Chapter 2

Five hours later, night fell.

"Chao Yang New Village" was located next to the 23rd Special Waste Treatment Facility.

Despite its pleasant name, Chao Yang New Village was the most dilapidated low-rent housing complex in Fuge City.

Due to its proximity to the magic artifact cemetery, the environment here was extremely harsh, with a pungent odor permeating the air year-round. Even when the main city had clear blue skies, this place remained gray and hazy. Among the nineteen low-rent housing complexes in Fuge City, this was the lowest in grade, and naturally, the rent was the lowest as well.

Even with such low rent, few people liked living next to a waste treatment facility. Many residential buildings stood empty, and due to years of neglect, their exteriors were riddled with cracks, and the hallways were filled with cobwebs, making it resemble a ghost town.

Li Yao was a regular resident of this "ghost town."

He liked the quiet here, where he could perform magic artifact maintenance and modifications at home without disturbing others. It was also close to the magic artifact cemetery, and the rent was cheap, making it a win-win situation.

His home was a suite of over fifty square meters, with two rooms. The outer room was used for daily activities, while the inner room had been converted into a magic artifact maintenance workshop.

Upon entering the door, the first thing that caught the eye was over a hundred crystal brains hanging from the ceiling by ropes, resembling a hundred small skulls.

Most of these crystal brains were ancient antiques from hundreds of years ago, having lost their computational abilities. Li Yao had collected them as a hobby—he was a crystal brain enthusiast, fascinated by these magical artifacts that could simulate the brain of a cultivator to process countless thoughts.

The not-so-large living room was cluttered with rare physical books from this era, ranging from "An Overview of Magic Artifact Maintenance," "A Simplified Guide to Basic Flying Sword Refinement," "Self-Cultivation for a Refiner" to "Maintenance Manual for Black Mountain Demon-Class Crystal Warships" and "Ninety-Nine Ways to Destroy a Planet." Many of these were ancient books from hundreds of years ago, yellowed and brittle.

Surrounded by books and crystal brains was a semi-worn-out grass mat, which served as Li Yao's dining table, chair, and bed.

In the inner room, which was the magic artifact maintenance workshop, he had collected various treasures from the waste treatment facility, including gleaming flying swords, snake-like talismans, and fragrant pills...

More magic artifacts had been disassembled into their basic components, piled up in corners, forming several miniature garbage mountains.

At this moment, Li Yao was holding a silver-white box-shaped magic artifact, his eyes shining brightly, like a wolf eyeing a rabbit, almost drooling.

A black-winged flying sword poked its head out from behind him, resembling a curious fat snake.

"Turns out it's the latest '3D Light Screen' from the Thousand Illusions Sect, priced at over 20,000! If I can fix it, it should sell for at least 10,000. Little Black, we're in luck this time!" Li Yao couldn't help but whistle.

The black flying sword "squeaked" with laughter, its wings flapping up and down, mimicking a dance, revealing a hint of "greed" similar to its owner.

Li Yao's hands trembled, and he produced seven or eight oddly shaped maintenance tools, some resembling screwdrivers, others like small tweezers, and still others, fine silver needles and curved tools he couldn't name.

"Little Black, guess how many seconds?"

The black flying sword "squeaked" mockingly, drawing a "50" in the air with its tip.

"Fifty seconds? Underestimating me!"

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and calmed himself for three seconds. When he opened his eyes again, the greed and excitement were gone, replaced by a cold, clear gaze and overflowing confidence.

Li Yao's hands moved swiftly, his ten fingers becoming ten streaks of light, completely enveloping the silver-white magic artifact. At first, the movement of his fingertips could be faintly seen, but soon only a bright white glow remained, accompanied by a "rustling" sound.

After half a minute, the white glow flickered, the "rustling" sound disappeared, and the numerous afterimages returned to their original form. Li Yao's hands remained in their initial position, not moving a single millimeter.

The silver-white "3D Light Screen" had been disassembled into 425 components.

"Thirty-nine seconds, done!"

Li Yao cheered, winking at the black flying sword, and began to study the components intently.

"Wow, truly worthy of being the latest model from the Thousand Illusions Sect. The structure is exquisite, and the balance of spiritual energy is seamless. The most impressive part is this main chip, which has over 300 spiritual symbols engraved on it, forming more than twenty talisman arrays. It's a work of art!"

Li Yao held a magnifying glass, carefully examining the disassembled main chip, his face filled with a reverent fascination. As he studied, his expression grew increasingly serious.

"Wait... It's not just 300 symbols. This main chip seems to use crystal folding technology, stacking three chips together, storing over a thousand symbols and forming over a hundred three-dimensional talisman arrays. Incredible!"

The more he studied, the more profound it seemed. Li Yao became completely engrossed, losing track of time. After over three hours, he still couldn't decipher a single complete talisman array, but his eyes were bloodshot and his vision blurred.

He was currently only at the level of a "Junior Magic Artifact Maintenance Technician," far from the level of a master refiner from the Thousand Illusions Sect.

If there was a problem with the "main chip," he would have no choice but to sell the 3D Light Screen as scrap.

Fortunately, after inputting a stream of spiritual energy using a "Spirit Storage Device," Li Yao found that the main chip's energy flow was smooth, the spiritual paths clear, and the talisman arrays stable, with no abnormalities.

Upon closer inspection, he discovered that the issue was with a low-level crystal circuit, which had burned out due to abnormal fluctuations in spiritual energy.

This type of crystal circuit was a standard component, easy to replace. Li Yao quickly found a replacement from his stock at home.

He closed his eyes, mentally recalling the disassembly process, and a detailed structural diagram appeared in his mind. His hands moved naturally, and in a flurry of activity, the 3D Light Screen was reassembled!

Using the Spirit Storage Device to input a stream of spiritual energy, the white casing emitted a faint blue glow, resembling a crystal-clear jade or a living spirit.

As the blue glow swept over his forehead, several control symbols naturally appeared in Li Yao's mind.

"Light Screen, activate!" Li Yao thought, and a control symbol immediately lit up in his mind.

The blue glow on the Light Screen converged into a "回" (hui) symbol, resembling a vortex, which rapidly spun twice. A blue beam shot out from the center of the vortex, forming a huge light screen in mid-air. The screen flickered, revealing the image of a middle-aged cultivator in a yin-yang robe, with every detail vivid and lifelike.

Behind the cultivator was an even larger light screen, crisscrossed with red and green symbols, numbers, and arrows, constantly changing.

The middle-aged cultivator, expressionless, said in a calm voice, "We will now continue with the financial news. Here is a summary of the stock market—today's biggest news is undoubtedly the announcement by the Shadow Sword Sect of the latest generation of flying sword drive talisman array, 'Purple Lightning.' It is claimed that with the application of 'Purple Lightning,' the maximum speed of flying swords can increase by 9%, the instantaneous destructive power by 11%, and the consumption of spiritual energy can decrease by 5%, significantly enhancing the overall performance of flying swords."

"Due to this positive news, the stock price of the Shadow Sword Sect has steadily risen, approaching the limit and maintaining it until the close of the market."

"Furthermore, the entire sword cultivator sector, including the Giant Sword Sect, the Extreme North Sword Sect, and the Southern Sea Sword Sect, among twenty-two sects, has seen a steady rise in stock prices. By the close of the market, the sword cultivator sector as a whole had risen by 5.42 percentage points."

"On the other hand, the stock prices of defensive sects like the Golden Armor Sect have fallen, with analysts generally believing that with the introduction of new talisman arrays like 'Purple Lightning,' flying sword technology will undergo a revolutionary leap, making current mainstream battle armor unable to defend against the latest flying swords. By the close of the market, the stock price of the Golden Armor Sect had fallen by over 8%."

"The Golden Armor Sect held an emergency press conference after the close of the market, with Elder Black Rock, the spokesperson, announcing that the development of the latest generation of 'Star Strike Shield' battle armor has made a breakthrough, with a prototype expected to be available by the end of the year, capable of defending against all flying sword attacks."

"In the northern grasslands of the Federation, the black line worm epidemic continues to spread, affecting multiple beast taming sects' spirit beast breeding bases, with over 500,000 spirit beasts affected. The rare epidemic has caused the stock prices of the beast taming sector to remain low, with multiple beast taming sects' stock prices falling below their three-year lows."

"Alright, now let's hear from the renowned stock analyst, Tian Xingzi, for individual stock analysis."

"..."

Li Yao watched for a while, noticing that the image was stable, the sound clear, with no static or spots. The 3D effect was particularly strong, giving a sense of being right there. It seemed to be fixed.

He thought for a moment and meditated, "Switch to the entertainment channel."

The blue glow flashed, and the middle-aged cultivator and the red and green light screen instantly disappeared, replaced by a bustling stadium.

The stadium, which could hold 100,000 people, was packed, with a cacophony of voices. Under the colorful lights, 100,000 enthusiastic young men and women raised their hands, shouting a single name:

"Lu Yinxin!"

"Lu Yinxin!"

"Lu Yinxin!"

On the three-story main stage, dozens of sharp crystals stood like jagged teeth. When the cheers of the young men and women reached their peak, the thickest crystal suddenly burst, and a white-clad girl with a cold, snow-like appearance but fiery, lava-like eyes leaped out. She wore a crystal-like ancient zither on her hip, and as her delicate fingers swept across the strings, a powerful, martial sound resonated!

"Have a dream, and fly with wild abandon! The other side of the galaxy is our destination! This is our era, the era of cultivation and true magic!"

Like all the young men and women, Li Yao's blood began to boil.

The hot and fiery girl on stage, "Lu Yinxin," was a rising idol singer who had gained popularity in the past two years. Her icy image and explosive singing style attracted a large number of young fans. Her hit song "40,000 Years of Cultivation" became a sensation across the Federation in just half a year, inspiring countless young people to pursue the path of cultivation.

Li Yao was also a fan of hers, but for a different reason. He liked Lu Yinxin because they shared the same background.

They were both orphans.

Li Yao was born in the 23rd Special Waste Treatment Facility. As far back as he could remember, the sky had always been gray and yellow.

He ate rotten meat from the garbage pile and drank polluted, foul water, surviving by his animal-like instincts and a "secret" deep in his memory. From being bullied to becoming the most dangerous "vulture" in the magic artifact cemetery over a decade later, his life was a struggle.

If it weren't for "Old Dad," Li Yao might have continued to live in the waste treatment facility, becoming another "Fat Dragon" or "Wild Wolf."

But one day six years ago, a garbage ship dropped Old Dad among dozens of tons of garbage, and Li Yao, moved by compassion, dragged the injured Old Dad back home.

From then on, his fate changed completely.

Old Dad never talked about his past, but Li Yao knew he was a very skilled magic artifact modification expert. In just five years, Old Dad taught Li Yao thousands of strange and unique magic artifact modification techniques, as well as various basic academic knowledge, and even paid for him to attend a private high school in the city, helping him integrate into normal society.

A year ago, Old Dad passed away due to a recurrence of his old injuries, leaving Li Yao a mysterious flying sword called "Black Wing," which he had spent his entire life trying to understand, and a message:

"Xiao Yao, in my life, I've traveled to dozens of major worlds and met thousands of magic artifact modification experts and refiners. Your talent is the highest!"

"With just human hands, you can repair low-level magic artifacts. You are really talented."

"But talent alone is not enough! With just talent, you can only repair low-level and civilian magic artifacts!"

"Promise me, study hard, and strive to get into college and become a cultivator! Only by becoming a cultivator can you advance in magic artifact maintenance, and one day..."

"Become a true master refiner!"

When Old Dad said this, his eyes were wide open, filled with a brilliant light, and his presence was overwhelming. Li Yao remembered this vividly.

A master refiner... one of the most revered professions in the cultivator community.

He didn't know if he would disappoint Old Dad.

The Black Wing sword silently accompanied him, listening to the volcanic eruption-like singing of the girl on the light screen, its wings moving with the music.

After a long time, the young man's eyes brightened, and a carefree smile returned to his lips.

"Why think so much? No matter what, just go for it!"

"Lu Yinxin went from a little orphan to the Federation's hottest female singer. Why can't I go from a small garbage worm to a true master refiner?"

The young man remembered a phrase he had heard a long time ago, from a faraway place:

"Always have a dream, just in case it comes true."

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