Chapter 103 - 93: Magic Staff Upgrade Ideas and 2 Years

Chapter 103: Chapter 93: Magic Staff Upgrade Ideas and 2 Years

Chen Shang had a premonition that after the four Basic Elements were completed, the Eye of True Sight would undergo a significant Transformation. For instance, it might directly upgrade to an Orange Entry, or become a prefix entry for certain powerful Mythical Characters.

Secondly, the Wind Crystal Core. The Quality of this item was on par with the Heart of the Water Spirit.

The former was an Origin Crystal naturally condensed over countless tens of thousands of years in extreme elemental environments. The latter was born after the fall of a certain Ancient Water Elemental Creature.

He had an idea to fuse these two treasures into Natural Fury to upgrade the Magic Staff.

Natural Fury was a Half-Divine Artifact, and its body was made from a branch of the World Tree. (The main body of the World Tree was an extremely high-Level Star Sea Origin Creature, but the branch was merely one of the descendants grown from the countless seeds it left behind, making its appearance quite messy.)

Tears of the Stars was inlaid at the head of the staff. If the Heart of the Water Spirit and the Wind Crystal Core could also be inlaid, the power of the Magic Staff would increase by at least a factor of two.

However, this idea required the support of professional knowledge; it wasn’t something he could execute on a mere whim.

Additionally, there was the Wind-Calling Divine Techniques.

These Divine Techniques could be used offensively to advance, or defensively to retreat. Combined with various Witchcraft—Wind Blade, Wind Pillar, Wind Wall, and Wind Line—the leverage provided by each form was substantial.

Moreover, the potential of Call Wind went far beyond this. If he could find related entries with higher completeness, he might even be able to activate the Celestial Spirit Technique, Summoning Wind and Rain.

He had already listed this item on his schedule.

Lastly, there were the contents inside the dark red sample bottle.

After confirmation from the resident Wizard of the High Tower, the Energy Core residue of the Black-robed People resulted from an illicit Transformation method—forcibly implanting a second Energy Core into the body.

It was similar to a Wizard’s Magic Spring, but it utilized the dark arts of Bloodline Curses and Soul binding. The price was a drastically shortened lifespan and an extremely unstable Energy Core that could self-destruct at any moment.

However, the concept was worth referencing.

Hathaway’s Multiple Magic Springs involved the gradual, step-by-step growth of new springs within the body. It had a long cycle and a high threshold, but offered low risk and immense benefits.

In contrast, the Black-robed People’s Transformation was a transplant. It had a short cycle and a low threshold, but was unstable and came with a rather tragic price.

Chen Shang thought it would be great if he could find a compromise between the two methods. He put away the sample bottle and added another line to his schedule.

The very next day, he went to inquire about upgrading his Magic Staff. Magic Staff crafting belonged to a branch of Alchemy, and its knowledge system was maddeningly complex.

The selection and treatment of the staff body, the depth and angle of Rune Carving, the inlaying of the head Gemstone and its docking with Energy Circuits, the balance and resonance between Elements...

Every single aspect was backed by heaps of academic papers and standards. Chen Shang spent several Hourglasses of time forcing himself to digest the basic concepts, and then genuinely concluded that this was money better left for others to earn.

Consequently, he found a Magic Staff crafting Master from the Mechanical Throne on the Celestial Net.

The Master was named Rex. After listening to Chen Shang’s design, he took Natural Fury in his hands, examined it over and over, and then shook his head.

"Your idea is very good. The Heart of the Water Spirit and the Wind Crystal Core can indeed be paired with Tears of the Stars, but there are two problems.

"First, the imbalance of the three Elements. Water, Wind, and Nature—these three Elements will entangle with each other. You must either make one strong enough to suppress the other two, or supplement them with a fourth Element to achieve a flawless, lossless cycle.

"Otherwise, over time, the Energy Circuits inside the Magic Staff will damage themselves."

He paused for a moment before adding, "Second, the carrying capacity of the staff body is insufficient. You need to switch to a staff body that can withstand these four Elements."

Chen Shang asked for the price, "If you were to provide all these missing Materials, how much would it cost?"

"At least eight hundred thousand Wizard Coins."

The Master’s quote plunged Chen Shang into silence. Refusing to give up, he asked, "If I provide the Materials you need, how much would it cost then?"

"Well, if you bring your own Materials, it would be around two to three hundred thousand."

This time it was significantly less, but it was still a price Chen Shang couldn’t afford. He could only shelve the idea for now.

...

Life settled down. Chen Shang’s routine returned to its simple three-point trajectory: the Recording Platform, the Ecological Garden, and the laboratory.

Two years later, the Rune Carving progress on Zhong Kui advanced according to plan. The halos of the Runes on the body lit up ring by ring, and a quarter of the work had already been completed.

It was a fraction faster than he had anticipated, likely because his finer manipulation improved after his Spiritual Power increased.

As for clues regarding the Fire Elemental Eye, after scouring the internal database of Elemental Storm for a long time, he finally found a reliable lead.

There was a Plane called the Red Flame Realm. It was said that the Fire Elemental Lords there had a minuscule chance of condensing a Fire Source Crystal Core.

However, the Red Flame Realm was a hazardous Plane, and the Fire Elemental Spirits there were quite irritable. Second Level Apprentices were advised against going, so Chen Shang hadn’t set off yet.

In terms of Witchcraft, he could now cast Call Wind with stability. The compression precision of the Samadhi True Flame had significantly improved, and he could sustain the One-Element Heavy Water for much longer.

He also gained some insights into Multiple Magic Springs. Using the Eye of True Sight, he had observed Hathaway’s Magic Spring construction process several times, and each time he noticed new details.

He felt that with a few more observations, he might just be able to extract this Purple talent. When that happened, it would bring about another qualitative leap.

The automatic growth device didn’t see any major breakthroughs, but Chen Shang had carried out a further subdivision upgrade on it.

It now consisted of five structures: the raw material bin, the mixing chamber, the growth cavity, the curing room, and the testing platform. He was currently teaching the Wood Spirit how to operate them step by step.

This contraption was now entirely different from Baal’s Doll Seed.

Through her own talent, Yilu keenly sensed that the crucial element lay in the growth cavity.

The environment there needed to be regulated to allow the Runes to grow properly; even the slightest deviation could lead to errors. Regardless, there was finally a glimmer of hope for improvement.

Ben Bo’Erba and the Huluwas had also been significantly replenished. Number Three was now Chen Shang’s general manager of Mythical Species, utilizing a highly agile Liwa body.

Chen Shang planned to have Number Three pilot Zhong Kui’s body in the future.

The Golden Crow and Luna Xiya remained the same as always. However, Surtr had broken through and become a Tier One Creature. He could now support himself by fighting in the arena; the Magma Giant’s innate talent was quite decent.