63: Chapter 63 Military Merit Exchange for Furnace Materials

Before dawn, in front of the Military Court's exchange shed, people were already arguing until they were red in the face over the last piece of Rift-Armor Bone Shield.

The grey cloth shed was erected on the edge of the old training grounds. Three rows of black iron racks stretched to the back wall, where bricks, bone materials, ash canisters, and old talisman boxes were piled in disarray. The scent of fuel oil and material-washing water permeated the morning breeze.

The most boisterous area was not the old material racks in the back, but the two short lists at the entrance—one for armor and combat soldier consumables, the other for frontier commemorative trophies. The military training students who had just returned to the court were almost all crowded here.

Some held their newly exchanged burn-patterned arm guards, unable to put them down; others stared at half a bottle of injury-repair fluid, gritting their teeth to raise their bids; still others simply dumped their entire sum of military merits on a commemorative badge embedded with the remnant crest of the Royal Court.

Lu Jin only swept a faint glance over it and walked straight toward the depths of the shed.

That phrase from last night, "First find the well, then find the gate," still weighed heavily on his mind.

Instructor Gu Pingchuan had made it clear: once the No. 7 Rift Zone opened, what was needed most was not rank or prestige, but hard materials capable of stabilizing the Fire Well and propping up the forward station.

The Military Court did not recognize the black bars of the Department of Sacrificial Materials, nor did it care for the convoluted dealings of the Divine Court; they only recognized the lists, waist tokens, and concrete military merit accounts.

The person guarding the warehouse was a dark-faced warehouse officer with half of his left ear missing and the backs of his hands covered in grime that could not be washed off.

He looked up and caught sight of Lu Jin. He first scanned the temporary token in his sleeve, then flipped through the rubbings of the merit list, his voice as coarse as grinding iron: "Name."

"Lu Jin."

The warehouse officer wiped his fingertip across the iron register. Fire patterns lit up on the page, instantly dividing it into three columns: [Available for Exchange: Military Court standing old materials, forward station repair materials, frontier post-battle structural materials] [Restricted Exchange: High-pollution living materials, anomalous sacrificial items, deep-vault sealed samples] [Discount/Quota: Camp-guarding armor grade, coordinate fire stele calibrators, may access the third level of old materials].

The warehouse officer tilted his chin: "You can enter the third level. The right area is for armor and consumables, the left area is for old materials."

"Let's get this straight: old materials aren't flashy, nor do they directly save lives. If you exchange for them, others might not understand why."

Lu Jin's tone was indifferent: "As long as I understand, that's enough."

The warehouse officer gave him a deep look, said nothing more, and raised his hand to unlatch the seal of the inner material rack.

The third level was far colder than the outside.

The outermost row hung with dismantled frontier army armor. Further in were barrels of ash materials labeled with old fire tags, bundles of bone materials stacked together, and stacks of Post Station bricks burned to a blackened state.

Every item looked crude, yet each carried the toughness born from the fire of the front lines.

Lu Jin's gaze first landed on the ash material rack. The wooden sign at the very top had straightforward writing: Fire-Stabilizing Ash, Well-Sealing Ash, Furnace Bone Ash.

In his Sea of Consciousness, Grey Pupil spoke almost instantly, his voice tighter than usual: "Take the bone ash."

"The Priest Well already has a fire seed; what it lacks is fire suppression and sequencing. Ordinary old ash can only be used to patch walls, but furnace bone ash can condense scattered fire into a single line."

He paused, fearing that Lu Jin did not understand its importance, and added in a low voice: "This is not waste ash. It is the stuff that remains after the furnace fire has burned to the end, still guarding the fire order without dissipating."

Lu Jin raised his hand and pointed at the wooden sign: "One canister of furnace bone ash."

The warehouse officer glanced at the price tag, his eyebrows slightly raised: "The price is not low."

"This is not mass-produced material from the academy; it was dug out from frontier waste furnaces. For suppressing fire, stabilizing wells, and setting up sacrificial altars, they all recognize this."

"With one canister, your military merit quota for this training session will be slashed by nearly thirty percent."

"Put it down." Lu Jin's tone remained unchanged.

The warehouse officer stopped trying to persuade him and picked up his pen to record it in the register.

Lu Jin turned and walked toward the second rack.

This rack was filled with bone materials. The thick, load-bearing ones were placed on the outside. In the innermost layer, a bundle of slender, greyish-white bone material was pressed separately. The bone joints were naturally hollow, and the edges were as thin as blades. With the slightest movement, a very faint whistling sound escaped from the gaps. The wooden sign had only four characters: Hollow Wing Bone.

Wu Fu immediately perked up. Just a moment ago, she had been calculating nest accounts in the Sea of Consciousness, but now, as if she had sniffed out excellent nest material, she became lively: "Give this to me."

"Don't just stare at the Fire Well. That area in the sky has always been empty; without bones in the high places, the reconnaissance lines will never be able to stand up."

Grey Pupil coldly retorted: "If the Fire Well is unstable, the Priest Court is just an empty shell."

Wu Fu refused to yield an inch: "I didn't say we shouldn't take the ash. But if all our chips are pressed to the bottom of the well, when the wind rises outside, who will detect it for you first?"

She paused, her tongue lightly pressing against her teeth, her tone carrying a hint of irrepressible desire: "This bone is light, tough, and even has old wind channels. If I use it to build high platforms and raise wing ridges, then guide some ash fire, things will be able to grow in the sky."

Lu Jin tapped his fingertip against the wing bone. The bone itself was extremely light, yet the echo was long and lingering—it was definitely not just for show; it was a skeleton that could truly support a high-altitude defense line.

"One bundle of Hollow Wing Bone."

This time, even the warehouse officer gave him an extra look: "Using it to raise flying soldiers?"

Lu Jin did not answer, only asking: "Is a bundle enough?"

The warehouse officer snorted: "It's enough. If you take this, you won't have much military merit left."

"Record it."

Another entry was added to the iron register.

By the time Lu Jin walked to the third rack, the arguing outside the shed suddenly intensified. It seemed someone had slammed the table over the last bottle of injury-repair fluid, and there was a sudden commotion at the entrance.

This rack, however, was exceptionally quiet. On the bottom layer were neatly stacked black bricks that had been burned red and then cooled through. The brick surfaces were carved with fine fire grooves, and old Post Station serial number nails were embedded in the corners.

The academy's domain-stabilizing bricks emphasized regularity, but these bricks seemed to have been tempered by frontier winds, fire smoke, and emergency repairs. Their appearance was crude, but their fire pulses were steady and heavy. The wooden sign indicated: Post Station Fire Bricks.

Instructor Gu Pingchuan's words from last night, "Forward station materials, fire-stabilizing materials, Post Station materials," echoed in his ears once again.

The Grey Stele Post was not only the starting point of the route but also the foothold for supporting the forward nest in the future. If he continued to use ordinary academy materials, by the time they truly entered the Rift Zone, the first wave of hot wind would be able to completely blow the gaps apart.

Wu Fu spoke before Grey Pupil this time, her speaking speed as fast as an abacus clattering: "We need this too."

"The sub-nest base plate, fire-well troughs, and outer load-bearing points can all use these bricks. If you really want to take that old supply route, sooner or later, you must establish a foothold outside where you can stand."

Grey Pupil did not refute her, only saying faintly: "Once the fire bricks are in place, the outer ring of the Priest Court can also borrow fire."

Lu Jin already understood in his heart. These were not three scattered pieces of material, but three key skeletons—one to suppress the well fire, one to support the high sky, and one to cushion the forward station. If one was missing, the subsequent route would be difficult to sustain.

"Six Post Station Fire Bricks."

The warehouse officer truly stopped his pen this time. He looked up and sized Lu Jin up, as if seeing for the first time what exactly he was exchanging for.

"No armor, no consumables, no post-battle souvenirs. An entire sum of military merits, all dumped into three types of old structural materials."

"Kid, the way you're exchanging doesn't look like you're returning to the Divine Court to recuperate; it looks more like you're building a skeleton for a front-line route."

Someone in the shed happened to be passing by with burn-patterned arm guards and, upon hearing this, subconsciously turned to look. Seeing the canister of ash, bundle of bones, and six bricks in front of Lu Jin, their eyes were first surprised, then gradually became meaningful.

It wasn't that they couldn't understand; they had just never thought in this direction. When others returned from military training, they first replenished themselves; Lu Jin, however, seemed to have poured his entire sum of military merits into a layout that had yet to appear.

Lu Jin pushed the temporary token forward half an inch, his voice steady and waveless: "As long as it's useful."

The warehouse officer stared at him for two breaths, then slammed the iron register shut: "Fine."

"One canister of furnace bone ash, one bundle of hollow wing bones, six Post Station fire bricks. After exchanging these three things, you'll only have scraps left in your account, not even enough to buy half a bottle of injury-repair fluid. But if you really want to head to the front lines, these three things are worth more than those flashy items."

He raised his hand and pressed it against the side of the iron register. Fire patterns lit up with a "hiss," and it spat out three small grey-red slips. "Go to the back entrance to pick up the materials."

"Also," the warehouse officer pressed one of the slips onto the back of Lu Jin's hand. His tone was still tough, but it lacked some of the coldness from before. "The Post Station fire bricks are heavy; don't let those soft-skinned, tender-fleshed servants from the academy move them. Go to the back entrance and call for the Military Court's cart."

Lu Jin took the material slips: "Many thanks."

The back entrance was even more chaotic than the front shed. Two short carts with black wheels were blocking the narrow path, and old frontier soldiers were busy unloading material crates.

Lu Jin reported his slip number. After an old soldier in a grey robe checked it, without a word, he first loaded the furnace bone ash onto the cart, then used old binding straps to bundle the hollow wing bones separately, and finally placed the six Post Station fire bricks steadily.

The cart was not big, but the materials pressed the base plate down, making it solid and heavy. One canister of ash, one bundle of bones, six bricks. It looked shabby, but placed in the cart, it exuded a sense of deep, settled confidence.

Lu Jin pushed the cart out of the shed. The two popular lists at the entrance were still crowded to the point of being impassable. Some were holding their armor, full of high spirits; some were clutching their consumables, unable to contain their joy; others were holding their souvenirs, wishing they could show them off to everyone on the spot.

Only he, pushing a cart of old materials that no one cheered for, walked straight through the crowd.

The black bars on the outer wall of the Department of Sacrificial Materials were still there, and the military training merit list hung high to the side—one black, one gold, still standing side by side. Lu Jin, however, did not look at them again.

Returning to the Black Well living area, the morning light had just spread over the outer corridor. Closing the door shut, he isolated all the gazes and discussions of the outside world.

He parked the material cart in front of the work table and sank his divine sense into the Sea of Consciousness.

The wind in the Furnace Cave Fortress was hotter than in the current world.

By the Return Fire Well, Grey Pupil had long been standing there waiting. As soon as he saw that ash canister, the light hidden deep in his eyes was almost impossible to suppress.

Lu Jin raised his hand to unseal it. The furnace bone ash fell in strands, not raising any dust; instead, it was as heavy as fine iron sand, slowly seeping into the newly carved patterns on the outer perimeter of the Priest Well.

The next instant, the black fire that had originally been jumping and scattered in the well suddenly retracted inward. It was not weakening, but returning to order.

That ball of fire, which had previously been slightly wild, seemed to have its spine pressed down, and it obediently condensed into a circle along the well wall and the outer ring stone patterns.

The few grey steps by the well, which had originally been just phantoms, emerged one after another. Four corners anchored the ground, and the middle circle surrounded the well; the skeleton of a Priest Court finally revealed itself.

Grey Pupil knelt half-way by the well, his knuckles pressed against the ground patterns, his voice low to the point of being nearly devout: "It's enough."

"With two more rounds of ash to stabilize it, this well will be able to support the first Sacrificial Fire platform."

Lu Jin did not stop; he turned and sent the six Post Station fire bricks to the outer ring.

Wu Fu had already been waiting here with a few Nest-Paste Worker Rats. She was skilled at calculating, but when she actually saw the new materials, her movements were more efficient than anyone else's.

With a roll of nest silk, the six black bricks were instantly dragged into a reserved high-slope opening. As the fire bricks settled into place, the fine fire grooves on the brick surfaces lit up one by one, as if the remaining fire of the old Post Station had been sleeping within them, and was suddenly awakened by being touched at this moment.

That originally empty ground, once pressed by the bricks, immediately had a foundation. Although it was not a complete sub-nest, it had already moved a section of the front-line skeleton into the Divine Domain.

Wu Fu gazed at the six fire bricks, her fingertips tapping rapidly against the brick edges, her eyes filled with the satisfaction of careful calculation: "The base plate is stable. From now on, the outer fire-connecting troughs and the hanging nest cables will all have points of support."

The final bundle of hollow wing bones was sent by Lu Jin to the high eaves above the Brood Nursery Court that had always been left empty.

That area had always seemed to lack a breath of life. The ground veins were gradually becoming complete, the fire seed under the well was stabilizing, but the high sky remained a pitch-black void, as if the Divine Domain was looking up but could not connect to the heavens.

Wu Fu did not let the Work Rats do it this time. She personally took the wing bones, stroking them one by one, as if treating a newly born infant.

The thinnest ones were embedded into the bone grooves of the high eaves, and white-grey nest silk spread rapidly along the bone joints, pulling into several extremely thin arcs. As the high-altitude wind passed, a clear and resonant whistling sound came from the hollow cavities. It was not noisy or chaotic, but rather clear and bright.

It was like a pair of eyes that had not yet opened, learning to listen to the wind and discern direction a step ahead.

Several grey-white egg clusters hidden deep in the Brood Nursery Court all trembled slightly in unison with this clear sound.

Wu Fu's movements paused, and then a light slowly lit up in her eyes. It was not the shrewdness of her daily calculations, but an irrepressible excitement upon seeing a new nest line successfully established.

Holding the remaining half-bundle of wing bones, she looked up and gazed for a long time before turning her head to reveal a sharp, pretty smile at Lu Jin: "That section in the sky can finally be filled."