Chapter 185

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Chapter 185: Zhou Kailing’s Research Funding

“Damn, the resources in the Wan Chong Mountain Range are seriously abundant,” Xu Fan exclaimed, watching the light curtain that displayed the detected spirit ore.

“Titanium Spirit Ore—this stuff can be refined to craft an artifact-level Giant Shield.”

“Even if it’s the lowest-tier artifact, it’s still an artifact,” Xu Fan said, his excitement palpable.

“Grape, deploy the mining puppets to extract all the Titanium Spirit Ore in this area.”

“I’m going to use this ore to craft a batch of Transformation Stage heavy armor puppets equipped with shields,” Xu Fan declared, clapping his hands. His mind was already racing with visions of himself controlling the Refining Void Puppet alongside twelve Transformation Stage artifact-level heavy armor puppets, taking on a Core Formation stage opponent.

For some reason, Xu Fan’s battle instincts were suddenly firing up.

“I really feel like fighting right now,” Xu Fan muttered, his hands itching for action.

By now, a full day and night had passed since Xu Gang and Ji Muhua began their sparring match.

Just as Xu Fan thought of them, Grape sent a message: the duel was over, and Xu Gang had come out slightly ahead, thanks to his array of treasures and Spiritual Energy Armor.

A light curtain appeared in front of Xu Fan, replaying their battle.

“Ah, that kid’s still a bit lacking in talent. If they had the same equipment, he’d probably only manage a draw—if that. More likely, he’d lose.”

“Hurry up and reach the Transformation Stage. Once you do, talent won’t hold you back,” Xu Fan said, watching Xu Gang’s dejected expression on the light curtain.

It seemed the kid had finally realized the gap between himself and his buddy.

Xu Fan then turned back to his exploration game and summoned his first clone.

“Eight hours,” the first clone said immediately, already knowing what was expected.

“Right. Twelve Transformation Stage heavy armor puppets. First, head to the underground space and work with Grape to finalize the blueprints. Then start crafting.”

“You’ve got two months. Get to it,” Xu Fan said, his eyes glued to the live stream light curtain, not even glancing at the first clone.

“Not happening,” the first clone shot back, unimpressed.

“We’re the same person. Don’t try to negotiate, or all previous deals are off,” Xu Fan said coldly.

“You…”

The first clone finally gave in and trudged toward the underground space.

“Why do I always have to deal with this…”

Xu Fan heard the first clone’s grumbling echo in his ears.

“Heh.”

Outside Hidden Spirit Island, on a spiritual boat, Xu Gang helped Ji Muhua sit up.

“Brother Xu, I admit defeat. When it comes to spells, I’ll gladly call you my elder brother,” Ji Muhua said, his face pale. “If you hadn’t held back with that last Lightning Cannon blast, I’d be nothing but scraps right now.”

“It’s just the advantage of better artifacts. If we were on equal footing, I’d probably be the one lying here,” Xu Gang replied, a flicker of envy in his eyes as he acknowledged Ji Muhua’s natural talent.

“In a life-and-death battle, would you ditch your treasures just to keep things fair?” Ji Muhua asked.

“Only an idiot would do that. This wasn’t a friendly spar,” Xu Gang said.

“Exactly. You might envy my talent, but I envy your master craftsman skills,” Ji Muhua said, looking at Xu Gang.

“Haha, I was being narrow-minded,” Xu Gang said with a laugh, the lingering frustration in his heart slowly fading away.

At this moment, Xu Gang patted Ji Muhua’s shoulder and said, “If you’re alright, stay at the sect to recover. We’re holding a Sect Competition soon, and I’ve already asked my master—he’s fine with you watching the matches.”

Just then, a Transformation Stage puppet handed Xu Gang a bottle of healing spirit pills.

“Then I’ll take the chance to rest here for a while,” Ji Muhua said, feeling pleased. The elder’s task would be easy to complete now.

“You call me Big Brother, yet you’re still so formal with me.”

“Later, I’ll treat you to a big meal—our local specialty,” Xu Gang said with a grin.

“Then I won’t hold back,” Ji Muhua replied.

That night, Xu Fan pulled himself away from the treasure-hunting game, looking puzzled. “Am I cursed or something? Did I really turn into a bad-luck magnet?”

Aside from the Titanium Spirit Ore he found at the start, Xu Fan hadn’t discovered anything valuable since.

“Master, don’t worry. We’ve only scratched the surface, and we’ve already found Titanium Spirit Ore.”

“As the demon race puppet army grows, we’ll uncover more spirit ore in the future.”

“Right now, the Titanium Spirit Ore is being mined. It should take about a month to finish.”

Hearing that the mining had started, Xu Fan finally smiled.

“You’re right. This is just the tip of the iceberg. There’s plenty more treasure waiting for me.”

That evening, Xu Fan hosted a banquet for Ji Muhua and gave him more healing spirit pills to speed up his recovery.

The next morning, before the sun rose, Li Xingci slowly opened his eyes after a night of seclusion.

He picked up his Communication Artifact and checked the new message with curiosity.

“I blocked all messages—how did this one get through?”

“Did something happen to my master?”

When Li Xingci saw the message on the Communication Precious Artifact, his face fell, and a headache began to brew.

“Senior Su Rantian,” Li Xingci muttered, clutching his head.

The message was from Su Rantian, the Core Formation stage female cultivator who had a crush on him. She claimed she was too scared to cross the river alone and wanted Li Xingci to come pick her up.

Then, Xu Fan sent another message, telling him to go to Lin Sen Fairy City to fetch Senior Su and to show her proper respect.

“Xingci, don’t stress over it. Just go with the flow.”

“If you really don’t want to, I’ll protect your honor, even if it means spilling blood across the Ten Thousand-Mile Giant Lake.”

Xu Fan’s protective tone made Li Xingci feel touched, but then he quickly snapped out of it.

“Master, your life is way more important than my reputation,” Li Xingci said, moved.

“Good, you understand. Now hurry up and go greet the guest,” Xu Fan’s voice drifted over.

“Looks like the sect’s about to welcome a big shot.”

“As for your reputation, that’s your own business. Your master can’t fight that battle for you,” Xu Fan said, sitting cross-legged on his bed with a chuckle.

Early in the morning, after finishing the breakfast Lei Wenxi brought him, Xu Fan noticed Zhou Kailing looking nervous.

“What brings you here?” Xu Fan asked. He took a hands-off approach with Zhou Kailing, letting her figure things out on her own.

For a Creation Spirit Master, the best way to learn was by observing and studying various renowned spells and techniques. Over time, they’d naturally develop their own theories for creating spells and techniques.

"Master, can I have some spirit stones?" Zhou Kailing asked cautiously.

"What’s up?" Xu Fan inquired, puzzled. The Hidden Spirit Sect gives out points every month that disciples can exchange for spirit stones if needed. Xu Fan and Grape had calculated that the monthly points were sufficient for current expenses.

"I need to buy some Spirit Material and treasures of the five elements for an experiment," Zhou Kailing explained.

"Oh, have you found something new?" Xu Fan asked, intrigued.

"Not yet, there’s no theory behind it. You should see for yourself, Master," Zhou Kailing said, pulling out a small bag filled with powder.

"I just ate, so please don’t use any spell that might make me feel sick," Xu Fan quickly added. Although Zhou Kailing was mostly self-taught, Xu Fan still kept an eye on her.

Xu Fan knew he couldn’t afford to have Zhou Kailing as an enemy because the spells she created were truly disgusting.

"Alright, this time I’m casting a proper spell," Zhou Kailing assured him.

She clenched the powder and started forming seals.

"That’s the seal for the ice spear technique," Xu Fan noted, recognizing the gesture. He had modified this spell himself.

Suddenly, water spiritual energy surged in Xu Fan’s courtyard. As Zhou Kailing completed her seals, a massive ice spear appeared beside her and shot towards the distant mountain wall.

The ten-meter-long ice spear tore through the air and hit the cliff.

‘Boom~~’

The entire cliff froze instantly and then crumbled into powder, falling to the mountain’s base.

Xu Fan observed the little hill that had been reduced to half a peak and nodded slightly. He then took some of the powder Zhou Kailing had used, scattered it into the air, and formed another seal with his thoughts.

A giant ice ball, ten meters in diameter, appeared in the sky, and the temperature in Xu Fan’s courtyard dropped below zero degrees Celsius instantly.

Xu Fan pointed gently at the sky, and the ice ball shot upwards.

‘Boom~~~’

The ice ball reached the top of the protective mountain formation before exploding into snowflakes that drifted down among the mountains.

In moments, the entire Hidden Spirit Island was covered in white.

"This is made from deep lake ice shrimp shells, spirit stone powder, and water condensation beads. It costs about 10,000 spirit stones per kilogram," Zhou Kailing explained.

"It can cast your ice spear technique over 600 times. The power increases sixfold, but the Spirit World points can only go up to six times; any more would cause the spell to self-destruct."

"Not bad, it’s valuable and has potential," Xu Fan said, recalling he had used similar methods before but hadn’t explored them in detail.

"How many spirit stones do you need? Don’t be shy," Xu Fan encouraged, pleased that this self-taught disciple could surprise him.

Hearing this, Zhou Kailing mustered her courage and held up one finger.

"Ten million spirit stones."

Xu Fan felt a twinge of sadness upon hearing her request. Among his officially accepted disciples, none had such modest goals for pocket money, except for the younger Zhou Kailing, who hadn’t received much.

Xu Fan handed her a storage bag.

"Here’s one hundred million spirit stones; I’ve overlooked you in the past," Xu Fan said with a sigh.

“Master, are these spirit stones really for my research?” Zhou Kailing asked excitedly, completely oblivious to her master’s neglect.

“Absolutely! You need to develop a complete set of attribute-enhancing spellcasting powders.”

“Once you do, the spellcasting power of our Hidden Spirit Sect disciples will multiply, ensuring their safety when they venture out,” Xu Fan explained.

“Understood, Master. Give me a year, and I’ll have all the attribute spellcasting powders ready,” Zhou Kailing vowed.

“Good, get to it,” Xu Fan nodded.

Xu Fan checked the time and asked, “Grape, has Xingci left yet?”

“He’s already at Lin Sen Fairy City, with about half an hour to spare,” Grape replied.

“Good. Let’s hope her arrival brings more good than trouble.”

At Lin Sen Fairy City, Li Xingci stood calmly outside the teleportation formation, waiting for Su Rantian.

Beyond cultivation, Li Xingci had a deep understanding of women. Over several lifetimes, he had learned to read the hearts of most women under the heavens.

From the moment Su Rantian looked at him, he knew she was drawn to his soul.

It wasn’t about looks—beautiful faces were common in the cultivation world, making the soul all the more valuable.

As for how to reject this senior, who was centuries older than him, without provoking her, he already had a plan in mind.

As Li Xingci was lost in thought, a stunning female cultivator in a red cloak emerged from the teleportation formation.

Her previously cool expression softened into a radiant smile at the sight of Li Xingci, as if a hundred flowers had bloomed at once.

“Greetings, senior,” Li Xingci said respectfully.

“Hello. Let’s head back to Hidden Spirit Island.”

“Even though I haven’t moved into the courtyard Xingci designed for me, I can’t stop thinking about it,” Su Rantian said, her demeanor more like a young girl than a Core Formation stage great being.

“Then I’ll take you back to Hidden Spirit Island right away, senior,” Li Xingci said with a nod.

“Alright.”

At the main peak dojo of the Hidden Spirit Sect, Xu Fan awaited their arrival.

“Master, do you really think that Core Formation senior has her sights set on our fourth junior brother? She’s not planning to use him as a furnace, is she?” Xu Yuexian asked skeptically.

Having traveled the cultivation world for years, she’d seen her share of powerful female cultivators preying on young, handsome male cultivators.

“Unlikely. Senior Su is a member of the Elder Council. She wouldn’t stoop to such low tactics.”

“Besides, haven’t you noticed how genuine her gaze is when she looks at Xingci?” Xu Fan said with a smile.

“Genuine? You mean she’s actually smitten?”

“Something like that,” Xu Fan replied.

Just then, a spiritual boat passed through Hidden Spirit Island’s protective mountain formation and arrived at the main peak dojo.

“Welcome, Senior Su, to the Hidden Spirit Sect,” Xu Fan greeted her warmly.

“Grand Elder, you’re too kind. I’m here for a short stay, but I might extend it,” Su Rantian said with a gentle smile.

“If Senior Su finds it to her liking, it would be our honor for her to stay permanently,” Xu Fan said politely.

After exchanging pleasantries with Xu Fan, Su Rantian hurried off to the courtyard Li Xingci had designed for her, her eagerness palpable.

“Could she really be that fond of the courtyard?” Xu Fan wondered aloud.

With a Core Formation stage cultivator now in the sect, all sensitive matters on Hidden Spirit Island had been moved underground.

Xu Fan had upgraded the formations in the underground space, making it capable of withstanding the consciousness probes of Core Formation stage cultivators.

Though Su Rantian had left, the tea on the table remained untouched, and Xu Fan continued sipping his tea in the dojo.

Before long, Li Xingci returned.

“Master,” Li Xingci said with a bow.

“Hmm, have you figured out how to handle this?” Xu Fan asked.

“I’ll just go with the flow~~”