Story 8 - Tribulation Trepidations (8 ?)

Story 8 - Tribulation Trepidations (8 ?)

“I created this method based on a type of synthetic fiber that existed in my past life.”

Except this material wouldn’t contaminate the oceans with micro-plastics.

Regardless, I had no plans to share the recipe for mass production unless there was a war. While the ingredients I used were currently considered inexpensive or trash, as soon as other blacksmiths learned my recipe, they would become overpriced.

Unlike the Alchemists’ Guild, the Blacksmiths didn’t have a good patent system. Or an organization. At least, not in this era.

That was why they were all secretive assholes. Getting anything out of them was like pulling a tooth from an Immortal Ascension body cultivation expert.

Little Spring pulled a long thread out of the line. “How do we turn these into fabric?”

“Oh, that’s the easy part. We weave them one strand after another.”

“Isn’t there an easier way to do it? Or a technique?” He looked hopeful.

I decided to mess with the kid. “We could use a loom.”

He looked horrified. “Won’t that take forever?”

“Unfortunately, there are some things in this world that are like grinding ink. This step can’t be skipped.”Follow current novels on novelb((in).(com)

The kid’s eyes briefly darted to the door behind me like he wanted to run.

“Are... are you going to build one?”

Building an industrial sized loom for two outfits? I had no time for that!

“Fortunately for you, there actually is a technique that shortens the weaving process.” It was something I looked into when I first realized that I’d need to turn my strings into fabric.

Little Spring relaxed.

“But before I get into that, I need to replenish my energy.”

***

When I finished cycling my cultivation technique, I glanced back to see the Little Spring scraping a few pearl shavings into the lime juice.

I motioned for him to come over and he hurriedly sat in front of me.

Right as I opened my mouth to go into an explanation about the new technique, a fierce spiritual energy stretched through the space.

That was Ghosty’s energy.

Had he just used a technique at the Nascent Soul level? But I couldn’t think of a reason he’d use the precious energy he’d been accumulating for so long.

A chill ran down my spine. Could someone have broken in? That sounded impossible. But... was it? If someone came down from the immortal realm, could they sense the space?

“Spirit?”

No response.

The kid and I both looked at each other before using our access to the space to teleport right outside the palace.

There, I caught sight of Ghosty McGhostFace, looking opaque and hovering in midair. A young man dressed in gold stood in front of him with a mischievous smile. They looked like they were about to throw down in an epic manhua-worthy fight.



Wait a second. Ghosty shouldn’t be able to stand the yang energy of the light for long. And there was no way that dragon would let anyone barge in here.

That young man was obviously the spirit in human form.

I pointed to the ground. “Come down here immediately!”

Ghosty vanished and reappeared in front of me.

The dragon remained floating in place, looking like a cat ignoring its owner.

Little Spring said, “Do as my sister says.”

The human-form dragon huffed and did the same. He pouted at me like I’d ruined his fun.

“You can’t do this right now. We’re in the middle of crafting.”

“Fairy Lin, could that wait? I need to practice Nascent Soul Level techniques so I can use them when I get my new body.”

“But you don't have to do it right now.”

He blushed. “The little spirit here told me that he could change the light in the space to not affect me. I just want to try it!” He must have been so excited that he couldn’t resist, probably because he hadn’t been able to before.

Frankly, it would have been better if this would have happened a few months ago when I wasn’t in the middle of something important. Why had they only figured this out now? Whatever.

I scowled at them.

“Do you think you’ll even be able to get your new body if I don’t increase my realm high enough?”



He grimaced.

“When I said that I’m in the middle of crafting, I meant that I’m forging the armor I’ll use during my tribulation. It’s important.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Do you want me to push my tribulation back further? Maybe a year or two?”

That didn’t sound so bad, actually.

Before I could throw my hands up and decide to continue crafting another day, he tugged on my sleeve.

“No! Please keep crafting. I can hold off on this for a day or two.”

Fine. I’d keep going.

I pointed to the dragon, who winced. “And you. You should know better than to fight so close to my spiritual plants. How will you pay for it when your reckless spar destroys them?”

I grinned. “We’ll be moving together, covering for each of our weak points while functioning at speeds impossible for mortals. What is this except for another battle? A battle in the form of creation? Muahahaha!”

What I said must have struck a chord of truth in his heart, because he sucked in a breath of realization.

He turned to the threads, a determined glint in his eyes, and he made a grasping motion to gather every other thread. I did the same for the opposite ones. We pulled them apart, making a gap.

Plucking with my other hand, I collected a loose thread from a pile set aside for this purpose. With a slice, I shot it into the hole we made.

He pushed his vertical strings while I pulled mine. Then I moved my horizontal thread through the new divide.

But there was an issue. We weren’t as quick as we should be. "Faster!”

“Yes!”

He sped up. The time it took to create a line in the fabric decreased two-fold. It still wasn’t enough.

“More.”

The kid grit his teeth, his wrist speed increasing slightly.

“Again!”

“I can’t go any faster!”

“Yes, you can! Stop relying on just your body cultivation. Strengthen your muscles with your inner Qi.”

“Oh!”

Suddenly, there was a burst of speed on his side. Since I already knew how fast I could go, I quickly matched pace.

Finally, we were as fast as an industrial loom... Probably. It had been over a thousand years since I’d seen a video of one. It was possible that we were going even faster.

***

It took us fifteen minutes, but we completed weaving a full bolt of cloth.

Even though it had just been my hands and spiritual energy moving, my whole body seemed to ache like I’d just worked out. That was the price of speed.

The kid gently touched the rolled up fabric that shimmered like some otherworldly material.

“Why is it so...”

“Shiny?”

He nodded.

“The threads are made up from a type of crystalline structure, which I like to call a spiritual polymer.” Which was better than calling it Spiritual Polyester.

“What is that word?”

I pulled out a few spirit stones. “Imagine it being like silk or crystal, but different?” I really couldn’t think of how to best describe it.

“Is that the reason it has this rainbow shine to it?”

“Actually, that’s a visual effect from the heavens, approving our quality fabric.”

He glanced at me suspiciously.

I laughed then started replenishing my energy. Little Spring did the same.

By the time we finished, it was time to check the Red Titanium!

I added more juice and pearl pieces. No more bubbles!

My Red Titanium had finished dissolving!

Strangely, some trace metals floated at the bottom of the glass. That meant that those were of a grade higher than sky rank. I didn’t know what metal it was, but I couldn’t haphazardly throw it into my armor. Besides, it wasn’t like I could work with a metal above sky rank at my current realm.

Maybe this sword shard really had been once owned by someone who reached Immortal Ascension.

Or maybe these were just remnants of higher tier trash metals that couldn’t be reused.

I’d figure it out later when I could work with something above sky rank.

With a flick of my finger, the powdery metals flew out of the jar and into one of the failed glasses I had made. It looked half melted, but it could be used for storage. Then I threw it into my ring.

The kid stared at the red liquid. “Will it become titanium again?”

“After several days, the acid will stop working and the titanium will return to its solid state.”

He scowled. “That’s too long.”

“Agreed.”

“Is there a way to speed it up?”

I shrugged. “There is something we could try, but I don’t know if it will work.”

His eyes widened. “Even you don’t know?”

“Just because I’m a genius doesn’t mean I perceive everything. But...” I pulled out another glass jar. “There is something we can do. Hypothesize! Test things we suspect to prove they’re true. And explore reactions we don’t understand!”

Because this was a volatile juice, I controlled the space to bring a few drops of the red liquid into the new jar then placed a single drop of spiritual spring water on top of it.

I grinned as the juice turned clear. Particles of red dust formed on the bottom of the glass.

His eyes sparkled. “Does this mean that we can just add the lake water to it to make it go faster?”

I gently flicked Little Spring on his glabella. He rubbed it.

“We have proof of concept, but we don’t know how the water affects the metal.”

He scowled. “Isn’t it obvious?”

I grinned. It was time to really give this kid a love for the scientific method.