Chapter 303: Looking for Materials

Pan Yun put down her chopsticks and said, "I'm full!"

Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He also immediately put down their chopsticks, "I'm full too."

Wang Feiyin ate slowly, "I'm not full."

Seeing him pick up a piece of pickled bamboo shoot, Pan Yun hesitated, then picked up her bowl and chopsticks again, deciding she could eat a little more.

Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He suppressed their excitement and curiosity, silently lifted their bowls, and added half a bowl of rice.

Only after Wang Feiyin wore them down did he take them to the storage room to pick things out, and Wang Cong and Tao Yanbai followed along to broaden their horizons.

The storage room was called a storage room precisely because its contents were messy, but as soon as they opened the door, Pan Yun felt this wasn't the storage room she'd ever seen.

Seeing Miao Zhen was also surprised, "When did the storage room become so orderly and clean?"

Wang Cong grumbled, "I organized it."

The storage room now had shelves on all four sides; the bottom tier held large chests, while the upper levels were neatly categorized with many items.

Perhaps fearing they'd mess things up again, Wang Cong had thoughtfully hung wooden tags beside each shelf, such as: Large, Medium-Large, Medium, Medium-Small, Small, Powder, Small Pieces, Wood…

As Pan Yun walked through, she couldn't help complaining, "What kind of chaotic classification is this?"

Wang Cong sighed, "I don't recognize many of these items, so I had to classify them this way—better than the old mess, right?"

Wang Feiyin nodded vigorously, "Yes, much better, Cong'er. From now on, you manage the storage room—organize it however you like."

He then glared at Pan Yun—say another word and Wang Cong won't care anymore; you'll clean up after yourselves.

Pan Yun understood his look and fell silent immediately.

Although Wang Cong didn't recognize many items, he hadn't disturbed their original packaging—things in boxes remained in their original boxes;

Things scattered about were grouped together on the same shelf by category.

After this reorganization, half the room was instantly empty—two shelves were still completely vacant.

Compared to Long Hushan, Mount Sanqing clearly looked impoverished.

Pan Yun leaned in to examine a dried piece of wood, touching it in surprise, "Senior Brother, what kind of tree is this? I've never seen anything like it."

Wang Feiyin glanced at it and said, "Good you haven't seen it—I haven't either. I brought it back from Kunlun."

He stepped forward and patted the piece of wood, thicker than a thigh but only about five feet long, "But the moment I saw it, I knew it was something valuable. When I took it, I found not only was the wood incredibly hard to break, but its spiritual energy never dissipated—even after all these years, it's still like this."

A single dried piece of wood containing so much spiritual energy implied how powerful it must have been when alive.

Wang Feiyin said, "I checked every scripture and asked many people, but found no matching tree species in existing records—some looked similar, but after drying and comparing, differences emerged."

Pan Yun turned the wood over, examined it closely, then looked up at Wang Feiyin with a blank expression, "Senior Brother, this isn't just one piece of trunk, is it? I see many cut marks along its side."

Wang Feiyin rubbed his nose, "Hmm, there were some branches before…"

"Ah, I remember!" Wang Cong cried out, "When I was little, you often took us to plant trees—but really, you just dug holes and buried dried branches. You buried over a dozen places. One year, you even abandoned us to go to Kunlun to bury them. Because of that, I always thought you were crazy…"

By then, he'd already worn himself out worrying about the family.

After all, if Dad was an idiot, the burden of supporting the family fell squarely on his shoulders.

Back then, our Master wasn't our Master yet—he was just the uncle we called Shu. We were all about the same age, and the two of them were both unlucky—though not as unlucky as Dad, who dropped coins every few steps and tripped constantly, they weren't far behind.

In the end, Wang Cong, the only one with average luck, bore the burden of supporting the family.

Just thinking about it brings tears to your eyes.

"The grain pattern on those dried branches back then was just like this piece of wood."

Wang Feiyin nodded approvingly, "Correct. These branches were cut from this very log. Do you remember where you buried them?"

Wang Cong looked utterly exasperated, "Dad, you're not seriously trying to grow a tree from dried branches, are you?"

Wang Feiyin: "Look at how this wood never loses its spiritual energy—can't you hope it might sprout and branch again?"

Seeing Miao Zhen: "Sounds like delusion."

But Pan Yun's eyes sparkled, "Maybe it will work."

Wang Cong and the three sisters stared at Pan Yun in horror.

But Wang Feiyin's eyes lit up as if he'd finally found a kindred soul—he grabbed Pan Yun's hand and praised, "Little sister, you're wise—you understand me!"

Pan Yun's eyes shone even brighter, "What's impossible in this world? Just because it doesn't grow now doesn't mean it won't grow later. Perhaps one day, spiritual energy will surge and gradually return to ancient levels, and these seemingly extinct divine trees and divine beasts will reappear one by one."

Wang Feiyin released her hand, "Little sister, you're even crazier than I am."

Pan Yun glanced at him, "Who's crazy? I'm making a reasoned deduction. Maybe one day, those dried branches you buried will revive and sprout under the nurturing of spiritual energy."

Wang Feiyin: "I believe that part—keep that deduction. Erase everything before it from your mind."

But that was her past life—the future of Great Ming. Oh, though the two were different timelines, based on historical parallels, she believed that in a thousand years, this timeline would also see a resurgence of spiritual energy.

Pan Yun's face was filled with fantasy—what if she could live to see that day…

While lost in thought, Wang Feiyin slapped her back to reality.

He pinched her shoulder and said, "Stop dreaming. Those dried branches have been buried for over ten years with zero signs of sprouting. Let's be practical—let's find materials first to craft your flight artifact."

As he rummaged through the shelves, he lectured the children, "The prerequisite for flying by controlling an object is control itself—flight comes afterward. In theory, anything in the world can serve as a vehicle for flight."

This clashed with Pan Yun's upbringing—when crafting flight artifacts, they considered material density, and different parts required different properties.

For example, the base needed high malleability, strong corrosion resistance, and low density to reduce the artifact's weight.

They also had to consider compatibility and enhancement with various arrays.

Indeed, their flight artifacts were engraved with full arrays—Pan Yun had taken on several private jobs crafting them.

It was through this that she met senior students who crafted artifacts and customized her unique flight artifact at a 20% discount.

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But Wang Feiyin said, "Even a single branch can serve as a vehicle for flight."

Pan Yun: "What if the branch detaches mid-air?"

Wang Feiyin gave her an approving look, "That's the material issue—just tell me, did you fly when you stood on it?"

Pan Yun hesitated, then nodded—she could fly on a branch, but it consumed enormous spiritual energy, and the branch was fragile in midair, easily disintegrating.

"To fly well, you must understand the principle of riding-object flight," Wang Feiyin said. "Why must we rely on riding objects to fly?"

Miao He raised her hand: "Because our cultivation isn't sufficient—I know that by the Fourth Marquis stage, even without mist or clouds, we can fly freely."

Wang Feiyin paused, then nodded: "That's not wrong, but at its root, it's still because we lack control over our own bodies."

"When you reach the Second and Third Marquis stages, you'll understand—especially at the Third Marquis stage, you can fly briefly without riding objects, and the Yuan force consumed is nearly the same as when riding an object."

"If the energy cost is nearly the same, why can't you levitate at the First Marquis stage?" Wang Feiyin stroked his beard. "Because your Yuan force doesn't fully obey your command—your feet, your legs, your belly, your chest, your skull—none of them move entirely according to your will."

"It's the same as a physician being unable to cure himself, or a fortune-teller unable to divine his own fate," he said. "We always lack something in our self-understanding; control over our own body and destiny is veiled by a thin layer."

"When you break through this veil, you will become Sun Dacheng."

Pan Yun pondered: "Muscles have their own will—I can't lift my upper body not because I lack muscles, but because I can't control them."

Wang Feiyin turned to look at her. "What did you say?"

"Oh, it's a painful insight from a friend I had before."

Wang Feiyin: "You have friends we don't know about?"

Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He also turned to stare at her.

After a pause, Pan Yun said: "She was my past-life friend."

No one believed her. Seeing Miao Zhen snorted and turned away. "Grandmaster, what should the flying artifact you're making for Little Auntie look like?"

Wang Feiyin looked pained. "I don't know either—didn't we ask her to choose the materials?"

"If it were you, you'd just engrave a Light-Body Array onto whatever artifact you normally use. Little Sister, your sword is forged from meteoric iron—sharp, hard, and full of energy. Used for sword-flight, it already outpaces many. But you..."

Pan Yun turned her face away. "It's exhausting to always stand on a sword—by the time you arrive, your feet are numb, and you can't fight well. Something bigger is better. Why not make me a medicinal tripod too? Make the opening big enough to fit everyone from our observatory."

Wang Feiyin: "…You don't even cultivate pills. Do you think medicinal tripods are cheap?"

Wang Cong: "Medicinal tripods are heavy—they won't fly fast."

Seeing Miao Zhen: "Too tall. If you sit inside, you can't see outside."

Miao He: "Then maybe make a house—like the flying artifact in Little Auntie's dream."

Pan Yun sighed: "We don't have the materials."

Wang Feiyin sighed too. "The materials just aren't good enough~"

"Unless you want to fly while your wooden house sheds wood chips all the way."

Not all materials can withstand the wind and corrosion of high-speed flight.

Moreover, we must consider durability—can't have her flying artifact shatter mid-battle.

For durability… Wang Feiyin's gaze fell upon a large box at the bottom of a shelf.

Everyone's eyes followed him.

(End of Chapter)