< Chapter 4: Opening Matters >
Ning Zhuo approached the furnace at the corner of the wall.
Inside the furnace, fierce flames burned vigorously, and amidst the flames stood a mechanical monkey half the height of a man, enduring the scorching fire at all times.
The mechanical monkey's skeleton stood upright, its entire body covered in vivid, bright red fur, except its muscles slowly disintegrated in the flames, oozing out from various cracks.
Hidden within the volcanic magma, the Lava Immortal Palace required Ning Zhuo to control the explosive monkey, which carried a thousand jin of Fire Essence, to navigate through the thick magma and attach itself to the surface of the palace for self-destruction.
But now, its muscles could not hold up.
"Yun-patterned soft silver won't work, let's switch to the next one."
Ning Zhuo sat down at the table, according to his plan for the evening, he intended to try using soot mud.
The reddish-brown soot mud emitted a pungent odor.
Ning Zhuo took a small wooden hammer and began to beat the mud.
With each strike of the small wooden hammer, a dull thud echoed, dispersing the clumps within the mud. Whenever sparks appeared in the reddish-brown mud, the wooden hammer emitted a coldness, promptly extinguishing the sparks.
Ning Zhuo had specially designed and developed the small wooden hammer for handling the soot mud.
If the examiners of the major exam were to see this, they would immediately grade Ning Zhuo's talisman science score as "superior."
Lower, middle, and upper grades were the most commonly used evaluations.
"Superior" was very rare, sometimes absent even in one session. This meant that the normal standards of evaluation were insufficient to describe the excellence of this young cultivator!
By the time all the lumps in the soot mud had completely dissolved, the surface of the red mud had accumulated a layer of fire oil.
Ning Zhuo took a cotton cloth handkerchief and covered it with soot mud. As he channeled his mana into it, the formation on the handkerchief activated, swiftly absorbing the oil. This handkerchief was also designed by Ning Zhuo, but this time, instead of using talismans, he had set up a miniature formation on it. The formation's craftsmanship was of the highest caliber.
After carefully inspecting and ensuring that the greasy soil was properly processed, Ning Zhuo began to knead it. The treated oily mud was excellently sticky, becoming pliable and fine under his manipulation. Any other impurities in the soil were flushed out under the infusion of his mana.
Ning Zhuo disassembled an arm from the mechanical monkey, using the processed greasy mud to adhere it to the armature. Under the light of the spirit lamp, his fingers were pristine white, and his movements were agile and sharp. He was completely absorbed, utterly focused, and had lost track of time. The youth at this moment was filled with a serious charm.
The soot mud was quickly molded into shape, and the bare armature soon sported full, blood-red muscles. Of course, Ning Zhuo wasn't just shaping the exterior with his hands; throughout the process, he continued to manipulate his mana, infusing it into the mud to refine its internal structure.
A mere slice through the flesh with a knife revealed that inside the mud, the structure also resembled that of muscles. The astonishing proficiency in material shaping could surely astonish the elders of the academy. If Ning Zhuo revealed this, he would undoubtedly become the focus of this year's academy promotional efforts. Such a talented seed in artifact refinement would prove the elders' skills and efforts.
After completing the shaping, Ning Zhuo began various tests on the arm. It was not sufficient. While the soot mud exhibited excellent fire resistance, its adaptability to mana was quite poor.
"Improvements are needed," Ning Zhuo mused.
He recalled, "When soot mud is mixed with thunder sand, it can be used to make explosives. It's commonly used for blasting mountains or combating demonic beasts."
"Soot mud combined with poison can be processed into poison pills. When these pills disintegrate, they release toxic fire smoke, useful for blocking enemies and defense."
"Soot mud can also be combined with coal stone and placed in the furnace of the artifact refining room, burning for a long time to maintain high temperatures."
* * *
Over the years, Ning Zhuo had done his utmost to remember everything he could access in terms of knowledge.
He would often spend his weekends immersed in the family's library, staying there the entire day from dawn to dusk, forgetting both sleep and meals.
Unknown to others, the unremarkable-looking Ning Zhuo was actually a walking library!
Ning Zhuo recalled all the knowledge about soot mud, yet he could not find a method to improve it.
"No matter, I'll design the formula myself!"
Youthful bravado shone with confidence in his eyes.
"Soot mud is warm in nature, attributed to the heart and liver meridians, carrying the energy of fiery oil, capable of dispersing moisture and cold evil from the bones. A small amount can treat the pain of cold congealing in the abdomen."
"If mixed with moonlight water from a well, the fiery and watery natures could harmonize, potentially reducing the weight."
"If the tail feathers of the Leading Bird are used as a catalyst, mixed together in alchemy... perhaps by leveraging the lightness of wind and its dispersing nature, the soot mud could be optimized to its best state."
"The catkins of the Lingyin Willow might also work. Taking catkins and soot mud for joint alchemy, the ratio might refer to formulas like the Light Spirit Pill and Clarity Dispersal Powder, which could significantly reduce the weight of the final product."
* * *
Ning Zhuo, with his quick-witted mind and solid grasp of pharmacology, quickly devised several pill recipes based on logic and medicinal theory.
Such a performance alone would not just secure him an exceptional score in the medicinal pills subject; the Ning family would surely take action to firmly bind him within the family's ranks.
Ning Zhuo began experimenting with new materials. He went through his own stock of materials and identified at least seven possible experiments to conduct.
Moonlight Water from the well?
Failed.
The final product's clay reduced slightly in stickiness and weight, and its fire resistance was greatly weakened.
Early Bird Feathers?
A massive failure.
The result was no longer clay, but a pile of dust.
Yet, Ning Zhuo felt a sense of joy: "The wind nature of the bird feathers is too strong, and I have gained a deeper understanding of this material."
His third attempt used Lingyin Willow's catkins.
The resulting clay showed patterns of the willow catkins, the stickiness remained unchanged, fire resistance was slightly reduced, but the weight decreased sharply. All other tests passed.
"Lucky me, I didn't expect to achieve the ideal result on the third try... uh."
Ning Zhuo's happiness was short-lived, as he noticed the patterns of the willow catkins on the clay starting to float to the surface, causing a clear-to-turbid transformation that degraded the quality of the clay.
This new clay was unstable!
Ning Zhuo then attempted a fourth experiment, which was a great failure. He pondered for a while, but instead of rushing to the next experiment, he decided to delve deeper into the Lingyin Willow's approach.
"This plan is close to success; it adapts well to various types of mana. What I need to do is to stabilize its form."
"What should I do next?"
As old problems were resolved, new ones emerged.
Far from being discouraged, Ning Zhuo was eager to try, his thoughts becoming even more focused. He found joy deep within himself as he immersed in the design process, a task that never felt dull or tedious but instead filled him with genuine delight.
In this state of deep thought, he felt his existence, his value.
He knew he was creating something that did not previously exist in the world!
This anticipation, this sense of achievement, was something no other thing could offer him.
For others, it might be torture, but for him, it was a beautiful indulgence, a pleasure of the mind.
Time silently slipped by, and Ning Zhuo, lost in thought, felt none of it pass.
After an unknown period of time, his eyes suddenly lit up.
"To solve this technical challenge, I need to use a moving formation."
However, this level of knowledge was well beyond what was taught at the Ning family's school.
Ning Zhuo stood up and paced back and forth in his underground workshop a few times.
After a moment of contemplation, he stopped, tilted his head back slightly, and made up his mind: "Chen Cha... known as the 'Living Formation Master,' specializes in moving formations, and crucially, he is also a puppet master."
"It's time to make contact with him."