Chapter 85: Brake!!! You're About to Crash into the Wall, Old Man!!
"Teacher, I suddenly feel like our chances of getting the Dragon Flame Art just increased a little."
When Xiao Yan looked up and saw Gu Ni flying steadily over the heads of the crowd, he couldn't help but gulp. He understood—if Yao Lao wasn't willing to bleed a little tonight, there was no way they were walking away with that ridiculously cool Dual-Blade Feather Sheath Wings.
It was just… way too damn cool!
"..." Within Xiao Yan's body, Yao Chen silently stared at Gu Ni on stage, and the Dual-Blade Feather Sheath Wings on his back. He had to admit, that brash kid Jiang Lin—at times—truly had some brilliant ideas.
So many Dou Qi experts had never bothered to develop low-tier flying techniques or devices because they thought it was pointless.
First, flight was already considered a fundamental ability for any high-level Dou Qi practitioner.
Second, low-ranked Dou Shi didn't have the Dou Qi capacity to sustain flight anyway—so what was the point?
But now, seeing that even an old man like Gu Ni could fly steadily over their heads using the Dual-Blade Feather Sheath Wings, with no sign of instability throughout, Yao Chen no longer had anything bad to say about Jiang Lin's creation.
Because Yao Chen understood—flying was easy. What was hard, was sustained flight. In other words, how to generate the most lift using the least amount of Dou Qi. And without question, Jiang Lin had achieved a unique breakthrough in this regard. He didn't just dumb down high-level flying devices or techniques using low-tier materials. He had developed his own innovative understanding of flight.
And as someone who shared a title with blacksmiths—an alchemist—Yao Chen knew that kind of unique insight was the most precious thing of all.
Even for Yao Chen himself, it wasn't until he reached Tier Seven as an alchemist that he began forming his own understanding of pill refinement, able to create original pill recipes and becoming a true Pill Master. The Tier Two Foundation Elixir was one such creation of his.
'If the world hadn't drastically changed, I would have admitted you really are a blacksmithing genius… But no matter. Once you reach Tier Six, I'll pull you over into alchemy anyway.' The appearance of the Dual-Blade Feather Sheath Wings finally made Yao Chen take Jiang Lin seriously.
As a former Pill Sovereign, Yao Chen had heard about the severed legacy of blacksmiths. In truth, starting from Tier Seven—just like Tier Seven pills—spirit artifacts began to draw on the power of heaven and earth. The difference was, Tier Seven pills only required a touch of heaven's resonance to become a Mystic or Supreme Pill. But Tier Seven spirit artifacts were greedier. They needed a portion of energy that could carry Dao resonance, to be forged into a weapon capable of growing and syncing with a Dou Zong, Dou Zun, or even a Dou Saint's domain mastery.
In his youth, Yao Chen had explored many ruins and found all kinds of strange relics. From fragmented records, he learned that the founder of the Pill Tower's Mystic Pill lineage was considered a prototype for true artifacts. The synergy between such artifacts and their users wasn't just 1 + 1 = 2—some exclusive spirit artifacts could help their users instantly dominate opponents of the same tier.
For instance, Yao Chen had once seen a decaying stele in a ruin that read:
"Before twenty, unmatched on the continent, slaying serpents and capturing dragons."
"At thirty, suffered defeat and lost an arm fighting a powerful foe on the Vast Void Continent."
"At fifty, a destitute man received a gift from the 'Child of Pill and Artifact'—a sword forged from a dragon horn and phoenix essence, tempered by heavenly thunder and earth fire. Named it Dragon Abyss. He cleaved off a corner of the continent and called it Thunder Pool—never to be crossed."
"At seventy, with this sword, he challenged ten emperors beyond the domain, slaying three and injuring seven, claiming the emperor's seat."
Yao Chen always thought this was just nonsense. How could someone go from crippled to godly that fast? But as his cultivation grew, he came to understand that sometimes it wasn't exaggeration—it was just something he hadn't witnessed for himself yet.
Later, after becoming the Pill Sovereign, Yao Chen once glimpsed a Yin-Yang interwoven seven-colored pagoda in a spatial rift and acquired a technique from within. That was when he realized—the problem wasn't that blacksmiths weren't powerful. It was that the current world's environment no longer allowed the forging of true spirit artifacts.
Among the eight ancient clans, many had stockpiles of scrap spirit artifacts. Back when the world changed drastically, something seemed to drain all the energy from heaven and earth overnight, rendering all spirit artifacts useless and reducing them to ruins.
Pulling himself out of those thoughts, Yao Chen said to Xiao Yan, "Take a look. The Dual-Blade Feather Sheath Wings suit you. Trade the technique for it."
Although Yao Chen felt he could probably get a better deal from that audacious brat, as a Pill Sovereign, he had plenty of techniques in his collection. No need to deal too much with that weirdo.
"I understand! Thank you, teacher!" Xiao Yan's eyes lit up. Hearing that Yao Lao was ready to burn some gold, he got excited immediately.
While Xiao Yan conversed with Yao Chen, Gu Ni raised a hand on stage to quiet the crowd.
"As you've guessed, the Dual-Blade Feather Sheath Wings is a painstaking masterpiece from Blacksmith Young Lin. Due to the complexity of its crafting, our Chamber has negotiated with Master Young Lin and secured auction rights at a pace of one unit every three months."
But even as he said this, Gu Ni lacked a bit of confidence. Because in truth, the structure of the wings was relatively simple. What was complex were the internal engravings—and the fact that the device had to be paired with the flying Dou Technique "Feather Sheath" to function.
Earlier in the day, during promotional prep, Gu Ni had been trained by Jiang Lin inside the Miteer Chamber to practice the low-tier Huang class flying Dou Technique Feather Sheath.
Gu Ni had to admit—Jiang Lin's ability to teach was terrifying. In less than half a day, he had mastered both manual and automatic modes of the technique and could pilot the Dual-Blade Feather Sheath Wings with ease.
But Jiang Lin was by no means a good teacher.
Because:
"Old Gu, channel your Dou Qi through this meridian—easy now…"
"Old man! You messed up again?!"
"Hold it together, old fart! You can't let your Dou Qi flow break! How are you this weak?!"
"You stubborn geezer! You're the dumbest person I've ever seen!!! Form the Dou Qi rotation already!!!"
"Brake! Brake!!! You're about to crash into the wall, you old fart!!"
What a… brash little bastard.
But Gu Ni had no idea that, to Jiang Lin, Feather Sheath was as simple as 1 + 1 = 2.
Imagine a parent helping their kid with homework:
Confident child: "One plus one equals seven!"
Exhausted parent: "...Let the world burn. There's no saving this."
(END CHAPTER)
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