The geniuses' thoughts wander among the stars

Yunli didn't get up right away. She knelt on one knee in the Martial Arts Arena, her bangs plastered to her temples with sweat, and stared at Jingxing without blinking, as if she meant to see right through him and his spear.

Jingxing returned the spear to the weapons rack and shook his head. He had actually defeated Yunli outright after using the Light Cone. It was beyond anything he had imagined himself capable of.

On the bright side, if he could defeat even Yunli, he could travel aboard Chasing the Moon through more than ninety percent of the galaxy without worrying about his safety.

"But I still need to get a weapon."

While Jingxing was considering what kind of weapon he needed, Yunli used Old Iron to push herself to her feet. "There really aren't any secrets in the Light Cone?"

"There are only martial arts fundamentals in the Light Cone." Jingxing shrugged. "If you don't believe me, you can ask General Huaiyan."

Yunli swung Old Iron onto her back, walked over, and seized his wrist, dragging him out of the arena. "Then let's go. I'll ask Grandpa."

But Huaiyan didn't give Yunli the answer she wanted.

"Jingxing's eyes have always been able to see through you. Before, his body just couldn't keep up with them." Huaiyan waved a hand. "Now that he's made up for his lack of fundamentals, it's only natural you can't beat him."

Yunli pouted. She turned and seized Jingxing's wrist again, then walked out without looking back.

"Where are you going now?" Huaiyan asked from behind them.

"The Furnace Palace!" Yunli forced the words through her teeth. "I lost, plain and simple. We had a deal. I'll forge the curio he wants with my own hands."

It wasn't until they were two streets away from the General's Residence that Yunli came to her senses and let go of him.

The Furnace Palace stood at the very center of the Zhuming Xianzhou. After the two traveled through several realms by Starskiff, a wave of heat hit their faces before they even disembarked. The living areas inside the Zhuming Xianzhou were kept as pleasant as spring all year round, but here it felt like the height of a scorching summer.

The two stone lions outside the Furnace Palace gates glowed orange-red in the light of the furnaces, and the air was thick with the mingled smells of iron, burning charcoal, and sweat.

As the artisans along the way caught sight of Yunli, they stepped aside and bowed.

"Good afternoon, Miss Yunli!"

Although she came from a noble family, it was thanks to her exceptional forging skills that the Furnace Palace artisans greeted her so sincerely.

That was also why Jingxing felt comfortable entrusting the curio to her.

"First things first." Yunli, who had been walking ahead, turned around and folded her arms. "What kind of curio do you want?"

"It's to pay off a debt, so it has to be something a genius would find interesting," Jingxing replied.

Yunli tilted her head. "Something a genius would find interesting? I think only the Omniscient Heavenly Lord knows what geniuses are interested in."

Jingxing hadn't expected them to get stuck on the very first step of making the curio. It was as frustrating as facing a blank sheet of drawing paper without having settled on a subject.

"She has a whole space station for her collection," Jingxing muttered. "I doubt she's short of any kind of curio."

"But there has to be some sort of standard, right?" Yunli pressed. "You can't expect her to be satisfied with just anything I forge, can you?"

Yunli was confident, but she wasn't arrogant enough to be that sure of her craft.

Just then, a voice came from the roadside. "Unfortunately, there are very few things in the world that Ms. Herta considers 'curious.' Even if there are, she can study them for a while and uncover their secrets, and then they're no longer curious to her."

Jingxing and Yunli turned at the same time. A middle-aged man in a gray robe emerged from behind a row of ores, a stack of rubbings in his arms.

The man continued, "A question a genius puzzles over in their spare time is a riddle a mortal could spend a lifetime trying and fail to solve. So it's impossible for you to create a curio that would interest her."

Yunli narrowed her eyes, her hand already on her sword hilt. The man noticed, took half a step back, and bowed respectfully.

"Don't misunderstand. I'm Keliou of the Genius Society's Candle-Ink School." He introduced himself. "I have a pass to the Furnace Palace. I came to Zhuming this time to examine how the local forging techniques have changed since the last Amber Era, and to proofread a Xianzhou Curio Compendium while I'm here. I happened to pass by and heard you two mention Ms. Herta, so I couldn't help speaking up."

"You know Ms. Herta?" Jingxing asked.

Keliou gave a wry smile. "I happen to be Ms. Herta's current editor."

Jingxing and Yunli looked at each other.

Her editor?

Keliou seemed accustomed to that reaction and went on, "Whenever Ms. Herta takes pity on me and submits a manuscript, I have to finish editing and proofreading it within a day. When she doesn't feel like writing, she'll block me if I so much as send her a message."

"Even so, I imagine you know her better than we do, Mr. Keliou." Jingxing's eyes lit up. "You're welcome to join our discussion."

The three sat down in a side hall. Keliou carefully propped the rubbings against the wall before sitting up straight.

"Forgive my bluntness," he said, "but the premise that you two can make a curio worth a second glance from Ms. Herta is flawed to begin with. After all, even if everyone in the Genius Society joined forces, we couldn't make a genius spare us a glance."

"Then what's the point of the Genius Society?" Yunli frowned.

"Mortals have a purpose in striving, too." Keliou spoke openly. "There aren't many geniuses still active in the galaxy, so naturally, it falls to us in the Genius Society to follow in their footsteps and show civilization the path ahead."

"By your reasoning, should we just go home and sleep?" Yunli's tone grew sharp.

"What I mean is—" Keliou glanced at Jingxing. "The 'unknown' Ms. Herta wants can't be created. Although the Herta Space Station does house many curios, many were collected by the researchers there. Ms. Herta hasn't collected many curios herself. To catch her interest for a time, something would have to come from another world, or be an object capable of inspiring her."

Another world?!

"I see... Then I have an idea." Jingxing lowered his head.

Yunli and Keliou both looked at him.

The furnace flames danced behind Jingxing, and his shadow flickered on the wall. As the smell of molten iron reached him, memories of everything in his previous life surfaced in his mind.

"I know what can interest Ms. Herta." Lost in thought, he heard his own voice, impossibly calm. "But I need your help forging a brush, Yunli."

Yunli opened her mouth. "A brush?"

"Why forge a brush? Can't you buy one just outside?" She couldn't understand Jingxing's request.

"Because I'm going to use it to paint an ink wash painting." Jingxing looked at her, his tone turning earnest. "Anyway, sorry for the trouble, Miss Yunli, but please forge me a brush that lets Imaginary Energy flow smoothly through the handle to the tip. Ideally, channeling energy into it would automatically produce the ink I need at the tip, and it could erase previous brushstrokes... In short, the more painting functions it has, the better."

"No problem." Although she didn't understand why, Yunli thought it over and decided the forging requirements weren't difficult. "Just wait. It'll be ready in two days."

Keliou looked puzzled. "Sir, are you planning to paint an ink wash painting that will interest Ms. Herta? Forgive my bluntness, but that's simply impossible..."

"I admit I'm just a mortal when it comes to scientific and technological knowledge," Jingxing said, staring as he broke into a grin, "but if Nous were willing to spare a glance for a genius in the arts, I'd have joined the Genius Society long ago."