Lowering Artifact Crafting Costs
Looking at the Azure Sand Level 1 (0/10) on the Feather Scroll, Zhang Yu couldn't help but sigh at the long road ahead of him in weapon crafting.
However, the next moment, a chill accompanied by the Ritual Power surged in his heart, reminding him to continue his efforts and interrupting his inner sighs.
Zhang Yu immediately suppressed his distracting thoughts and began the second refining of the Azure Sand.
"Buying the Copyright and renting the lab and equipment cost me nearly 1 Spirit Coin. How could that be enough for just one refinement?"
Zhang Yu checked the time. The first time he refined the Azure Sand, it took about 20 minutes, and he had rented the laboratory and equipment for a total of 6 hours!
Keep practicing.
Zhang Yu immediately gathered his Gang Qi and swept it towards the materials beside him!
This time, Zhang Yu's movements were much more skillful, with bursts of Gang Qi surging forth as he manipulated the materials and tools.
Zhang Yu felt that the refining process of this Azure Sand was quite similar to his usual Cultivation Method!
Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single thing, not a single wonder, not a single novel to read!
He simply used the raw materials in front of him as his physical body, and used various Immortal Dao Technique to modify them, ultimately achieving the desired Immortal Dao effects!
The process of improvement is like the more you practice Cultivation Method, the stronger its effects become!
The higher the level of refinement of the Azure Sand, the better the finished product will be!
Ye Xingli watched as Zhang Yu began refining the Azure Sand for the second time. At first, she didn't think much of it, but suddenly she frowned slightly and said, "Isn't the amount of ore a little too little?"
Ye Xingli advised against it, saying, "The amount of ore is different, so the subsequent steps, including the use of Gang Qi and magic, Li Fire Furnace, will all be different!"
Beginners should stick to the standard portions. Once you've improved your skills, you can then consider adjusting the quantities yourself!
Zhang Yu naturally did not accept Ye Xingli's suggestion!
Seeing that Zhang Yu wouldn't listen to reason, Ye Xingli shook her head and didn't try to persuade him further. She thought to herself, "This kid!! His talent for weapon crafting is mediocre, but his temper is incredibly stubborn!"
But Ye Xingli wasn't surprised; beginners are often like that!
Newcomers who have already achieved remarkable success in other fields are often full of confidence, but they often have to stumble a few times in the field of weapon crafting before they learn to be down-to-earth!
Ye Xingli watched as Zhang Yu continued refining the small batch of Azure Sand. In the end, only about half of the material was successfully refined, while the other half was ruined!
Ye Xingli shook her head vigorously, thinking that Zhang Yu should understand now!
Zhang Yu, however, looked at the Azure Sand Level 1 (1/10) on the Feather Scroll and nodded secretly. "As expected, even after the weight change, it can still be counted as one!"
Zhang Yu decided to continue reducing the share to see how much material he could reduce it to while still keeping Feather Scroll effective!
"In this way, I can further reduce the cost of my weapon-refining cultivation!"
Thinking of this, Zhang Yu looked at Ye Xingli beside him and asked, "Senior, I only need to refine Azure Sand, so I don't need anything else in this lab. Do you need to use it?"
Ye Xingli was also tempted upon hearing this!
It wasn't that she was trying to save money or the lab rental fee; after all, those Spirit Coin were nothing to her!
Instead, she stood aside watching Zhang Yu. Since she was just idling around anyway, she figured she might as well make the most of her time and do something of her own!
A few Spirit Coin are unimportant to her, but a few extra hours of study and cultivation time are very important to her!
Ye Xingli nodded. "I've been adjusting my Dharma Skeleton recently, so I can definitely use the equipment here!"
The lab rent won't be cheap for you; we can split it. If you have any questions about weapon crafting, feel free to ask me anytime!
Zhang Yu watched as Ye Xingli disassembled her right arm, manipulated the Arm Skeleton with her Gang Qi energy, and then placed it on a nearby instrument, observing the data while injecting Special Magical Power into it!
Zhang Yu thought to himself, "The things I'm currently refining are all too simple. It's too wasteful for me to use a lab all by myself. If I could rent a lab with someone else and split the rent, that would be great."
"That saves me some Spirit Coin!"
Since successfully refining his first Azure Sand, Zhang Yu has been pondering how to consume fewer Spirit Coin to advance his weapon-refining journey!
If we can still sell the Azure Sand, we might be able to make a profit?
"No, I'm afraid we won't make any money; at best, we can only break even!"
But Zhang Yu quickly dismissed the idea. Zhang Yu knew that many companies and factories had already reached the point of mass production and assembly line production of such basic materials Azure Sand!
Not only are our costs lower than his, but our average quality is also higher. If he wants to sell Azure Sand, he'll probably have to sell it at a loss to make a profit. And if he wants to mass-produce it, it's simply impossible for me with my current conditions!
Zhang Yu knew that whether it was Law Treasure or Dharma Skeleton, the process of personally refining each one was completely different from mass production on an assembly line!
"If you want to set up mass production lines, you either have to buy them or build them yourself!"
"The former requires a large amount of capital, while the latter requires much less capital but demands highly advanced weapon-refining techniques! Clearly, Zhang Yu does not meet either of these requirements at the moment!"
"Right now, I should focus on building a solid foundation and improving my weapon crafting skills!"
Next, Zhang Yu continued to adjust the amount of materials and experiment with refining the Azure Sand!
Finally, he discovered that as long as the amount of materials used was more than one-tenth, each time the crafting was completed, the number of times the Feather Scroll could be completed would increase by 1!
He thought to himself with delight, "Great! This way, I can reduce the cost of practice materials to 10%!"
After trying to adjust the quantity, Zhang Yu decided to make adjustments to the movements and time to see if he could further shorten the time spent refining the Azure Sand each time!
After all, Zhang Yu understood that using the Specialization abilities of the Feather Scroll for cultivation was logically different from other forms of daily cultivation!
"Just like his previous Cultivation Method, as long as he completed a full cycle, the number of cycles would increase by 1, eventually raising the level of the Cultivation Method step by step!"
As for the process of practicing the Cultivation Method, his movements and quality can be modified and reduced to a certain extent, as long as they are kept within a certain range!
Zhang Yu has also been using this method to accelerate his cultivation of the Cultivation Method!
Of course, this function of the Feather Scroll is not without its flaws!
For example, once any Cultivation Method is switched to the Feather Scroll Specialization, it needs to be improved by continuously practicing from Level 1!
Therefore, even if Zhang Yu has already practiced a large number of similar Martial Arts, such as various Body Refining Cultivation Method and body-protecting methods, if he were to practice another similar Cultivation Method, he would not have any immediate and comprehensive effect. He would still need to start from Level 0 and accumulate the number of repetitions to level up!
He viewed the art of weapon crafting in the same light!
"You also need to practice repeatedly to advance your level!"
"But the quality and time spent on practice should both be compressible!"
My cultivation logic is completely different from that of ordinary people Cultivation Method or practice weapon crafting skills!
As Zhang Yu adjusted the refining process of the Azure Sand time and time again, Ye Xingli would observe from time to time, and the more she watched, the more speechless she became!
"Zhang Yu... what a mess he's made of!"
"Not only do they save on materials, but they also arbitrarily adjust the movements themselves."
And time?
Ye Xingli knew that since the Ten Great Sects summarized and integrated the cultivation of Immortal Dao, everything had been standardized and digitized. Now, all aspects of Immortal Dao Technique had already been systematically designed!
The same applies to weapon crafting!
Unlike in the past, when each sect and school was like a workshop, and even the Law Treasure they produced only had a rough classification of major realms, without detailed differences in level!
The current evaluation system and crafting process for Law Treasure are already incredibly sophisticated!
If cultivators want to improve their weapon-refining skills and create higher-level Law Treasure, they need to continuously learn and then engage in high-quality practice!
"Zhang Yu, you can't keep practicing like this!"
Ye Xingli couldn't help but remind her, "If you want to save on practice costs, there are more formal, standardized methods. You don't need to do it this way!"
"For example, you can sell the Azure Sand you refine to recoup some of your costs!"
After all, Azure Sand is a basic material needed in the refining of many Law Treasure, and many teachers and students in the Artifact Crafting Department collect it!
"You can also practice using Simulation Lab in the Spirit Realm, which is much cheaper than practicing with physical objects!"
Zhang Yu was certainly aware of the cost-saving methods Ye Xingrui had mentioned! But judging from the current effectiveness of his cost-cutting efforts, he felt he could reduce costs even further than the Simulation Lab, while still obtaining a portion of the finished Azure Sand products!
Ye Xingli, of course, had no idea what Zhang Yu was thinking; she simply went on to introduce other ways to reduce costs!
"It's not just simple products like Azure Sand that can be used for practice at a lower cost!"
"The same applies to more advanced magical Law Treasure. Besides the Simulation Lab, you can also use cheaper materials to replace them and practice by producing inferior versions!"
"And for more advanced Law Treasure, after the first forging, the level of the forging technique can be improved through repeated maintenance, adjustments, and enhancements, which also reduces the cost significantly!"
Like my master's Nine Heavens Primordial Sun Pagoda, which was refined, repaired, and strengthened time and time again Magic Treasure Level was upgraded from Level 31 to Level 40!
During this process, Master's weapon-refining skills also greatly improved, and the manufacturing technology of the Nine Heavens Primordial Sun Pagoda reached Level 40!
Zhang Yu knew that the so-called Nine Heavens Primordial Sun Pagoda's manufacturing technology reaching Level 40 meant that, under the condition that the materials and production environment were complete, Magnetic Extremes True Lord Monarch could directly manufacture the Nine Heavens Primordial Sun Pagoda, Magic Treasure Level of Level 40!
But just from the name, this thing sounds expensive, and it must take a lot of work to make!
Zhang Yu thought to himself, "Unless someone offers a high price, Magnetic Extremes True Lord probably won't easily produce a second one!"
Ye Xingli actually had another important way to save money that she didn't mention, which was to participate in the school's weapon-refining project, use the project funds to buy materials, rent venues, and purchase equipment, thereby improving her weapon-refining skills!
After all, the weapon crafting industry is extremely expensive. Even though Ye Xingli is already very wealthy, she always feels that she doesn't have enough money, and her weapon crafting budget is always being exceeded!
Therefore, top students in the Artifact Crafting Department like her have participated in various weapon crafting projects. In her opinion, asking for funding is an essential skill for weapon crafting experts, and one that cannot be ignored!
However, Zhang Yu was only a beginner in the Civil Engineering Department, and these things were still too far away for her, so she simply didn't say anything!
Just as Ye Xingli was advising Zhang Yu, Zhang Yu finally completed another round of refining Azure Sand!
Azure Sand Level 2 (0/20)!