Master Lu’s forging chamber was fully equipped.
The forging tools were dazzling in variety—there were over a hundred different types of hammers alone, giving off the familiar vibe of “newbies always have the most gear.”
But Master Lu clearly didn’t see it that way.
“Tools are the soul of a forge. Only by using the right tools can you process the spirits of different artifacts.” the master said proudly, twirling his little mustache, “Pick whatever you need. I’ll teach you how to use it.”
I glanced around.
Then I shook my head.
It was just about infusing spatial laws into materials—for instance, that silken ribbon didn’t need any tools at all.
“Go ahead and use whatever you like,” Master Lu said as he turned on the nearby camera, “I’ll record this guidance session, so my apprentices can watch it in the future.”
The camera pointed straight at Master Lu and me.
Geez, this old man really makes a fuss out of everything…
Well, whatever. If he wants to record, let him record.
“Alright then…”
“Come forth, Qilin.”
Qilin?
Master Lu let out a chuckle: “What a cute little critter. Daring to take the name of a legendary spirit beast. I get that you have high hopes for your own spirit, wishing it could be as mighty as a Qilin.
But listen, young man, that’s the king of mythical beasts you’re invoking. Tread carefully, or you might just offend it and stall your evolution—Whoa crap!”
Master Lu was so shocked he nearly tore out half his beard.
The creature in front of him looked like a horse, but not quite—it had a single lightning-charged horn on its head, its sleek fur glowing with energy, and it looked like petting it might jolt you with static electricity.
“Did it get a professional grooming? That little foal really does look a lot like a Qilin,” Master Lu nodded in appreciation, “Guess I’ll summon my spirit too… Kui Mulang! Get to work!”
No response.
Master Lu’s brows furrowed slightly.
The atmosphere subtly shifted.
“Kui Mulang! Why aren’t you coming out? Kui Mulang! If you’re slacking again, it’s dog food for dinner!”
Still nothing.
Master Lu was furious.
“Kui Mulang! Come out now! Still not coming? You’ve got some nerve!” With a surge of mental focus, he forcibly summoned and merged with the spirit. “Soul Fusion!”
Crack, crack, crack—
Master Lu’s hair turned a dark gray, his face took on lupine features, and his body grew covered in fur.
At the same time, pieces of armor and equipment in the room flew toward him, affixing to his body. Gems and rare materials slotted themselves into the armor, becoming its power source.
“It’s Master Lu’s Steel Battle Suit!” the surrounding apprentices exclaimed with envy.
Xinyue leaned close to my ear and whispered, “It was this cool transformation scene that tricked my parents into signing the crafting contract with him.”
Hmm… it was pretty cool.
If he hadn’t knelt down.
“Thump!”
Master Lu’s eyes widened in confusion as he looked at his knees.
“What… happened to me?”
Why wouldn’t his body obey?
Why was he kneeling?
Bang, bang, bang!
Stop! Why am I bowing my head too?! The tiles are cracking!
Huh? An apology? A sincere apology from Kui Mulang… for his master’s earlier arrogance and embezzling?
After Soul Fusion, the spirit and the master become one.
So the Qilin’s pressure on beasts… also affects the master himself.
So…
“Just keep kneeling while you instruct, Master. I’m sure your apprentices will enjoy the spectacle.”
I stopped paying attention to the stunned Master Lu and took out the blue ribbon.
It was quite long.
I cut it in half and started working with one piece.
Given my current cultivation level, using the Laws was already risky.
And this material? Practically trash-tier.
For safety, a proper storage artifact should at least use demi-god grade materials.
But those aren’t exactly easy to come by…
“As long as I succeed once and find the method, the rest will be easy.”
What should a proper storage artifact include?
First, you need to mark items as they enter and exit—create an inventory list.
Otherwise, the storage space would be a chaotic mess.
You don’t want to spend hours rummaging through it every time, right?
Once you have the inventory, it needs to be linked to your mind so you can summon specific items at will.
That involves rune arrays related to “thought,” “recognition,” and “summoning.”
Each stored item gets a retrieval code, which links to brainwave signals—allowing seamless access.
Also, categorization is crucial.
Fragile items need to be stored in protected sections, so they won’t get knocked over when summoned.
Flammable and explosive items had to be stored separately, to avoid the embarrassing disaster of the entire inventory being wiped out in an instant.
Also, also…
“Phew—”
No wonder storage artifacts were so expensive.
It wasn’t just the space law that was difficult—the prep work alone was enough to make your head spin.
You had to engrave so many runes onto such a tiny item, and every single character had to be flawless.
It was insanely hard.
But at last, it was done.
“Final step—open a miniature world for the storage item.”
I activated the space law, trying to nurture a new space within the ribbon… Oh no!
The new space formed like a bubble, and just as it stabilized, an ominous smear of black appeared where it rubbed against the original space.
This was bad.
I’d forgotten to vacuum the area first.
Where the new and old spaces compressed together, existing matter was suddenly twisted and hyper-compressed in ways that should be physically impossible.
That’s how something that shouldn’t exist on Earth was created—
A black hole.
“RIP.”
“Wh-what is that?” Even Master Lu could sense the horror, “That pull… I can’t hold on… Help!”
A terrifying suction force erupted inside the forging chamber.
I immediately used spatial law to stretch space and counteract the black hole’s pull, but it wouldn’t last long.
Any longer and the whole solar system would be gone!
“No choice… I have to do this…”
I opened my mouth.
“Ahhm~!”
And swallowed the tiny black ball whole.
More accurately, I sent it into a miniature world inside my body, isolating it in a vacuum zone for now.
The suction vanished instantly.
Silence returned to the forging chamber.
“What was that just now…” Master Lu asked, trembling.
“Sorry about that, I mean, I just started learning to forge today~” I scratched behind my ear with a goofy grin, my tail wagging nervously.
“A little slip-up was bound to happen, eh… ehe~”
“Bullcrap!”
Master Lu pointed at the spot where the black hole had been, shaking all over, face twisted.
“Black center, gold-red edges, shaped like a lollipop, with an accretion disk and photon ring! Stuff caught in it looked frozen in mid-air, but they were already torn to bits—stuck at the event horizon, right?
That was a black hole! A black hole!!! I read books! You can’t fool me!”
I waved him off: “Come on, how could a human make a black hole with their bare hands? Gotta trust in science. Right, Qilin?”
Heh.
The Qilin nudged open Cluru’s box and quietly climbed inside.
As the embodiment of honesty, it couldn’t lie.
But if it didn’t lie, it wasn’t going to see tomorrow’s sunrise.
Running away was shameful, but it could save a dog’s life.
“By the way, Master, did you notice any flaws in my forging technique just now?” I scratched my head to change the subject, “Weren’t you going to give me some pointers?”
“……”
“Master? Master? Master Lu!”
“Master’s overheating! Oh no, he passed out! Call an ambulance!”