This Mechanism Is Truly Ingenious

The Flying Disc Workshop was an obscure little workshop.

In the crude workroom, Chen Cha frowned deeply as she stared at the half-finished mechanism on the table.

Chen Cha was an elderly woman, dressed in a black robe, with grizzled whiskers and deeply sunken eye sockets.

At that moment, she sat in a mechanical chair floating several feet above the ground, racking her brains yet unable to think of a solution.

Her design had run into another difficult hurdle.

"Who knows how long I'll be stuck this time!" Chen Cha sighed bitterly.

There was never any certainty when it came to designing mechanisms. Sometimes, one could think of an answer in a day or two; other times, it could drag on for weeks or months. The last time Chen Cha had broken through a difficult hurdle, it had taken her a full year.

Chen Cha glanced at the account book in the upper-right corner of the table, and her expression darkened further.

Outstanding Mechanical Creations had always required inspiration and ingenious ideas. Chen Cha's foundations were very solid, and she was especially skilled in arrays, but inspiration was exceedingly scarce for her. She lacked creativity.

She had not thought much of it before, so she had borrowed money to establish this Mechanical Workshop.

Reality had given her a resounding slap across the face. Not only had she emptied her entire fortune, she had also piled up debts all over herself. Now she was riding a tiger and unable to dismount; even selling the workshop would not be enough to cover her losses.

It was too late for regrets. Chen Cha knew that her only way out was to personally design an exceptional Mechanical Creation that would explode in popularity on the market, allowing her to earn a fortune and rise from the dead.

Knock, knock, knock.

Someone knocked on the door.

Chen Cha frowned slightly. "What is it?"

A voice came from outside. "Workshop Master, someone has come to visit and wishes to seek your guidance."

Chen Cha nodded. "Bring him here."

She was desperately short on money and eager to repay her debts. Under normal circumstances, she would not take this sort of consulting business, but she had no choice. She had to make money from every possible direction.

A moment later.

Ning Zhuo slowly entered the workroom. "This junior is Ning Zhuo. Greetings, Master Living Array Master Chen Cha."

The old woman gave a noncommittal hum, putting on airs while swiftly sizing Ning Zhuo up.

Ning Zhuo wore a cleanly washed white robe. His eyes were calm and pure, while his face was youthful and immature.

Chen Cha's gaze paused briefly on the jade pendant at Ning Zhuo's waist.

She saw the character Ning carved into the pendant.

"The Ning Family?" A sharp gleam flashed through Chen Cha's eyes.

Fire Persimmon Immortal City had Four Great Powers. Foremost was the City Lord's Mansion, whose current City Lord was a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator. Next came the Arrays Zhou Family, the Weapons Zheng Family, and the Talismans Ning Family.

Delight rose in her heart. "He comes from a great lineage. This young man may be quite wealthy. This business may perhaps be expanded. Later, I should point out a few more shortcomings, so that he asks more questions."

After signing a contract, Chen Cha invited Ning Zhuo to sit. The contract bound both parties to strict confidentiality regarding the questions and answers of this consultation.

Chen Cha took a sip of bitter tea, her expression calm as she asked Ning Zhuo for the specifics.

Ning Zhuo said that he had designed a Mechanical Creation but had encountered a design problem.

Chen Cha immediately laughed inwardly, thinking, Are you in the same predicament as me?

She did not think much of it.

As a Mechanism Cultivator, a workshop master, and a seller of knowledge, she had encountered many cases like Ning Zhuo's.

"Young people always think they are extraordinary."

"The Mechanical Creations they design are unbearable to look at, a ghastly sight! Some are even riddled with contradictions in their very construction; once magic power is poured in, they collapse before anything else does."

Naturally, these were only Chen Cha's thoughts. On the surface, she nodded slightly, signaling Ning Zhuo to continue.

Ning Zhuo said, "Every year during the Fire Persimmon Festival, there are casualties. So I wanted to design a Mechanical Creation to harvest Fire Persimmons."

"I named it the Fire Ape. I have already designed it, and only the final hurdle remains..."

Chen Cha was already growing impatient.

"Enough." Chen Cha waved her hand. "Bring it out and let me see it first."

Ning Zhuo then took the Mechanical Monkey out of his Storage Bag.

Chen Cha was slightly taken aback and could not help giving an inward gasp.

The Mechanical Fire Ape was covered from head to toe in a uniform red coat of monkey fur. Exquisite and gorgeous, it firmly seized Chen Cha's attention the moment it appeared.

Chen Cha was a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator and possessed divine sense.

She impatiently released her divine sense to inspect it.

The next moment, her brows nearly shot high into the air, though she fortunately forced them back down in time.

"This Mechanical Monkey is not simple!" Though her design ability was lacking, her discerning eye was sufficient. She immediately saw many extraordinary aspects of the Fire Ape.

Chen Cha reached out and stroked the Fire Ape's fur. It felt smooth and comfortable, and she praised it inwardly. "The stitching is seamless, as though it were one whole piece. Many talismans have been drawn along the fur lining, strengthening the fur's toughness. The workmanship is neat and the arrangement rigorous, comparable to a veteran tailor with years of experience."

She wanted to pick faults in it, but could find none.

She could only comment blandly, "The fundamentals of stitching this fur are passable, I suppose."

Ning Zhuo nodded, agreeing completely. "Mm! I used the traditional method of spiritual power embroidery. The material is Fire Velvet Rat hide. Rat hides are small, and the raw materials were too fragmented, so I could only use excessive thread to sew them together. There are indeed many flaws in this. The fire resistance along the seams has weakened greatly."

"Oh? You made it?" Chen Cha raised her eyes to look at Ning Zhuo, surprise arising in her heart.

Designing a mechanism did not mean one could manufacture a mechanism.

At such a young age, Ning Zhuo already possessed such fine craftsmanship?

"Perhaps this is where his strengths lie." As Chen Cha thought this, she continued scanning with her divine sense.

Her divine sense swept over the Mechanical Monkey's skeleton, and her heart stirred. "Sky Gold?"

"Sky Gold is light yet tough, and it possesses a certain spatial effect. Was it used for the skeletal material because you wanted storage capability?"

She continued looking.

"As expected." Chen Cha thought as she saw the array patterns on the skeleton.

"This is a storage array. It has been laid out quite fittingly, making full use of the skeleton and doing its utmost to compress the space occupied by the array."

"To compress an array to such an extent, the ability in Array Formation is quite remarkable!"

"After doing this, the Mechanical Monkey still retains room for upgrades. Its maker has a strong grasp of the bigger picture."

Chen Cha praised it inwardly. She raised her eyes to look at Ning Zhuo once more, then immediately fixed her gaze back on the Mechanical Monkey on the table.

There was nothing about the skeleton that she could criticize either.

Chen Cha considered for a moment before saying, "As for selecting Sky Gold, you merely followed the book without the slightest highlight. The array was adjusted a little. Such adjustments are all built upon the foundations laid by predecessors and are not worth mentioning."

Chen Cha had already prepared herself, waiting for Ning Zhuo to refute her indignantly.

Yet Ning Zhuo nodded and agreed deeply. "Actually, my first choice was Hollow Snail. If snail powder were mixed with a small amount of Iron Essence, melted together, then pressed, condensed, and shaped into a skeleton, its storage capacity would far surpass Sky Gold. Unfortunately, Hollow Snails are scarce in Fire Persimmon Immortal City."

Chen Cha froze for a moment, thinking, So he knows that too?

Hollow Snail paired with Iron Essence was indeed superior and could work better with Fire Velvet Rat hide.

Chen Cha coughed twice and gave Ning Zhuo a deep look, her tone calm. "It is good that you know."

She lowered her head and continued scanning with her divine sense.

She saw the Mechanical Monkey's muscles and guessed inwardly, "This entire body of muscle uses Soot Mud to further pile up its fire resistance?"

"No, not quite... Soot Mud should be the main ingredient, refined through Dharma Refinement into a new material."

"This... is probably an original creation."

"Did this young man before me make this too? What was his name again?"

"Ning Zhuo?"

Chen Cha could not help becoming somewhat doubtful.

Ning Zhuo was too young, yet he possessed such attainments in alchemy?

One had to know that being able to create a pill formula—even if not a complete pill formula, merely creating such a wholly new material—was already exceedingly rare.

Chen Cha suppressed her doubts and continued observing, sighing inwardly. "Leaving aside the material itself, the shaping work on this monkey's body is truly excellent."

"With this skill in shaping materials alone, its maker would be more than qualified to serve as the second hammer in an artifact-refining workshop. For crafting certain delicate magic artifacts, serving as the main hammer would not be impossible either."

By this point, Chen Cha could not help growing irritated.

This Mechanical Monkey was almost perfect. Even if she wanted to find flaws, she could not.

If she found no flaws, how was she supposed to expand this business?

Many, many people had sought her guidance before. Many had paid far more spirit stones than originally planned. That was because Chen Cha had pointed out more of their flaws, thereby guiding them to ask more questions.

Aside from complaining that her fees were expensive, those people had nothing else to complain about.

Because Chen Cha's guidance had indeed been correct and effective.

Chen Cha secretly gritted her teeth and continued looking.

She spread open the monkey's palm, and a glint immediately flashed through her eyes.

She clicked her tongue, praising it inwardly. "This palm is designed exquisitely."

"These miniature arrays are nested within one another, making the monkey's palm movements nimble and vivid, capable of performing quite complex finger movements."

"This method of combining arrays is quite novel, not a common combination at all. The one who formed these arrays is extraordinarily talented!"

"Did Ning Zhuo make this too?"

"Who is this fellow? A genius cultivator of the Ning Family's current generation? Why have I never heard of him?"

Chen Cha tried hard to maintain a composed expression, until her divine sense scanned the Mechanical Monkey's skull.

At this point, she finally could no longer conceal her surprise.

She discovered that the magic artifacts arranged inside the skull were actually three Strolling Pellets!

"Strolling Pellets were originally offensive magic artifacts that could be controlled remotely to change their flight direction. Yet now they have been modified to spin around one another inside the monkey's skull, serving as receivers for divine sense. This is the first time I have ever seen such a thing—unheard of!"

"Oh, and there are also many talismans carved into the monkey's brain to support it."

"This is an exceedingly excellent original creation!"

With a slight calculation, Chen Cha knew that this arrangement could succeed.

"Isn't this precisely the kind of inspiration and originality I lack?"

Sourness welled up in Chen Cha's heart, and she could not help asking Ning Zhuo, "How exactly did you come up with this idea?"

Ning Zhuo replied, "This junior modified the Strolling Pellets into divine sense receivers out of necessity. This Mechanical Fire Ape is meant to make money. If it were equipped with an array plate, the cost would be much higher. That is why I adopted this design."

"I always feel this is not the best solution. This design still contains undiscovered hidden dangers and unstable factors."

Chen Cha's eyes lit up.

"Cost!"

"Yes, without using an array plate, this Mechanical Monkey's cost is very low."

"Isn't this exactly the kind of outstanding mechanism I have been pursuing?"

"Given its performance, it will certainly sell like hotcakes on the market!"

"Wait..."

Chen Cha looked at Ning Zhuo and suddenly felt a little angry.

This Mechanical Creation had no flaws whatsoever, so what was he seeking her advice for?

What was this young man's intention in bringing it out to ask for guidance?

"Perhaps this genius deliberately did this to toy with me?"

After her anger came even more suspicion, flooding into her Heart Field.

"Was such an outstanding mechanism truly made by this young man before me?"

"If I had designed such a Mechanical Creation at such a young age, I would have long since raised my head high and proudly proclaimed it everywhere."

"This is proof of one's own ability. It is not something an ordinary person could create!"

"But is this young man not being a little too modest?"

"It was as though he lacked confidence, like the guilty unease of someone falsely claiming another person's work."