Chapter 228: Mechanical Artistry

"Hm?" Ke Rein did not hide his doubt and asked curiously:

"Warriors and tillers? That has nothing to do with the five omniscient, omnipotent paths, right?"

"Indeed, it doesn't."

Lei Kedun gave a slight nod, leaned on the sofa behind him, and continued:

"The Ancient Sun God ended the ancient gods' rule; reclaiming authority is one aspect, but another reason is that He wishes to lead humanity's rise, which is why He ended the era ruled by the ancient gods."

"Lead humanity's rise?"

Ke Lai En was slightly stunned; this was a reason he had never considered or thought about before.

Lei Ke watched Ke Lai En's bewildered expression, chuckled lightly, and continued:

"The current Seven Gods and those evil gods focus on cultivating human belief; while humans have inherent advantages, the more crucial reason is that other races have been slaughtered into rarity."

"Even the bloodline, which is still relatively common now, has few members, especially since they must compete with humans on this path for traits."

"At least they still have races—giant dragons, giants, phoenixes, and demon wolves—basically already become history."

Ke Lai En said with a tone of sigh.

Hearing that, Lei Kedun thought for a moment and realized that among the races brought by the Eight Great Ancient Gods, aside from the unlucky phoenix, the other groups still persisted, concentrated at the angelic tier.

He sighed inwardly for the unfortunate phoenix, then chuckled:

"The phoenix is probably truly gone, but the other races still exist, and there are multiple beings at the angelic tier."

"Moreover, before Sequence 0 alters the mythic creature form of this path, every extraordinary being is actually drawing closer to those ancient gods."

"Mythic creature forms can be changed?"

Ke Lai En was slightly puzzled, then quickly thought of the Death God; the Bai Lang Empire worships the feathered serpent, not the ancient god's phoenix—could this be the former Death God's alteration of mythic creature forms? Sequence 0's influence and control over this path are indeed powerful!

The image on the water's surface rose, ending after Beiernadai destroyed the stone gate that connected to the abyss.

"That tomb still has a passage to the abyss? That's probably the main reason A Meng left this tomb, right?"

Ke Lai En let out a sigh.

"Intuition is truly accurate, worthy of a destiny signpost."

He sighed softly in his heart, then said with a slightly cheerful tone:

"It's gone now; whatever He left as a backhand, it's good news."

After a few idle chats, Ke Lai En took his leave; those extraordinary traits and materials must be promptly and properly stored to prevent spiritual loss or merging with surrounding materials into strange magical items.

Lei Kedun took the biologist's extraordinary trait from Tu Ba Ge's hand:

"Your harvest priest's demonic elixir hasn't been digested much yet; this trait isn't needed for now, I'll later craft a magical item for you to use."

"Can you make it into a staff?" Tu Ba Ge immediately asked for the item he wanted.

"No problem, I'll also make you a bow tie, perfectly matching that hat as a three-piece set!"

Carrying the magical items up to the second floor, he placed the biologist's trait into a small iron box and sealed it with a wall of spirit.

He then retrieved ritual materials, quickly set up a ceremony, and sent all the magical items he didn't need to the library deep in the spirit realm, awaiting Mr. Huang to crush them and recombine into traits.

The next day, while still having breakfast in the dining hall, Lei Kedun received a newspaper and various bills handed over by a nature spirit.

He set the bills aside, opened today's Tasok Report, and soon found an obituary:

"Beloved Talim Dumont died yesterday from a sudden cardiac swelling; his funeral will be held next Tuesday at nine a. m. in Crown Cemetery, hereby announced."

"Has the Beikeland Witch Sect's situation progressed this quickly?"

Lei Kedun, leaning on his seat, muttered softly with mixed emotions.

"You seem to have a premonition of what's about to happen, from the hint of He La Bo Gen?"

"The development of this matter won't shift due to personal will; preparing in advance to save more people when disaster strikes is the best choice."

Sasilier's voice, calm and rational, echoed in Lei Kedun's mind.

"Is the Aurora Society planning to seize the opportunity to gather a batch of followers?"

Lei Kedun whispered softly.

The voice of Sasilier still resonated in his mind:

"They will consolidate followers under the banner of the New Faith; over the years, the Aurora Society has been suppressed by major churches and kingdoms—though not yet to the point of utter despair, it's close."

As the words finished, a golden book fell from the depths of the spirit realm; its gilded cover tore open like a mouth, emitting a sharp, thin sound:

"Good morning~ My wise master, esteemed Mr. Huang asked me to tell you that those magical items have been crushed and reconstituted into the corresponding traits; you can retrieve them at any time."

"My wise master, may I sing praises to the great Lord here? Though the actual time is still early, I can hardly wait."

This book's glitches are getting worse; I wonder if the God of Knowledge will find it annoying.

He muttered a sarcastic remark in his heart, then lightly nodded, "You may as you wish!"

Amid the book messenger's hymns, Lei Kedun expressionlessly finished his breakfast, sat waiting for a while, and after the messenger finished praising the God of Knowledge, Lei Kedun tossed it straight back into the spirit realm.

He then tidied the table, went to the second floor to fetch materials, swiftly set up the ritual, and retrieved all the recombined traits from the library.

Looking at the several traits laid out before him, Lei Kedun rubbed his chin with his right hand and said:

"If luck is sufficient, can the trait, after contacting and fusing with surrounding items, directly form a decent magical item?"

"Grant it a certain living trait; with the aid of a high-ranking individual, the magical item will become easily controllable."

Sasilier spoke again with a reminder.

Hearing that, Lei Kedun's eyes lit up; he instantly thought of the writhing Da Gan E glove.

After a brief contemplation, he quickly made a decision.

He stored all the retrieved traits, leaving only the craftsman's trait, then fetched some materials and swiftly re‑set the ground ritual.

He altered the ritual that originally linked to the library into one invoking the hidden sage's bestowed gift, then placed the craftsman's trait and an arm model meant to bear traits at the front of the ceremony.

With the ritual prepared, he rose, stepped back, and began chanting softly:

"Sage who perceives the world, eyes that probe truth, embodiment of endless knowledge and spirit numbers!"

"I pray to you."

As the prayer ended, the Hidden Sage responded quickly.

The light in the room flickered between bright and dim, and an invisible chilly wind swirled around.

The craftsman's trait placed directly before the ceremony gradually turned into streams of information, swirling and merging into the arm model beside it.

A faint hazy light shrouded the wooden model, and it began to constantly twist and change.

Gradually, a metallic sheen spread over the wooden model; as the surface's faint hazy light faded, the form of this miraculous item solidified completely:

A brass-colored mechanical arm somewhat larger than a normal human arm, its surface exposing gears, copper plates, and coils.

Each joint of the mechanical arm has a strange eyeball linking them, and at the center of the palm there is a fleshy eye without eyelids, which is wildly scanning the surroundings, showing a human-like look of disdain.

"Good thing it has no mouth, otherwise it would definitely be a noisy fellow."

Lei Ke Dun had just finished complaining when the mechanical arm nimbly sprang up from the ground, swinging itself up and down in front of him, the eye on its palm glaring at him.

Although it made no sound, Lei Ke Dun knew this guy was probably cursing.

He shook his head helplessly, slowly raising his right hand; around the mechanical arm a cluster of Star Sand swiftly formed, spinning slowly, countless stars appearing one after another, thick and dense.

The Hidden Sage's presence faintly emerged among the starlight.

The mechanical arm, which had just been arrogant, instantly went still, standing motionless except for the eye in its palm, which continued to nervously look up and down.

It oddly resembled a puppy that had made a mistake.

Just as he was about to say something, a piece of information transmitted into Lei Ke Dun's mind.

Squinting his eyes, he carefully organized the information the Hidden Sage had transmitted into his mind:

This mechanical arm can produce mechanical marvels and not-so-strong extraordinary items; it is truly the Master Maker.

It can be used for at most three hours a day; exceeding this time inevitably causes the body and mind to stiffen, just like mechanical aging.

It possesses a living quality, can communicate with its user, likes to collect knowledge and spread knowledge.

It venerates a great existence, the embodiment of knowledge, the radiance of civilization, the ultimate answer to all mysteries!

When crafting miraculous items, it asks the user various questions; it works only if the answers are correct, otherwise it goes on strike.

After reviewing the mechanical arm's information, Lei Ke Dun felt a moment of bewilderment and the urge to complain.

I suddenly felt that letting the Hidden Sage activate it was a mistake; after finally getting used to the Knowledge Church's exams, here comes an extracurricular tutoring session randomly testing knowledge points!

He sighed inwardly and gave this miraculous item a name:

"\"Let's call you Mechanical Deft Hand! As a mature miraculous item, you must learn to break free from the user and work on your own. \""

(End of chapter)