109: Borrowing chickens to lay eggs, upgrading the cooling heart
The Lin Family of the Capital.
“What? You didn't get it? The cooling crystal was obtained by Autumn Leaf?”
A fierce glint flashed in the eyes of an old man dressed in a white Tang suit.
The old man's name was Lin Fan, and he was the current head of the Lin Family.
Lin Dong trembled and quickly said, “No, Grandpa. At that time, a big fish flew over our heads, and while our attention was drawn, a little guy suddenly appeared and snatched the BOSS.”
Grandpa Lin frowned slightly, then a look of joy appeared on his face, “So it was intercepted by a third party. Did you get a clear look at him?”
“No, but he was wearing a magic robe, yet he was using a Wolf Tooth Hammer,” Lin Dong said.
A hint of confusion flashed in Lin Fan's eyes, “Send someone to look for him. It's best if we find him. If the Qiu Family finds him first…”
“Grandpa, I understand. If the other party finds him first, I'll arrange a killer on the day of the election!”
As Lin Dong spoke, he made a fierce gesture across his throat.
…
At this moment, the gate of the Qiu Family was slowly pushed open from the outside, and Autumn Leaf's slender yet graceful figure appeared at the doorway.
She was wearing a fiery red magic robe, and the hem of her skirt was still stained with some sea sand, as if telling of the hardships of her journey.
The Qiu Family had a single heir per generation, but in her generation, she was the only female child.
At just 21 years old, she cultivated both the Mage and Forging professions. Her Mage class had just reached Four-turn, but her Forging Master class had already reached Six-turn.
Half of the custom items in the Forging Guild came from Autumn Leaf's hands.
At such a young age, she had already taken on the heavy responsibility of the Qiu Family.
“What to do?”
“The enchantment stone cannot be purified to a higher grade, and there's no cooling crystal. How can we compete with the Lin Family in seven days?”
“No, we must find the guy who stole the cooling crystal.”
Autumn Leaf said fiercely.
“Little fairy, answer the phone quickly, little fairy, quickly, quickly, quickly answer the phone…”
A phone rang, and Autumn Leaf immediately pressed to answer.
“Autumn Leaf, someone has taken the bounty. Go to the laboratory and try if you can purify the enchantment stone to a loss rate of 25%…”
“Okay, Grandpa, I'll go now.”
…
After Lin Ling left the War God Hall base, he quickly arrived in the capital city.
He searched online for several workshops that could provide forging systems.
However, after some attempts, he found that the forging systems in these stores could not meet his needs.
Helpless, he finally turned his attention to the Forging Master Guild on the map.
Lin Ling didn't want to owe favors, so he decided to bite the bullet and go see.
Perhaps spending some money would solve the problem.
Lin Ling stepped into the Forging Master Guild, but found that the large guild was deserted.
Above a large service desk hung a plaque with six gilded characters that read: 'Capital's Number One Forging'.
“Is anyone here?” Lin Ling shouted.
Only then did a somewhat handsome man lazily stand up from behind the service desk.
He was around thirty years old, his clothes were very old, and he had an expression of disinterest in everything in the world.
“What do you want? It's the weekend, we're closed, no orders. Hurry up and leave,” the man yawned and asked impatiently.
Lin Ling frowned slightly but did not get angry.
He used his Peeking Technique and immediately saw the man's basic information.
[Name: Cao Hou]
[Profession: Forging Master]
[Level: Level 142]
Lin Ling walked to the service desk, took out a thousand yuan, and placed it on the table.
“Mr. Cao, I'd like to ask for your help,” Lin Ling said.
“Hmm? You know me?” A hint of surprise flashed in Cao Hou's eyes.
“A friend introduced me. He said Brother Cao is the strongest Forging Master among the younger generation in the Forging Master Guild, and told me to come to you for help, that it would definitely get done,” Lin Ling said with a forced smile.
“Oh? That brat Huang Qing said that, didn't he? He's always looking for trouble for me,” Cao Hou asked.
A hint of cunning quickly flashed in Lin Ling's eyes, and he immediately played along.
“Yes, Brother Huang introduced me. I want to borrow our guild's forging system for a bit. It won't take long.”
As Lin Ling spoke, he pushed the 1000 yuan over.
“Not enough.”
Cao Hou glanced at the money on the table and said casually, clearly not the first time he had done this.
Lin Ling pondered for a moment, then counted out another 4000 and pushed it over.
“Didn't Huang Qing tell you? I charge 10,000 for each use of the system. If you need a third-grade enchantment stone, that's another 10,000,” Cao Hou said while picking at his fingernails.
Lin Ling didn't want to waste time, so he directly counted out 5000 and pushed it to Cao Hou.
This made Cao Hou look at Lin Ling with some surprise and say:
“This kind of enchantment stone makes it very difficult for equipment to upgrade successfully. Seeing how straightforward you are, I'll give you a discount and sell you a third-grade enchantment stone for 5000.”
Lin Ling smiled faintly, “No need. Lead the way.”
Cao Hou saw Lin Ling refuse, glanced back at the entrance, and quietly pocketed the money.
“Are you also a Forging Master?”
Lin Ling shook his head, “I only learned one Forging Technique. I was lucky enough to get some upgrade materials and want to upgrade one of my pieces of equipment.”
“Since a friend introduced you, I'll make an exception for you, but this is a one-time thing.
However, you need to be quick. Our young miss is very fierce. If she catches me, I'll be in big trouble.”
As Cao Hou spoke, he immediately led Lin Ling towards the interior of the guild.
The Forging Guild's laboratory is very different from scientific research laboratories. Outsiders entering the laboratory don't have to worry about data secrets being leaked.
Inside, there is only one main server running an advanced forging system; material data and the like will not remain.
Soon, as Cao Hou entered the password, the door to a room gently opened.
Lin Ling's eyes immediately lit up. The laboratory was filled with a sense of technology.
For a moment, he felt as if he had entered another dimension.
“Brother, hurry up, okay? I'll keep watch outside.”
Cao Hou closed the door and left as he spoke.
Lin Ling quickly walked to the advanced forging system.
He skillfully opened the machine, and the advanced forging system quickly began to operate.
He was still in the cocoon-breaking period, and he was even more familiar with the usage of these advanced systems than Cao Hou.
Lin Ling took out several first-grade enchantment stones he had prepared beforehand and placed them aside, then took out all the materials needed to upgrade the equipment one by one.
As a test, he prepared to upgrade the cooling heart first.
Lin Ling's goal was very simple: to reduce the cooldown of the cooling heart's active skill 2.
Active skill 2 was currently bound to the Forbidden Curse Naming Art.
However, the cooldown of the Forbidden Curse Naming Art had already been reduced to once every 12 hours, which was completely sufficient.
If he could reduce the cooldown of active skill 2 to trigger once every hour, he could completely place a Forbidden Spell on it.
This way, he would carry two opportunities to cast a Forbidden Spell with him.
[cooling heart (Legendary)]
[Category: Self-made Special Item]
[Upgrade Requirement: Advanced Forging System (Met)]
[Forging Profession Five-turn or higher (Met)]
[Requires Second-grade or higher enchantment stone * 1 (Owned), cooling crystal * 1 (Owned)]
[All conditions met. Start upgrade?]
Looking at the prompt that popped up on the forging system, Lin Ling's lips curved into a high smile.
“Start.”
[Upgrading….]
Dazzling light shimmered in the laboratory.
In an instant, the cooling heart lit up with a silver halo.
[Upgrade successful.]
“It's done!”
Lin Ling's eyes lit up, and he eagerly looked at the equipment attribute panel.