Chapter 177: Imaginative Artificing

Chapter 177: Imaginative ArtificingThe Grand Cloud Mirror Art showcased to all those in Polarity City how the dignitaries gathered for the opening ceremony of the annual auction.

While that was exciting for some, to Li Lang, it couldn’t be more boring with no audio to go along with the visuals.

That was why he instead focused on crafting his long-awaited artifact printer. He had endured numerous failures within Ruby’s artifact space and spent countless hours designing something that he could make without any advanced tools.

Throughout all his experimenting, there was one notable thing he learned. Artificing required metal materials to use as a catalyst in order to work. It was why artificing techniques allowed one to shape metals efficiently without the need to use any heat. However, Li Lang wasn’t satisfied with just that.

He possessed a heavenly fire, and while he may not be familiar with the various Qi metals of this world, the auto-analyzer was especially efficient at analyzing material compositions. Li Lang just needed to put in the hours to test out how to draw out the properties he desired of the materials.

The main challenge left was the final touch of incorporating a beast core into the design. Each beast core was said to be unique, so repeated practice in his lab couldn’t assure him of success.

That was why Li Lang was surprised as well with how his first attempt turned out.

After forming the mimeograph machine with his artificing techniques, he proceeded to insert the beast core as he tried to attune it. Just like when he had done it in Ruby’s artifact space, the moment he placed it into the machine, he felt the core pulsating erratically, as if it was trying to communicate something to him.

He had to use the techniques he learned from Tie Qian to send out similar pulses of Qi in an attempt to control the wild core. It was as if he was building a collar for whatever consciousness was left in the core.

Normally, it would stop at that, and he would soon find out if his attempt would succeed or not. The start was the most crucial moment, as the spirit of each core reacted uniquely. However, his first attempt in reality had turned out differently. Instead of being able to concentrate on his techniques to form the figurative collar, a bestial roar suddenly sounded out in his mind. It made him flinch, alerting his companions at the table.

“Li Lang? What’s wrong?” Sima Xue asked.

She was about to reach a hand out to Li Lang if Long Yi didn’t stop her.

“Wait. Just leave him be for now. This happens sometimes in the middle of artificing.”

“Really? It’s normal to freeze up like that?”

“S-Shouldn’t you know what artificing i-is like?” Wei Ping asked. “Nightmoon V-Valley is a major organization. Artificers s-should be a common sight for you.”

“We may have many members talented in various crafts, but I personally don’t get to interact with many of them,” Sima Xue replied wistfully. “My master keeps me busy, so it’s my first time seeing an artificer in action.”

While Li Lang had heard every word of the conversation going on around him, his mind was currently completely focused on the task at hand. The voices he heard were not only loud, but they also provoked his emotions. Sometimes it made him angry or sad before it abruptly changed to fear or contentment. The changes in emotion made him barely keep up with the attunement process.

He never once panicked because he had heard about this phenomenon from his artifice teachers and senior apprentices. It was what led the artificer community to believe what made each core unique to be the soul of the beast. And currently, it was lashing out at the person trying to tame it.

Each wave of Qi Li Lang sent out would clash against the will of whatever was left in the core. He felt like he was fishing, trying to tire out the party he had hooked before he could reel them in.

As time passed, he could feel the stubbornness of the other party and their fatigue.

Not long after that, Li Lang could feel the resistance melting away and the moment of truth came. Even after successfully subduing the spirit, there was still a high chance of it disappearing instead of being tamed.

Li Lang was treading into new territory as he hadn’t experienced what to do next because Ruby couldn’t simulate anything to do with these residual spirits.

He quickly found the beast core unresponsive. A sign of failure he had been taught about. The consciousness of it was dead. It refused to submit to him until the end. He had to try again.

Perhaps it was because he was also tired. He didn’t hesitate to try out whatever came to his mind next.

Having cultivated for years, Li Lang learned that cultivation reacted actively to one’s imagination. It didn’t mean you could just imagine yourself succeeding and it would work, but it could change the way how things worked.

That’s why instead of giving up, Li Lang tried to continue with the crafting session. He began imagining the beast core as a virtual brain, a computer of sorts. The software of it was corrupted, so he started compiling a new operating system for it.

The only issue was that he wasn’t a programmer or a computer scientist. He specialized in biodefense, and knew about adapting to alien flora, but it didn’t make him proficient in software engineering.

Thankfully, he had Ruby.

No longer having to struggle against the beast core’s will, Li Lang freely retreated into his lab. He opened up his computer and began referencing the parts of the code he was struggling with. He even started working on the operating system in sandbox mode, ironing out any kinks.

After some time, he returned to reality and began implementing his work. The pulses of Qi established a connection and transferred the data. It began installing the operating system on the core. He didn’t need anything complicated, as it just managed the functions of a simple mimeograph machine.

Very soon, he was done, and nothing happened.

The beast core remained properly installed onto the machine he made and laid still without any reaction.

He sighed and glanced up at the screen displaying the scene in the auction, as he planned to take a small break before his next attempt. However, what he saw weirded him out. He was just in time to see everyone in the venue suddenly turning away from the stage at the same time. They even all turned in the same direction.

“Is something happening?” Li Lang muttered.

“Umm, B-Boss, look down.”

In the area just before Li Lang was where he had placed his failed mimeograph artifact. Currently, it was giving off a dull light that was slowly increasing in luminosity, like a giant lightbulb.

“I—I, succeeded?”

The torrent of light filled the entire floor of the restaurant before it finally started dimming down. An unmistakable aura began emanating from it.

The birth of a Mortal-grade artifact!

“Umm, Li Lang, you really did succeed,” Long Yi said as he stared with wide eyes.

“He did it!” Sima Xue cheered before quickly calming down. “But what is this thing? A shield of some sort?”

She reached over to grab it, only to stop in her tracks after hearing Wei Ping’s warning.

“I wouldn’t t-touch it if I were you. Knowing boss, i-it could be some sort of poison weapon.”

“Li Lang, is that true?” Sima Xue asked. “And is this thing a weapon or a shield?”

Li Lang scoffed as he moved to pick up his new work. He didn’t even bother to answer, as his mind was racing to try to comprehend what he had done while observing the state of his new artifact.

He tried mentally calling out to the newly born artifact spirit of the mimeograph machine, but to no avail. However, when he tried commanding it to open the slot where you would insert a stencil into it, it automatically popped open.

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For a split second, Li Lang was tempted to consume his new artifact into Ruby, but he quickly realized it wouldn’t help. The spiritual aspect of it couldn’t be replicated or analyzed.

The only concrete method he had to solve this mystery was with good ol’ experimenting. He would need to repeat this process again and again, observing and recording the results while controlling the variables. He was completely undaunted at taking on this challenge. Only excitement could be seen on his face.