155: Chapter 155 Optimizing the Myriad Treasures Mirror

The workshop was three times larger than the storefront outside. A waist-high Artifact Refining furnace squatted in the center, and the iron racks beside it were filled with various models of Chisels, Engraving Pens, and spiritual liquids for Quenching.

The walls were covered in dense sketches of Array Inscriptionss; some were crossed out halfway through, while others were marked with extensive annotations and revision suggestions.

Metal shavings and scrapped semi-finished products were scattered everywhere on the floor.

Su Cheng took a seat on a low stool that was barely sit-able, while Zhou Changgeng leaned back into his charred reclining chair and crossed his legs.

"Let's see it."

After a moment of thought, Su Cheng no longer hesitated and took the wanbao mirror out of his Storage Pouch.

As soon as the mirror's body appeared, the light in the workshop shifted abruptly.

A faint spiritual light flowed over the surface of the wanbao mirror, and various types of Array Inscriptionss densely covered the mirror's body, intertwining with one another.

Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth—the spiritual power of the Five Elements each held its place within the Array Inscriptionss yet remained interconnected, forming a self-contained miniature circulation System.

Zhou Changgeng uncrossed his legs.

He leaned forward, his two scarred hands clenching his knees as his eyes stared fixedly at the mirror.

"What on earth is this thing?"

Su Cheng didn't answer; instead, he sent out a thought.

The spiritual light on the surface of the wanbao mirror swelled, and the phantom of a shield was reflected in the mirror, followed by its transformation into a longsword, then a bow, and then a banner.

With every change in form, different circuits in the corresponding Array Inscriptionss on the mirror's surface would light up, and the Five Elements spiritual power would rapidly switch and reorganize between them.

Zhou Changgeng stood up.

He circled the wanbao mirror three times, squatting down and standing up again, even lying flat on the floor to look up at it from the bottom.

The workshop was silent for a full fifty breaths.

"You made this?" Zhou Changgeng's voice was dry.

"I made it."

Zhou Changgeng opened his mouth, then closed it again.

He turned to look at Su Cheng with a complex gaze—it held the disdain of a professional facing an amateur, the greed of a craftsman seeing a rare treasure, and a hint of something inexplicable, likely shock.

"The engraving technique for the Array Inscriptionss is extremely crude," Zhou Changgeng finally spoke, his words coming out very fast this time. "Look here, and here—the transitions at the interfaces are all hard connections with no buffer zones.

In other words, you relied on brute force, or perhaps some peculiar power, to forcibly piece together Array Inscriptionss of five different attributes.

Under normal circumstances, this thing should have blown itself up the very first time it was used."

Su Cheng remained silent.

"But it didn't blow up." Zhou Changgeng's fingers hovered two inches above the mirror's surface, his fingertips trembling slightly. "Not only did it not explode, it's running quite stably.

You used a type of spiritual power I don't recognize at the core of the Array Inscriptionss to bond them together. That spiritual power... is very special.

It's like a natural adhesive, allowing spiritual power of all attributes to coexist peacefully under its shroud."

The Qi of Creation.

Su Cheng added the answer in his mind but said nothing on the surface.

Zhou Changgeng straightened up, hands on his hips, his expression exceptionally conflicted.

"You said you want to upgrade it to the Treasure Artifact level?"

"Yes."

"I can't do it."

Su Cheng had expected this answer, so he wasn't surprised.

"With my ability, I can optimize your Array Inscriptions structure," Zhou Changgeng said frankly. "But it's only optimization.

For instance, I can change those crude hard connections into soft transitions, reducing spiritual power loss and improving operational efficiency by ten or twenty percent.

But if you want a qualitative change—to jump from a Magical Artifact to a Treasure Artifact—the things involved far exceed the scope of the second rank."

He reached out and gestured toward several spots on the mirror's surface.

"To carry the intensity of Treasure Artifact-level spiritual power, the base material of the Array Inscriptionss must be replaced; the second-rank Spiritual Ores you're using now won't hold up.

The core Array Inscriptions structure also has to be torn down and rebuilt from scratch. It would require top-tier engraving techniques to make the Five Elements circuits truly attain natural harmony rather than being man-made.

Most importantly, regarding that special spiritual power you use to bond the Five Elements—if the spiritual power demand grows exponentially after upgrading to a Treasure Artifact, can you provide enough of it yourself?"

This final question hit the nail on the head.

Su Cheng fell silent for a moment.

The Qi of Creation was indeed the core of the wanbao mirror's operation, but the total amount of Qi of Creation in his Dantian was limited.

At its current supreme grade Magical Artifact level, he could still manage, but at the Treasure Artifact level, the consumption would inevitably double. In a fight, he might drain himself dry before even defeating his opponent.

This was a practical problem.

"Wait, you said you can't do it," Su Cheng put away the wanbao mirror. "Then who can?"

Zhou Changgeng didn't answer immediately. He walked to the wall, muttering to himself for a long time as if making a difficult decision.

"My Revered Master."

Su Cheng raised an eyebrow.

"My Revered Master is a top-tier third-rank Artifact Refining Great Master," Zhou Changgeng continued. "He's not in the Prefecture City, nor in Tianlan Province, but somewhere much further away. But the old man's temper is ten times worse than mine; ordinary people can't even get an audience."

"Can you contact him?"

"I can," Zhou Changgeng hesitated. "But my Revered Master isn't the kind of person you can hire just by bringing Spirit Stones. Whether he takes the job depends entirely on his mood and whether the item can catch his eye."

Su Cheng summoned the wanbao mirror again and placed it on the workshop's iron table.

"Do you think this thing can catch his eye?"

Zhou Changgeng stared at the mirror, the spiritual light of the five attributes reflecting alternately on his Face.

He was silent for a long time.

"Yes." His voice grew low, carrying a heartfelt sigh that only fellow craftsmen could share. "Someone who doesn't know Artifact Refining, using the crudest techniques, managed to forcibly fuse the Five Elements into one.

Any Artifact Refining Great Master would have to ponder for a long time to figure out how it was done. If my Revered Master sees this thing..."

He rubbed his hands together.

"I'll send a message for you. But I'll say this upfront: I don't guarantee success. Furthermore, if my Revered Master is truly interested, I have no control over what conditions he might set."

"Fine." Su Cheng nodded. "Once the letter is written, how will it be sent?"

"I have a specialized channel here; it can be delivered within a month. If the reply is fast, it'll take a month; if it's slow, three to five months is possible. My Revered Master is the type who might not reply immediately after reading a letter—he might go fishing for three days first."

The corners of Su Cheng's mouth twitched; this Revered Master and disciple indeed shared the same temperament.

"Then I'll leave it to you." Su Cheng took out a Storage Pouch containing two thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones and pushed it over. "This is a deposit for the contact fees and your trouble. We'll discuss the subsequent costs after your Revered Master replies."

Zhou Changgeng didn't stand on ceremony and swept the Spirit Stones into his own Storage Pouch.

"One more thing," Su Cheng said before getting up. "Those Array Inscriptions issues you pointed out earlier—the crude hard connections—can you perform a round of optimization for me first? No need to touch the core structure, just fix the few flaws on the periphery."

"Did you bring Spiritual Materials?"

Su Cheng pulled out the batch of Spiritual Ores and Rare Stones he had purchased at the Treasure Gathering Tower today from his Storage Pouch, lining them up on the iron table.

Zhou Changgeng's gaze swept over them, and his professional instinct kicked in instantly.

He reached out, picked up a piece of second-rank Spiritual Ore to weigh it, then held it under the spiritual light to examine the grain pattern.

"This batch of Materials is decent." He nodded. "Give me seven days. Come pick it up in seven days."

"How much is the labor?"

"Since President Fang's Face is involved, I'll charge you one thousand Spirit Stones. Also, rest assured, I will keep this Magical Artifact of yours a secret and won't go blabbing about it."

Su Cheng nodded, then without a word, he pulled out another thousand Spirit Stones and placed them on the floor.

By the time he left the small Artifact Refining shop, the sky was completely dark.

Su Cheng walked through the deserted alley, his mind replaying the last thing Zhou Changgeng had said over and over.