The Greatest Challenge Since the Founding of the Buzhou Alliance

Artisan Guo had at least not set his expectations too high. "Friends, being able to witness the contest between the Neutrino Industrial Union and Green Field City is already one of life's great fortunes! In a clash of ideals like this, don't take victory or defeat too seriously. The process is what matters more."

"Of course, forging an Epoch Masterpiece is also incredibly difficult. Look—the clothes worn by those artisans are all different. They should be artisans born in different eras."

"Let people from every era write their own history. Only when combined can they form a true Epoch Masterpiece!"

Mr. Cat narrowed his eyes. This old man really had sharp eyes; he had seen through Green Field City's methods at once.

Someone asked, "By that logic, doesn't Green Field City have over a hundred Artisan Masters capable of sensing and using 'fortune'?"

"Of course. That's merely basic training." Artisan Guo was speechless. "If they can't even sense fortune, would they go up there just to embarrass themselves? To stain an Epoch Masterpiece with a blemish?"

"Green Field City is way too powerful!"

Those flattering artisans had unknowingly buttered Mr. Cat up exactly where it counted. It felt so good that he could barely maintain his solemn expression, and he couldn't help letting out a "Meow."

This was the feeling!

I'm alive. This old cat is still alive!

Having said this much, Artisan Guo's desire to instruct others had been fully satisfied. He smiled faintly. "The fact that the Buzhou Alliance can produce an Epoch Masterpiece proves that the entire alliance's fortune is steadily rising. This is an utterly tremendous thing! That Neutrino Industrial Union is nothing to fear."

"Besides, the intellectual property from this forging process will be made public. Please observe to your heart's content, everyone. Don't miss this opportunity!"

The artisans all launched into heated discussion.

Could Green Field City really pull off something huge this time? Could Mythical Industrialization truly succeed?

Someone else asked, "Master Guo, those theorists claim that directly creating an Acquired Mythical has no cost-effectiveness. Otherwise, it would violate the conservation of energy."

Artisan Guo snorted coldly. "I don't know whether it's cost-effective or not. I only know they don't know shit about idealism!"

The artisans all cheered, and the venue became a noisy uproar.

Naturally, the soundproof glass blocked out the clamorous noise, so it would not disturb the contestants.

Still, such words could not normally be said so casually. Otherwise, they would spark another public opinion war of insults—every profession had its own circle. The purely idealist artisan industry and the half-idealist, half-materialist experts and scholars were competitors, so it was only natural that they disliked each other.

"So you support Green Field City defeating Neutrino?"

"Bullshit! Of course I support my own alliance!" Artisan Guo answered bluntly, lifting his chin.

Elsewhere, the Minotaurs had already begun offering their private congratulations. "Congratulations, Mr. Cat! Even if you can't achieve Mythical Industrialization, this has already been a bountiful harvest. Forging a Mythical Item will be more than enough."

Mr. Cat kept a stiff expression. He did not dare pop the champagne halfway through.

Because Lu Yuan was a walking calamity!

It was entirely possible that some enemy might suddenly appear halfway through the forging process!

Keep a low profile, keep a low profile!

Sea Snail Miss naturally did not need to force herself to smile inwardly while keeping a straight face like Mr. Cat.

She was a novice artisan now as well, and could understand a little. Forging the Future Mirror would take at least around two months, so there was no need to be too anxious.

"Qingqing, don't be nervous. Your Older Brother is still very powerful."

Lu Yuan's friends and family did not really understand any of it either. They had merely come to join in the excitement.

Just thinking about how the entire Buzhou Alliance had placed its hopes on Lu Yuan made the pressure unimaginably immense!

Lu Qingqing's face flushed red from holding herself back, terrified that something unexpected would happen midway through.

But Sea Snail Miss was much better at handling pressure. She first lounged around and played on her phone for a while. Whether within Green Field City or across the Buzhou Alliance, the wave of public opinion... had a heat index in the trillions!!

After glancing through it a few times, she felt somewhat speechless.

Because no matter how well Green Field City performed, the combined number of trolls was still an astonishing figure.

"There are always so many unpleasant people in this world..."

So she simply took her sister-in-law for a casual stroll through New Century Fortress.

The two of them ran into Professor Zhang Hui.

"Sea Snail Miss, Miss Lu, hello."

"Hello, Professor Zhang."

Over at the Human Alliance... they were working on a massive furnace. The constant clanging made it seem like things were not going too smoothly.

"What we're forging is an ultra-low-temperature reaction furnace..."

"In idealist reactions under ultra-low temperatures, many substances display better idealist properties. However, substances react slowly at low temperatures, whereas this reaction furnace we invented can increase the generation rate by more than tenfold."

This thing could only be considered passable, though it still had decent value.

But in a setting like this, it was somewhat unimpressive, because there were many substitute technologies available.

The Human Alliance's preparations were insufficient, and their artisans were not strong enough either.

Of course, passing the preliminaries still meant they had achieved their basic goal. Any higher placement would be a gain.

Lu Qingqing remarked, "Even though I'm not an artisan, I can still sense the subtle fortune around Green Field City. How should I put it... it's like an atmosphere. In a place with lots of people, the moment you enter, it feels lively and bustling; while in a place with few people, like a graveyard, you can't help falling silent the moment you enter."

"So what is Green Field City's atmosphere like?"

Lu Qingqing thought for a moment. "It feels like riding the wind and breaking through the waves!"

Sea Snail Miss could not help but laugh, then took her to stroll around the other forging sites.

The Northern Alliance was indeed somewhat superior to the Human Alliance. They were forging several newly invented fields.

"Our Northern Alliance was the first to benefit from Field Industrialization, so naturally we must carry this path forward."

"The finest research of recent years is, of course, the Artisan Field!" introduced an artisan from the Dwarf Civilization. "It is a variant of the Enlightenment Field. Lifeforms with higher Spirit Attributes can activate a small amount of Bloodline Power within the field, gaining entry-level artisan aptitude."

"Its effects are slightly inferior to those of the Enlightenment Field, but it is much easier to forge and far more scalable."

Sea Snail Miss said with a smile, "If you truly manage to invent it, your ranking will definitely be quite high!"

The Artisan Field was something capable of setting off an era-defining tide.

In previous competitions, it would have been more than enough for the top three, and even first place would not have been impossible!

Unfortunately, the competition this time was too fierce. Even the Artisan Field had only a handful of observers.

"Our Northern Alliance artisans are indeed quite capable." Sea Snail Miss was a little proud.

"Hello, Sea Snail Miss." The dwarf outsider Rock Fist Shen Lu walked over, still somewhat dissatisfied. "But there are still too few Grandmaster Artisans at the highest level... or rather, none at all."

"There will be. Very soon."

"You mean the Grandmaster Artisans over in Green Field City?"

"Yes. Green Field City will always be part of the Northern Alliance." Sea Snail Miss smiled.

At this point, the Northern Alliance artisans all became somewhat distracted.

If the Epoch Masterpiece reached mythic grade, how many Grandmaster Artisans would be born from it?

They wanted to hurry up and finish their work so they could rush over to witness the legendary Epoch Masterpiece—they had never seen a mythic-grade creation come into being.

Seeing how restless they were, Rock Fist Shen Lu could not help but scold them. "Even if it is an Epoch Masterpiece, only a few lead creators will count as Grandmaster Artisans and be acknowledged by Pangu Continent."

"Do more than a hundred assistants think they can become Grandmaster Artisans too?"

"But if this wave really succeeds, Green Field City will have no trouble producing five Grandmaster Artisans."

As soon as he said that, he nearly startled himself.

Five Grandmaster Artisans born in a single day—how many such opportunities had there been, even across an entire era and all civilizations combined?

Even he wanted to run over and watch, but he could only tearfully persuade himself, "This is for the civilization competition!"

"Don't be half-hearted. If something goes wrong, there'll be no way to answer to your civilization!"

Only after much coaxing and persuasion did he finally suppress their restless thoughts.

Sea Snail Miss smiled and bade them farewell.

A few steps farther ahead was the site of the Neutrino Industrial Union, which was likewise surrounded by spectators.

Yet everyone was silent, holding their breath.

The atmosphere was unexpectedly a little oppressive.

Sea Snail Miss spotted some old acquaintances again—the Lizardmen of the Lize Civilization—and greeted them.

"They've created something incredible." Taduo held his breath. "Artificial intelligence!"

"And it possesses psyche-based productivity."

Sea Snail Miss saw something resembling a giant slime—a complex robot made of liquid metal.

Artisans from the Xingyao Civilization were attaching components to it.

Artificial intelligence itself was actually quite commonplace. Every major civilization had conducted at least some research into it.

What everyone currently used was basically weak artificial intelligence.

It only excelled at work in a particular field; switching to another field generally required a complete redesign.

As for the legendary strong artificial intelligence, it involved the iterative advancement of intelligence. That might be Level Seven Civilization technology, so no civilization had thought of reaching the sky in a single step.

Yet this giant creation of the Neutrino Industrial Union had actually developed psyche-based productivity. That was a truly epoch-making event.

Taduo said in a low voice, "Psyche-based productivity was originally unique to intelligent life... but now they've actually broken the boundary of life?!"

"Think about it. If this kind of robot could be widely adopted, most psyche-based work could be replaced. Engraving, artisanship, Plant Affinity, Animal Affinity—everything could be replaced by robots! Psyche-based productivity would directly expand tenfold, perhaps even a hundredfold!"

The prospect was indeed terrifying, leaving everyone exclaiming in astonishment.

In the past, robots could only perform relatively rigid tasks such as "monitoring" and "appraisal." Any work involving creativity required the participation of intelligent life.

But that was no longer the case.

This new creation was called the Spirit-Core Psyche Robot. It could carry out the simplest engraving creation work, producing engravings such as "Reinforcement" and "Temperature Control."

In certain mechanized assembly-line fields, how could humans possibly compare to machines?

Even an epoch-making path like Field Industrialization was directly overshadowed.

If Spirit-Core Psyche Robots developed to a sufficient level and caused an explosive boom in productivity, who would still need Field Industrialization?

"No, there must be some sort of limitation. For example, perhaps they can only perform low-level psyche-based work; or perhaps these robots are extremely costly to manufacture." Some artisans discussed the matter gloomily.

"Otherwise, would the Neutrino Alliance still be a Level Five alliance? They'd have reached Level Six or Seven long ago!"

But no matter what, robots with psyche-based production capacity were indeed an unprecedented development!

Even if there were currently some constraints, so what?

This was a brand-new path in itself. A few bumps and muddy patches were only normal.

People began to grow curious about the claim that "the Aether Spirit-Core Network was endorsed by the Gear Civilization." Could it really have been created by a Level Seven Civilization?

Just like that, fierce public debate erupted in the Kuxi Great Desert.

The artisans were utterly fervent over the emergence of an Epoch Masterpiece. The months-long forging process had practically become the finest teaching session imaginable.

Meanwhile, the war of public opinion between theorists and artisans continued round after round.

In the first month, the Spirit-Core Psyche Robot of the Neutrino Industrial Union was completed—though "assembled" might have been a more accurate term.

After all, most of its materials were finished products, and only a small number of steps required on-site processing by artisans.

"Hello, friends. I am Yan Ri of the Xingyao Civilization. I'll be introducing this groundbreaking new product."

"As everyone knows, the technical difficulty of this assembly process is not particularly high, so I won't presume to lecture the experts."

"The primary raw material, 'spirit-core mechanical fluid,' was produced by the industrial base in the rear. We will disclose the complete formula in accordance with the rules of the Artisan Competition."

"As for the various functions of the Spirit-Core Psyche Robot, all friends are welcome to experience them for yourselves!"

Green Field City was naturally paying the closest attention to this. Before long, the relevant scientists downloaded the paper, which disclosed the formula and various parameters of the psyche robot, and began studying it in detail.

"Well?" the Immortal Palace Aberrants asked with concern.

Streams of data flashed through Old Cat's eyes. He froze for a moment before saying with some emotion, "It's impressive—no, extraordinarily impressive! Once this project is widely adopted, it could practically control every civilization."

"This spirit-core mechanical fluid is a variant of nanorobots."

"Producing nanorobots is extremely difficult. Even the best Lithography Machine can only be used to manufacture chips. Creating more complex nanorobots is far, far too difficult."

"So the Neutrino Industrial Union used another method: biological cells to manufacture nanorobots."

"Biological cells..."

"Yes. Cells are the best microscopic factories!"

"The extraordinary species of Pangu Continent possess vigorous vitality, and their cells are exceptionally powerful as well. The Neutrino Alliance has cultivated many varieties of biological cell factories specifically for producing nanorobots."

"Since these nanorobots are products of cells, they also carry a trace of psyche-based properties."

Hearing this, the Aberrants all exclaimed in amazement. Although biotechnology had always been a research priority, it was simply too complicated and too difficult.

Now that nanorobots had truly been produced using cells, it felt almost fantastical—were Level Five Civilizations really this formidable? They could scarcely imagine it.

Old Cat narrowed his eyes and said, "The Neutrino Union is willing to sell these biological reaction vessels externally, but naturally, they won't say much about the specific principles behind them."

That was perfectly normal. The disclosure of intellectual property was limited to the manufacturing principles of the spirit-core robots.

The fact that they had now made its underlying principles public was already quite commendable.

As for the foundations beneath those foundations, there was no mandatory requirement to reveal them.

After all, even for a fully public technology like Field Industrialization, there were many psyche-based processes that could not be explained.

They couldn't possibly start with the creation of heaven and earth, could they?

The turtlefolk of the Turtle Civilization grew increasingly alarmed as they read the reference materials. "What an enormous undertaking. Based on this manufacturing principle, it will be exceedingly difficult for other civilizations to copy it. Because the real key lies in the cell factories. Those things are incredibly complex and impossible to replicate."

"As long as they control the cell factories, it is equivalent to controlling all means of production!"

"Over time, the Buzhou Alliance's voice will be completely taken away."

This was undoubtedly the greatest challenge the Buzhou Alliance had faced since its founding!

The great tides of the world surged onward, vast and unstoppable. No one could stand in their way.