Chapter 172: Steel Heart

Hundred Springs Peak wouldn't work either—it's too cramped there; the artifact refinement rooms have to be squeezed into caves, and the terrain isn't suitable either, with not a single patch of flat ground.

Lotus Peak is a vital sect location, even less possible. Guest Peak has no space left. Secluded Valley Peak is a sect forbidden ground, not allowed. Sword Peak and Overlord Blade Peak are even worse—the disciples there are already overflowing, with idle swordsmen and blademen drilling in the training grounds.

Mystic Maiden Peak does have space, but that's the peak where the sect's female-only cultivators reside; there's no way they'd agree to a bunch of handymen making a ruckus there.

"Junior Brother, what's this place?" Feng Ming looked for a while, then pointed at a light-colored area. It was neither black mountains nor white clouds, an unusually strange color.

"Ah, why didn't I think of that? Miss Feng Ming, you're a genius!" Wei Yuning slapped his forehead, excited.

"Is that so? I wouldn't say genius, just a bit smarter than you!" Feng Ming said matter-of-factly.

"Am I that dumb?" Wei Yuning looked baffled.

"Of course you are, all the sisters say so. If you weren't dumb, you wouldn't have chosen that ugly girl Qiu Hu as your dao partner, and Ye Ying too—a little maid catches your interest? There are so many pretty girls in the Azure Luan Sect, and Feng Qi and Feng Wu both like you quite a bit!" Feng Ming looked at Wei Yuning with equal confusion.

"Pfft, what do you know!" Wei Yuning couldn't be bothered to explain—didn't they understand lolis! Though he had no idea that Feng Qi and Feng Wu liked him.

"Junior Brother Yuning, what place is this? You're so happy!" Feng Ming changed the subject. Wei Yuning was her boss now, after all; she couldn't really offend him.

"Land—I'm going to fill in earth and create land. Senior Sister Feng Ming, you've made a huge contribution this time!" Wei Yuning laughed.

The place Feng Ming pointed to was between Guest Peak and Medicine Pill Peak. That area of about three square kilometers was a mid-mountain flatland, hidden beneath the clouds and mist, so it had never been developed. But it was less than three zhang below the cloud line, and when the mist thinned, the dark color of the mountain body would show through, so it appeared as a special color on the map Wei Yuning had drawn.

That place was also protected by the mountain-guarding grand formation, making it a rare treasure spot.

Wei Yuning found Stone and Silver Flower, told the handymen to go back and rest first, that their pay would still be issued, but they had to be on standby at all times. The handymen dispersed with a roar.

Leaving Spirit Beast Peak, Wei Yuning returned to his residence at Wind Lotus Court on Guest Peak.

Mei Xuan had already finished most of the work; his timing was just right.

Sorting, drying, grinding, blending.

Wei Yuning relied on his sense of smell for seasoning. Since he planned to hand the final formula over to Mei Xuan this time, every subtle difference had to be constantly adjusted.

Mei Xuan, meanwhile, kept recording the ingredients and ratios on the side. They worked all the way until sunset before finally finalizing the formula.

The remaining work became extremely simple, with time mainly spent on bottling the sauce.

The jade bottles were a standard product of the sect, a bulk consumable item available in several different sizes, all produced by the artifact refinement workshop.

The most abundant items in Wei Yuning's storage ring were jade bottles. Whether collecting plant seeds, mineral samples, or strange and odd things, they could all be placed inside with a label written on them.

The workshop in the artifact refinement hall that produced jade bottles had already achieved semi-automation, with a large daily output. The reason automation was achieved was the existence of the "Steel Heart."

The "Steel Heart" was a strange divine-sense entity that only artifact refiners at the Fusion stage and above could condense. Because it was mainly used on metal-type artifacts, especially steel, it was called the "Steel Heart."

Xu Yan didn't have this ability during his Light Awakening stage; he only gained this skill after taking the Wood Essence and advancing to the Fusion stage. The two mechanical spiders Qing Chou had contained Steel Hearts.

The Steel Heart could grant a "soul" to metal-type artifacts, allowing them to perform simple actions.

Puppet-type artifacts absolutely required a Steel Heart. The Steel Heart's commands could turn a puppet into a simple-minded intelligent artificial lifeform, capable of tasks like attacking, guarding, and pathfinding.

In certain fixed-product workshops of the artifact refinement hall, Steel Hearts were also present.

Based on Wei Yuning's knowledge, if he were to analogize it to something on Earth, it was like an industrial control computer, though its functions were much simpler. At the same time, it was somewhat similar to Mei Xuan's "Plum Blossom Divination Ball," but the Plum Blossom Divination Ball's functions were far more complex, and functionally, it was more like a purely computational thing.

The more he came into contact with the cultivation world, the more he realized that Earth's various inventions weren't all that impressive. Most so-called industrial products could find substitutes in the cultivation world.

Of course, in terms of complexity, Earth's products were still superior. However, the cultivation world's Steel Heart was a divine-sense entity, similar to a brain. Though very stupid, it was fundamentally a level above industrial products. Moreover, artifact refiners at the Immortal level could forge puppets with intelligence no less than ordinary humans—a height that industrial products could never reach.

The two of them worked until midnight, finally processing all the Moon Mite Bugs. In the end, they produced three hundred and ten bottles of top-grade Ten-Mile Fragrance, ninety-six bottles of ordinary Ten-Mile Fragrance, eight bottles of experimental hotpot sauce, and fifty bottles of a finely tuned delicious sauce without Moon Mite Bugs.

The yield of Moon Mite Bugs was limited, so Wei Yuning decided not to pin all his hopes on breeding them. This was also the reason he was developing new sauces. The plant species in the spirit beast world were extremely abundant, providing him with the conditions to blend excellent sauces.

In the middle of it, he received a message from Xue Duoduo via flying bird. Wei Yuning arranged to meet them at Cloud Guest Inn the next day at noon.

It was too late, so Wei Yuning didn't return to Medicine Pill Peak. For the first time, he and Mei Xuan stayed in the same place.

Early the next morning, Wei Yuning left Wind Lotus Court and headed for Medicine Pill Peak.

Before leaving, he looked at Mei Xuan's tightly closed door, and a strange feeling surged in his heart. Because of the existence of the Jun Demon, Wei Yuning's perception of emotions was becoming increasingly acute; it seemed to have become a new ability of his.

That day, after he told Mei Xuan about Nie Ziqing, Mei Xuan had developed romantic feelings for him. Through the half-day of working together yesterday, Mei Xuan's feelings for him had grown deeper. This left Wei Yuning both secretly pleased and worried. How to reject a beautiful woman's pursuit was still a new subject for him. Moreover, Mei Xuan was now Wei Yuning's super assistant, indispensable, which only increased the difficulty of rejection.

Arriving at Medicine Pill Peak, just as he turned onto the road to the herb garden, he happened to run into Manager Hong Le, who was heading to the fields to work.

He was carrying a huge hoe, wearing a cloth-buttoned short-sleeved shirt, cropped pants, and cloth shoes. He looked exactly like an old farmer going to the fields, with not a trace of a cultivator about him.

"Good morning, Uncle-Master!" Wei Yuning stepped forward to greet him.

"Demon-Queller, just the person I wanted to see. There's something I need to tell you!" Hong Le's expression was somewhat serious.