Lao Wang declined Supervisor Lulu's suggestion to stay at a hostel near the Pill Refinery Hall. Frankly speaking, Supervisor Lulu was rather unwilling to present this offer to Wang Zhong. The moment he saw Wang Zhong express a little reluctance in accepting his suggestion, he immediately accepted that decision.
Lao Wang didn't think too much into this matter. All of the hostels were within the premises of the Heavenly Gates, and the living conditions weren't much different. If he accepted Supervisor Lulu's suggestion, it would only be slightly more convenient for him to go to the Pill Refinery Hall, but he would have to adapt to new roommates. Staying with Jhonas would be better since he was already familiar with the routes. Besides, he was rather fond of Jhonas and didn't feel awkward living with him.
He didn't care about the rumors that were spreading around the Heavenly Gates recently. Those were just idle talk, and he couldn't be bothered with them. The most important thing was that he got accepted into the Pill Refinery Hall.
Wang Zhong had gradually lowered his guard during the past six months in the Heavenly Gates. However, the Rosa Ghost Thunder Killing Array that he previously encountered with Celeste made him more vigilant now.
No matter who was behind the assassination attempt, there was no doubt that the other party had the ability and determination to act against him within the premises of the Heavenly Gates. He had dodged a bullet that time, but what if it happened again? Lao Wang felt the need to use a method to quickly boost his power, which could be done through equipment refinery.
In the divine territory where battles often ended in life or death situations, weapons were extremely important.
Balor completely underestimated Wang Zhong's ability. If he had made preparations beforehand, such as having a few life-saving refined pills, or some equipment that could amplify his power to a greater extent, Wang Zhong would definitely have died!
Lao Wang knew this very clearly and would never make the same mistake as Balor.
However, he thought that Jhonas wasn't reliable enough to be entrusted with the task of refining weapons.
Technically speaking, there was nothing wrong with the level-9 equipment that Jhonas refined previously. Level-9 equipment was good enough for a Void Core expert, let alone someone in the Foundational Stage. However, Wang Zhong was different from the rest.
His fighting style changed all the time, and his sword techniques were affected by his spiritual energy waveband, which was the most demanding factor in deciding an equipment's stability and endurance. In normal circumstances, even level-7 or level-8 equipment wouldn't make the cut, let alone level-9 equipment. Wang Zhong needed a better piece of equipment, or rather, a custom one that could withstand the adjustments he made to his spiritual energy waveband.
Jhonas evidently lacked the skills in refining such a piece of equipment, but another person could do it.
Lavel!
"I want to refine a level-4 sword weapon."
Lavel was the one who mentioned this idea first. After all this time, the teamwork between her and Wang Zhong was becoming better. Wang Zhong was showing quick improvement too. He was now completely comfortable with adjusting his spiritual energy waveband, which even Lavel couldn't find fault with.
The adjustment period was over, and Lavel was working towards her real goal.
She called Wang Zhong over for a talk. After all, Wang Zhong's current status was way different from before. Lavel had her sources in the Heavenly Gates, and she definitely caught wind of the huge commotion that Wang Zhong caused earlier on. This kid actually managed to gain the approval of Elder Yimo and was specially accepted into the Pill Refinery Hall. Wang Zhong was highly valued by Elder Yimo now. Even with Lavel's status, she had to think twice before bossing him around now, unlike before.
That was why Lavel decided to tell Wang Zhong frankly what was going on and his upcoming task. She believed that he was a smart person and would make the right decision.
Upon hearing that the equipment that Lavel wanted to refine was a sword, Lao Wang was instantly tempted.
A sword weapon was exactly what he wanted, but they were talking about a level-4 sword weapon now, which was no small matter. Lao Wang was a little hesitant. Previously, he had already spent two to three hundred thousand on the raw materials used to refine the level-9 sword weapon. This time, what kind of astronomical figure would he need to fork out for a level-4 sword? Even if Lavel wasn't trying to cheat him, he wouldn't be able to raise such a large sum. It was true that he had a few level-7 Perfect Pills, but that wasn't even close to the value of a level-4 weapon. If he wanted to refine level-7 pills to earn money to purchase level-4 equipment, he would die of exhaustion before raising enough.
Forget it, he wouldn't think so much about it! He would just do as he was told. If he completed his job well this time, he might be able to convince Lavel to help him refine a level-6 or level-7 sword weapon in the future.
Lavel grinned. She was a smart woman who could guess what Wang Zhong was thinking about even if he was hesitant to speak.
Wang Zhong was too easy to read. Previously, Jhonas brought Wang Zhong along to her equipment refinery house just to refine a sword weapon for him. However, it was shattered by Wang Zhong's high-frequency spiritual energy. At the use he was planning with that sword, he needed at least a level-6 sword weapon.
In the end, Lavel was the one who broke the silence. "Initially, my blueprint design was tailor-made for myself, but I changed my mind. How about I customize this level-4 sword weapon for you?"
"Huh?" Lao Wang was shocked.
She wanted to customize a level-4 sword weapon for him?
It was understandable that Lao Wang was stupefied. It wasn't every day that he had something fall into his lap so easily. Fortunately, he hadn't lost all rationality and waved his hand. "Senior Sister, I have no money to pay for that."
"I'm doing it for free." Lavel frowned. She thought that Wang Zhong would agree immediately and be immensely grateful…
Wang Zhong didn't believe her at all. Lavel was a miser who made him pay 200,000 for the little damage he caused in her equipment refinery house. She was going to help him for free? No one would believe that! Could it be that she wasn't confident in refining a level-4 weapon and wanted him to fork out some money so that she could experiment?
The two of them had been on good terms recently, but it was undeniable that their collaboration started on weird terms. Lao Wang couldn't be blamed for thinking too much into it.
Lao Wang was rather direct. "I don't have money for the raw materials either."
"…" Lavel took in a deep breath, not knowing whether to laugh or to cry. This dude was being really cautious. Was it because he had been scammed by her earlier on? "I will fork out the money for the raw materials. You only need to assist me in completing this work…"
"Sure!" Lao Wang was instantly all smiles. He seemed to have sensed that he misunderstood her words just now. "But Senior Lavel, I don't understand something…"
"You don't understand how such a good opportunity just fell into your lap?" Lavel smiled. "Be it the raw materials needed to refine the sword weapon or the sword weapon itself, all these don't matter to me. I want to accomplish this task as an affirmation of my skills. As for me…"
"I already had my own equipment since a long time ago." As she was talking, she gently waved her hand, and two huge silver rings appeared out of thin air in front of her.
"Unparalleled Rings, a level-4 item," she said with a smile on her face. "Although I wasn't the one who refined this, this piece of equipment has been with me for many years. Previously, I wanted to refine a new life weapon to replace it, but I couldn't bear to part with it in the end. I no longer intend to change my life weapon, so I'll pass this chance to you."
It was a piece of level-4 equipment they were talking about! The last time Wang Zhong encountered something similar was during a lesson in the Combat Cultivation Hall, when the Titan supervisor took out a piece of thunder equipment. However, that was considered to be just a tool to create illusions and a public weapon. It was extremely different from this private life weapon which had offensive attributes.
Wang Zhong sized up her life weapon curiously. The two silver rings spanned one meter in diameter and were razor sharp. Just by staring at it, Wang Zhong felt like his eyes were about to be sliced open. The two rings floated around Lavel as if they were protecting her. She didn't even need to lift a finger to control them. It was as if they had a mind of their own.
"A life weapon needs to be nourished. Once it reaches a certain level of connection with you, you can control it with just a little bit of spiritual power. It may look like it has a mind of its own, but the truth is otherwise." Lavel waved her hand and let the two silver rings float slightly closer to Wang Zhong. "Go ahead and observe it. Sense and familiarize yourself with what a level-4 offensive life weapon is like."
After getting Lavel's approval, Wang Zhong couldn't help but to immediately put his hand on it gently. He was astounded upon coming into contact with the ring.
It didn't feel like he was touching an ice-cold weapon. Instead, it felt like touching an exploding volcano, a falling meteor, an extremely violent ancient behemoth… That feeling made him forget that he was touching a physical weapon. His first impression was not that it was powerful, but that of primitive danger, making him feel fear by merely touching it, because he wasn't the owner of the weapon.
"Refining a level-4 item is a rather complicated process, especially since I'm tailoring this weapon for someone other than myself. There are many other conditions that need to be fulfilled, such as the alchemist and weapon user's chemistry in terms of their souls and their thinking…"
Lavel finally got to the point, which was why she wanted to hash things out with Wang Zhong today.
She gave up on refining a life weapon for herself as she already had her Unparalleled Rings. If she refined another life weapon for herself, it would mean that she had to give up her current life weapon or waste the new life weapon. Also, the refining process was complicated. If she helped someone else instead of Wang Zhong, it would mean yet another person had to participate in this process. Just like how Jhonas helped Wang Zhong refine the level-9 weapon previously, the person using the weapon had to participate in the refining process from start to end. Lavel didn't want more trouble.