Lu Yuan said softly, "If I focused solely on avoiding risks, I'd never be able to cross Pangu Continent and return home."
"Everyone mocks the Meida Civilization, but who isn't part of the Meida Civilization?"
Old Wolf lay leisurely on the ground, watching his master sink into faint melancholy...
He was carefree, after all.
He was an old wolf with an overwhelming will to survive, who only wanted to chase pretty girls.
Still, if his master wanted to do something dangerous, he would not object too much. After all, he did not understand it anyway.
Lu Yuan lay down beside him and rubbed the dog's head.
Whether it was human life or a dog's life, that was simply how it went. One had to get used to life's setbacks...
No matter the circumstances, a person's fate was always in their own hands.
As he thought this, a faint spark of inspiration suddenly arose in his heart.
He had no idea where it came from. It was as though a warm current climbed up his spine and completely filled his mind!
It felt as if something had blocked up his mind, demanding to be unleashed somehow!
Lu Yuan took a deep breath. "What a strange feeling. What's happening?"
He rubbed his temples with his fingers. When he opened his eyes again, everything in his field of vision had become exceptionally clear!
Unable to make sense of it for the moment, he quickly appraised himself and discovered that he had gained a positive buff.
Inspiration Outburst: Due to the pressures of life, you are currently in a state of explosive inspiration. Hurry and craft a piece of equipment! You have nearly a 100% chance of making a decent piece of equipment!
It was difficult to describe the feeling of inspiration overflowing from him. It was as though all his nerve endings had grown outside his brain and connected with everything in the universe... Everything in the world seemed to possess something like a beating pulse.
Lu Yuan was speechless. He remembered a talent he had acquired a few days ago: "Artisan Talent."
Artisan Talent: Your spatial imagination is greatly enhanced, and you can use any tool with ease. Occasionally, inspiration will erupt, allowing you to find a trace of order within the endless supernatural world.
He had never known what this so-called "eruption of inspiration" actually meant.
Now... he finally understood!
So he was a "Collapse Artist." As long as he was under tremendous pressure, he could produce inspiration!
"Am I really that kind of person?" Lu Yuan was both shocked and delighted.
But he did not have much good Extraordinary Material left. Fire Lizard hide, King Snake's Shed Skin, and Black Iron Mine were all inferior Natural Oddities.
The King Snake's Shed Skin had not yet been tanned, and the Black Iron Mine had not been smelted.
Only the Fire Lizard hide was usable.
"Old Wolf, guard the entrance. If anything happens, call for me immediately."
"Awo?!"
He took a deep breath, lit an oil lamp, sat by the table, and focused most of his attention on the leather.
Then he took out Daedalus' Sewing Tools.
He could sense the leather's "veins" and "heartbeat"!
The sensation was strange. Most of those "veins" were chaotic, affecting and cancelling one another out.
If he wanted to activate the leather's innate abilities, he had to sort them out.
And Lu Yuan's spark of inspiration lay in organizing those veins.
A faint glow bloomed from his fingers. It was the ironing of Extraordinary Tinder, and also a necessary process for reactivating the abilities.
Immersed in that inspired state, the originally intangible veins suddenly became traceable.
He completely forgot the passage of time, forgot the danger.
He became utterly engrossed, unable to pull himself free.
His fingers were rough, his joints and palms covered in calluses, yet they were extraordinarily nimble. Every needle and thread passed between the "veins," trying not to damage their original properties.
This was something traditional industry could never achieve.
After a whole night, Lu Yuan had sewn a pair of trousers, a fur coat, and a pair of shoes.
That wondrous burst of inspiration also left him completely, as if he had fallen from Sky Palace back into the mortal world. He could no longer sense those veins.
Lu Yuan came back to himself. His boiling mind gradually calmed, and though he was somewhat exhausted, he was immensely excited!
Lu Yuan's Fire Lizard Set, Inferior Grade · Artificial Extraordinary Item (+++) An artificial oddity created by sewing master Lu Yuan, containing Lu Yuan's inspiration and painstaking effort. It had to be admitted that the terrible leather-tanning technique had held this item back. This equipment can resonate with your Extraordinary Tinder, thereby activating its innate abilities. Ability 1: High Temperature Resistance. This set can briefly withstand temperatures of at least 2,000 degrees Celsius and has excellent heat insulation. Ability 2: Sturdy. It is far tougher than ordinary leather, with greatly enhanced durability.
"Now this is real equipment! What the hell were all those previous pieces of junk?"
Excitedly, he put the entire set on and looked himself over in the mirror.
An ancient yet luxurious noble air washed over him. It was reddish-brown, with beautiful patterns, soft luster, and a faintly profound Eastern charm. During the Yellow Emperor era of Great Xia Civilization, people admired tigers and leopards, stripping their hides to make "pullover garments." During the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties, leather clothing could not be worn casually; it was mainly used to make armor, combat boots, and other military gear.
The set Lu Yuan had made was combat clothing, flexible and lightweight.
With a slight activation of his Extraordinary Tinder, the equipment resonated with it and turned dark red, activating both High Temperature Resistance and Sturdy.
The clothes and trousers he had sewn before were like ugly ducklings standing before a white swan.
The leather's innate abilities had been brought out almost to their fullest extent.
After all, the leather itself was only of inferior quality. Trying to surpass its limits was simply far too difficult.
Furthermore, Lu Yuan's own supernatural knowledge was still lacking. Even with inspiration overflowing from him, knowledge remained important.
Just like the mathematical genius Ramanujan, who still had to study further at the University of Cambridge to better unleash his own talent.
Without a vast amount of knowledge, this was as far as he could take the equipment.
Lu Yuan stretched, washed his face beside the water barrel, and felt like he had gone mad. This was clearly a dangerous environment, yet he had spent the entire night crafting equipment with complete focus and no distractions!
Only a pack of wolves had been guarding him!
But he was incredibly excited, happy beyond measure.
Like someone seeing their beloved, he admired his creation again and again.
The prefix "Lu Yuan's" filled him with an inexplicable sense of pride.
Even if someone else obtained this set of equipment and appraised it, it would still bear the name "Lu Yuan's."
This was the Naming Right!
When he had created it, Lu Yuan had already known about the Naming Right. It seemed to be some unseen Willpower Rule.
Back then, he could have chosen to give up the Naming Right—but what artist would abandon their own child?
The (+++) above should be a marker of increased rank.
Among inferior-grade items, it was almost at the highest level.
Without supernatural inspiration, it would be nearly impossible for Lu Yuan to make another identical set.
"Looks like the Artisan Talent really is an awesome talent!"
"But with another set of equipment, can I beat the Donkey-Head Monster?"
"I'll die. I need more!"
"Give me strength, give me inspiration! I'm about to take part in a battle that cannot possibly be won." Lu Yuan frantically manipulated himself, hoping to become a Collapse Artist once more.
But in reality, he was far too delighted. No matter how much he tried to suggest it to himself, he could not produce even a hint of inspiration. In the end, he could only sigh awkwardly. "The most helpless thing in the world is pursuing something you can never obtain."
"The more you act like a simp, the less you get."
After crafting this equipment, Lu Yuan was quite satisfied with the gains from this expedition.
He first slept for a few hours, then chatted with the humans for several minutes, discussing his experience making equipment.
Afterward, he patrolled the surrounding area while thinking about the battle that might come next.
He had already used up his Spider Venom Gland. All he had left was a bottle of vegetable oil that had been soaked with the venom gland.
That bottle of oil still retained some Spider Venom.
Smearing it on a dagger would make for a powerful weapon.
"But whether the venom will work on the Donkey-Head Monster is a big question. That thing's flesh is rotten to begin with."
Additionally, he had the Fire Lizard's Fuel Crystal. This thing could generate intense heat, reaching up to 3,000 degrees Celsius.
Lu Yuan looked at the equipment with its High Temperature Resistance ability and fell into thought.
Because of the inadequate tanning method, the leather had dropped from ordinary grade to inferior grade, and its High Temperature Resistance could only withstand roughly 2,000 degrees Celsius.
Furthermore, that protection was only temporary, not unlimited.
No matter how good its insulation was, heat would eventually transfer through.
Under these limitations, several simple ideas emerged in his mind.
"Should I use fire?"
Perhaps because of psychological factors, the quiet City Ruins seemed even more silent now. Only the rustling sound of footsteps could be heard.
In the season of early spring, all sorts of insects had crawled out, nest after nest, making him feel somewhat irritated.
"Awo!" Old Wolf suddenly let out a roar and darted toward the corner of a collapsed house.
With his neck stretched forward and hind legs braced, he sniffed around the air.
"What is it?"
Lu Yuan also stretched out his neck and sniffed for a long while.
Though he was a Level 2 Extraordinary Creature, his sense of smell was still inferior to that of Level 0 Old Wolf.
He directed the energy of his Extraordinary Tinder to the tip of his nose, temporarily strengthening his sense of smell.
At once, the scents of the entire world seemed to become colorful.
Having an overly powerful sense of smell was not necessarily a good thing. It meant being able to smell all kinds of natural stench produced by nature.
For example, the dog in front of him was quietly relieving himself in the corner. The stench, amplified a hundredfold, immediately made Lu Yuan dizzy. He instinctively kicked the dog that was in the middle of peeing away.
But gradually, Lu Yuan's heart sank...
He smelled a faint odor of decay, very distinctive and obvious.
The other odors were fresh, while this decaying stench was like aged cured meat mixed among them, like a streak of black amid a riot of colors!
As long as he concentrated on distinguishing it, he could still smell it.
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