for directions, Alkaid arrived at a small five-story building covered in red ceramic tiles.
Building Three, Red House.
At the entrance, there was an electronic gate that required facial recognition.
Alkaid contacted Professor Lin Sen, with whom he had arranged a meeting upon his arrival.
Soon, the electronic gate opened, and the two of them entered the house.
This scene made Zong Yan, who had followed along, realize that Alkaid was probably already well-informed about this project.
It was not as simple as him having "looked into it a bit" as he had said.
When they reached the office upstairs, a man in his forties or fifties, wearing black-rimmed glasses, was already waiting at the door.
He was momentarily stunned by Alkaid's youthful face but did not seem too surprised afterwards.
In the age of immortal cultivation, anything was possible.
A person past sixty could look like a man in his twenties or thirties if he was willing to take elixirs or practice beautifying cultivation techniques.
Hence, they would not make the mistake of judging one by his appearance.
"Mr. Alkaid, we've exchanged messages several times in the Void Divine Realm, and we finally meet in person today. Regarding this topic, we should have a good talk. Please, come in."
Lin Sen gestured warmly for Alkaid to enter.
The office wasn't very large.
It covered an area of only about thirty square meters, and much of the space was piled with various kinds of materials.
Among these materials were paper books, but most were jade talismans capable of storing information.
Additionally, there were several projectors placed on an electronic desk engraved with formation patterns.
One of the projections was startlingly a phantom of a flying sword.
"This is..."
Zong Yan glanced at it and quickly recognized what it was: "Immortal Shadow 50?"
A product from the Flying Sword Division of the Artifact Refining Hall under the Nine Cauldrons Sect.
It was a high-grade eighth-rank magic artifact known for its high spirit consumption.
Supposedly, it wasn't even as cost-effective as the seventh-rank flying swords from the Immortal Alliance or the Limitless Star Palace, and in terms of energy saving, it was even inferior to the seventh-rank flying swords from the Great Sun Sword Sect.
"It should be the Immortal Shadow 60, although its development is not yet complete,"
Lin Sen said after giving Zong Yan a glance and offering an explanation.
"It seems that the information I provided has been somewhat useful?"
Alkaid said.
"Very useful,"
Lin Sen solemnly replied. "The Immortal Shadow series is one of our Nine Cauldrons Sect's heavily supported independently-developed civilian flying swords, the purpose of which is to combat the encroachment of powers like the Immortal Alliance and the Limitless Star Palace on the civilian flying sword market... after all, everyone knows how low the cost of flying swords can really be."
At this point, he seemed somewhat disheartened, "For a flying sword with no combat ability, just because one aspect reaches the standard of a spiritual artifact, they dare to sell it as a spiritual artifact, pricing it at over a thousand spirit coins, as if our Nine Cauldrons Sect's spirit stones are blown in by the wind."
Alkaid, who had been in this world for less than a month, did not have much feeling towards these words.
At this time, Lin Sen also seemed to think it inappropriate to discuss these matters with Alkaid and his companion.
Immediately changing his demeanor, Lin Sen perked up, "Although the main energy factory has been relocated to Nine Heavens City, the related research equipment has not yet been moved. Here at Dragon Liang Academy, we still have a profound foundation in energy. Combined with the new conduction system you've recently sent, Mr.
Alkaid, we are confident that we can greatly reduce the cost of spiritual energy and bring down the per ten thousand-kilometer spirit consumption of the Immortal Shadow 60 from 135 to 118."
"Still 118? That's 18 basis points behind the advanced level of Cangwu, not to mention far ahead."
Alkaid was somewhat surprised.
A flying sword, even one meant for mere transportation at the magical artifact level, often cost over a million.
As of today, both branches had been promoted to Ninth Rank. Among them, artifact refining was at 71%, and the Divine Path, which he focused on cultivating, had progressed to 96%. He was only 5 percentage points away from stepping into the Primordial Spirit Realm.
71% progress...
Among high-rank artifact refiners, it already belonged to the most exceptional group.
After all, many high-rank artifact refiners would start to craft Spiritual Artifacts after reaching 60% progress, no longer spending their efforts on low-tier Magical Artifacts.
And his progress at the Eighth Rank was 100%!
There's an obvious gap between 100% and 55% in technical refinement standards.
After inspecting for a while, Alkaid spoke, "May I use your workbench?"
"Feel free."
Lin Sen said.
Alkaid immediately copied out the Immortal Shadow's energy system at 60% and began guiding, operating, and repairing it.
Although he had primarily worked on Body Refinement over the last two years, he also pushed his Divine Refining Path to the Sixth Layer.
The Divine Sense of the Sixth Layer of Divine Refinement enabled him to go through these materials very efficiently.
The reason he hadn't broken through to the Seventh Layer of Divine Refinement was not that he couldn't, but rather he feared that it would overshadow the rest.
This involved the difference between nurturing Divinity with Qi and transforming Qi into Divinity.
When Divine Sense becomes too powerful, it would start to suppress the physical body, causing one's essence to gradually shift from tempering the body as the main focus to refining Qi into Divinity.
With his exceptional realm, Alkaid could suppress this situation.
But it ultimately took up a portion of his energy.
Therefore, ensuring the primary and secondary roles between Body Refinement and Divine Refinement is important.
After all...
Early stages of Divine Refinement are only suitable for support, with inferior direct combat capabilities.
Furthermore, the Divine Path places more importance on the realm than the Martial Path does.
Like Daoist practice and magical power.
As long as the realm improves, the display of miracles won't be too inferior; it only falls short in terms of endurance.
...
The sky had darkened.
But Lin Sen showed no signs of urging him to hurry.
For cultivators, pulling an all-nighter was all too common.
Can sitting up all night even be called cultivating immortality?
Fortunately, Alkaid didn't keep him waiting for too long.
By around nine o'clock in the evening, he swiftly began modifications on the virtual model.
With hands skilled in the Martial Path and reactions honed in the Divine Path, he optimized the entire virtual model in just over an hour.
"I've carried out some optimization on the energy system, but a flying sword is not just a simple energy system; there are also the propulsion system, balance system, stabilization system, and so on... To ensure that the changes to the energy system don't affect the other systems, this is as much as I could change. If I were to continue, I'd need to see all of 'Immortal Shadow 60's' data."
Alkaid spoke and then pressed on the virtual model, smiling. "Go let the Divine Cultivators working on calculating paths use the computational power of magical treasures for simulation. If nothing unexpected occurs, its Spirit Consumption should drop below 100. As for the exact number, inform me when you have the results."
"Below 100!?"
Lin Sen had anticipated a surprise from Alkaid but never expected it to be this significant!
"Are you serious!? An Eighth Rank flying sword with a 100 Spirit Consumption, if really achievable, would signify that our Nine Cauldrons Sect has reached the advanced standard of the Cangwu Realm in the Eighth Rank civilian flying sword energy consumption field!" Find more chapters on empire
"Try it and see."
Alkaid spoke, glanced at the completely darkened sky outside, "I've delayed you for a whole day, so I'll take my leave now."
Lin Sen quickly gathered his thoughts, "Mr. Alkaid personally visited and I didn't even offer you a proper meal, that's my negligence. I'll arrange for it right away..."
"No need, I reckon right now you're eager to verify this model. So, don't mind me, just notify me as soon as you have the results."
Alkaid said generously.
Indeed, Lin Sen was somewhat impatient.
After all, this problem had stumped them for too long.
Immediately, he said with some apology, "Then... After the affair is settled, I'll invite Mr. Alkaid to a banquet. In addition, the reward due to you will not disappoint."
"Then I'll wait for Professor Lin's good news."
Alkaid nodded and turned to leave.