Chapter 189: Lian Cheng’s Capabilities

Lian Cheng tried to negotiate. He only had about 2,000 spirit stones. At first, he thought these fire crystals would cost no more than 500, but who would have expected this outcome?

He deliberated for a moment before making a concession. He would craft some advanced artifacts for them in exchange.

“I don’t have that many spirit stones on me… can I pay with some artifacts that I will make for your sect?”

“You?” Fatty Pang looked at Lian Cheng with suspicion. “Are you an artificer?” he asked.

Lian Cheng wanted to say that if he claimed to be the second greatest artificer, none, even in the Immortal Realm, would dare claim to be first. But this was the lower realm, and he was not famous yet.

“I know a thing or two about artifact creation. Please rest assured, I will not disappoint you,” Lian Cheng said humbly, though his confident smile spoke for itself.

Fatty Pang Hu looked around at some of his fellow disciples resting at the camp, and they seemed to nod, willing to give this stranger a chance.

“Alright, fine. We will negotiate the price after you make a few artifacts for us. It will depend on the quality of your work,” Pang Hu said.

“Thank you, senior, for your generosity. I will not disappoint you,” Lian Cheng replied, then began his work.

— A Day Later – Jade Bamboo Border —

Lian Cheng had returned from the Flaming Lotus Secret Realm. His face was a mixture of frustration and unwillingness.

Why?

Because the artifacts within the Flaming Lotus King’s tomb had already been looted. Even the soul of that old monster had been destroyed by that damned variable named Wei Chen.

Now, he had no choice but to come up with a new plan.

That damned Wei Chen had already ruined nearly the entire first phase of his plan to correct the events that were supposed to unfold.

With the loss of the artifacts from the Flaming Lotus King’s tomb, his plan to use them as the core components for a powerful artifact, one that would serve as his trump card against the coming crisis, had become far more complicated.

In his previous life, there had been a catastrophe that no one had anticipated. That crisis had plunged the lower realm into a dark era that lasted for half a millennium.

“That damned Wei Chen… if I can’t prevent the crisis, I will capture him and sacrifice him to it,” Lian Cheng cursed inwardly.

He walked toward the public flying ark and waited for the boarding time while thinking of a backup plan to prevent the disaster that would plunge the lower realm into darkness.

— Meanwhile – Heavenly Sword Sect —

At the vice sect leader’s private courtyard, Jian Heng was resting on a long cushion in the gazebo within the garden. He listened to the soothing melody that lulled him, his eyes closed as he rested to his heart’s content.

This was a rare peaceful day for him. After many years of grueling cultivation and constant worry, he had finally gotten his wish.

Su Yurong, his childhood sweetheart, was playing the zither for him. She had just been freed from the Eternal Ice a few days ago.

Amidst the calamity, there was also fortune. Her cultivation had greatly improved while she was imprisoned within the Eternal Ice. Now, she had already reached the Nascent Soul Realm, just one level below Jian Heng, who was at the peak of the Soul Transformation Realm.

While Jian Heng was enjoying this peaceful moment, listening to the song played by his sweetheart, a phone rang, interrupting his mood.

“Ugh… I’m starting to hate this artifact,” Jian Heng said in annoyance as he took out his U-Phone 2 from his inner pocket.

“Hahaha, if you’re so annoyed by the interruption, why don’t you turn it off? I think this artifact, the U-Phone 2, has that function.” A bell-like giggle came from the direction of the zither.

It was Su Yurong, amused by his irritation.

“I know it can be turned off, but as the vice sect leader, I can’t just ignore my duties and enjoy your music all day, can I?” Jian Heng replied with a long sigh before checking the caller.

It was Pang Hu, the bold outer disciple who had caught his attention and was now working as an overseer at the mining camp.

Jian Heng accepted the call and asked, suppressing all of his annoyance, “Yes, Pang Hu, is there something you wish to report?”

“Vice Sect Leader, regarding the trade with a strange artificer…” Pang Hu began, then reported everything he had witnessed during the transaction with Lian Cheng.

Jian Heng listened, and his expression quickly shifted from boredom to disbelief and astonishment.

Why?

Because what Pang Hu reported was hard to believe.

During the trade, the strange artificer had decided to forge several artifacts as payment, since he did not have enough spirit stones on hand.

The result was astonishing… unbelievably astonishing.

From what Pang Hu reported, that man, the strange artificer, had crafted two flying swords and one cultivation mat for Pang Hu in exchange for all 2,500 jin of spirit crystals currently in the camp’s storage.

Normally, the market price of a standard flying sword was around 500 spirit stones. If that were the case, the two flying swords alone would not be enough to pay for the quoted price of the spirit crystals.

But this time, things were different…

An average flying sword was a tool used for short-distance travel within a city, a sect, or at most, within a prefecture of a province.

This was because the spiritual qi consumption and the internal array design of flying swords were not optimized enough to be used as a primary means of travel between provinces.

And even if they were, no one would choose to use a flying sword for inter-provincial travel.

That was due to the nature of this world…

This world had vast territory, unbelievably vast. The combined area of just three provinces was about half the size of the solar system in Wei Chen’s previous life.

Flying swords could travel at speeds of Mach 3 or 4, but compared to the immense scale of each province, it was simply not enough.

For mortals, traveling on foot across even a single prefecture was nearly impossible. For cultivators, traveling even between prefectures using flying swords would require a significant amount of spiritual qi.

It was not an efficient method of travel.

The common way to traverse the world across these three provinces was through flying arks.

This was because even the most basic flying ark had arrays capable of reducing distance. To be precise, they could fold space during travel, making inter-provincial journeys feasible.

Those aboard a flying ark would not feel it moving particularly fast. Public flying arks and freight arks often appeared to drift slowly through the clouds, yet after some time, they would arrive at their destination.

The true speed of a flying ark depended on its space-folding capability. The flying ark used by Ximen Hao, for example, could achieve up to 500-fold space compression, meaning the travel distance was effectively divided by 500. Combined with its physical speed of Mach 1 or 2, the total travel time was drastically reduced.

Such space-folding capability was impossible to integrate into a flying sword. Even the most basic space-folding array required far more space than a simple flying sword could provide.

But… what Lian Cheng had done challenged this common understanding.

He had successfully integrated a space-folding function into a flying sword.

Even though it could only achieve tenfold space folding, the lowest tier among such arrays, it was still space folding.

This changed many things, including the way security during flying ark travel would work.

Normally, a flying ark could not be intercepted or stopped during travel because of its space-folding nature. To an outside observer, a flying ark would seem to jump from one location to another, since it bypassed normal space by traveling through folded dimensions.

However, if a flying sword could also fold space, then even a small group of bandits could ambush a flying ark. By leveraging their own space-folding capability, they could breach the external space and enter the internal space of the flying ark.

There would be no need to rely on another flying ark to board it. A flying sword would suffice.

Moreover, if flying swords could fold space, short-distance raids against sects would become possible.

This would fundamentally change both defense strategies and combat tactics among sects. The battlefield would become more chaotic and far more unpredictable.

After hearing this, Jian Heng’s expression turned sharp. He could not allow this technology to fall into the hands of others. He needed to find this artificer quickly.

“Thank you for the report, send someone to bring the two flying swords to me.” Jian Heng instruct.

For now, he needed to examine the capabilities of the two flying swords himself before deciding on a countermeasure, or… whether or not to silence that artificer. He just hoped he would not need to resort to such dirty means.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep