Preparing to Act

After a round of sweeping on Garbage Day, the tense atmosphere in the Landfill Area gradually eased. The Cross Sword Guild seemed to have given up, and the lackeys who had practically surrounded Feng Xue's original residence were significantly fewer.

However, Feng Xue knew very well that this didn't mean the Cross Sword Guild had given up. Instead, they were adopting a more covert search strategy, such as having Appraisers wander the streets with their professions and Tags hidden.

Feng Xue discovered this when he coincidentally met the Appraiser he'd seen before and noticed he wasn't wearing a Tag above his head.

But this wasn't a major issue for Feng Xue, as he planned to go into seclusion to forge artifacts during this time.

"Finished reading!" Feng Xue raised an eyebrow as he looked at the Butian Ge Secret Manual Chen Xiyao handed back.

"Learned it?"

"Mhm, do you really not have any similar Mathematics textbooks?" Chen Xiyao asked somewhat unwillingly. Although it was more troublesome than the CD that would play a sound effect and teach a Skill just by being held above one's head, even if it required reading it once to learn, it was still powerful.

"I really don't," Feng Xue shook his head, but he didn't immediately roll up the Butian Ge Secret Manual. Instead, he said, "Make a copy of this Secret Manual, mainly the latter part, and preserve the original format as much as possible, understand?"

"The latter part... those incomplete fragments that are impossible to even read?" Although Feng Xue said he only needed to look at the general principles, how could Chen Xiyao not have flipped through it?

It was just that apart from the general principles, the Butian Ge Secret Manual was incomplete. It was good if about ten percent of the text in the latter part was understandable.

"This Secret Manual itself is illustrated. Your Astronomy foundation is too weak, so you can't understand it. Copy the content down according to the format. When you go back, you can combine it with external astronomical knowledge and try to complete it. Then you'll have the complete Secret Manual."

"I can really go back?" Chen Xiyao wasn't asking this question for the first time, but this time, she had a little more confidence.

"Mhm, the Cross Sword Guild deliberately lowered their Defense a bit to find you. But this is also an Opportunity. We'll go in with the Mist Field activated. As long as you can touch that Gate, you can go back."

Feng Xue stated expressionlessly, as if he were just talking about something trivial. Meanwhile, he was constantly dismantling cards, then taking out pages, or creating strange Phantoms, or constantly increasing the stakes until the pages collapsed into a black sphere.

And when useless Phantoms accumulated to a certain number, he would take out that Unspeakable Rod-shaped Object from his pocket and mete out the harshest heavenly punishment upon them--

This was a method of recycling Phantoms he had recently discovered by accident. As long as a Phantom with sufficient destructive power was used to destroy them, the Phantoms would lose their non-smeltable function. After smelting the residue, there was a chance to recover some Elements.

As for how he discovered it...

Well, it started yesterday when he had just returned and, after creating a "True·Unspeakable Rod," lost control of his emotions and grabbed a crowbar to smash it down.

In short, although doing this was quite wasteful, it was at least a way to cut losses.

Feng Xue's indifferent attitude actually put Chen Xiyao at ease. Without any further ado, she immediately picked out five pages with the fewest characters and began to trace and copy them. Most of the paper used for pirated books wasn't very good, but it was correspondingly thin and translucent, which was an advantage for tracing incomplete fragments. Chen Xiyao continuously traced the legible characters on the fragments with a charcoal pencil, then used black and white space to represent the parts stained by dirt or blurred by water stains.

At this moment, for the first time in her life, Chen Xiyao was grateful for the traditional Chinese painting classes her parents had enrolled her in when she was young. Although her skill level was average, she could at least depict some of the "artistic conception" of the "illustrations" in the Secret Manual at this time.

Even if it was very little, it was still better than nothing.

"Damn it, I knew I should have stolen my phone! If I had a camera now, it would be better than anything!" Chen Xiyao couldn't help but complain inwardly. But then she collected her thoughts again, trying her best to appreciate the shapes of the incomplete pages. The initial positive emotions from her transmigration had long since faded. Now, her eyes would redden just thinking about home.

"Huh?!"

Just as Chen Xiyao was about to secretly wipe away tears, a strange sound immediately shifted her attention.

She had heard this sound many times these past few days. Without a second thought, it must be that guy creating something strange again.

She wondered what it was this time?

Chen Xiyao turned her head, but instead of the strange toys that had made her blush or feel embarrassed in the past, she saw...

A mirror?

No, it didn't seem right either, more like a lens...

"What is this?" Chen Xiyao was accustomed to speaking her mind. Seeing that it wasn't anything strange, she immediately asked curiously. However, Feng Xue's expression was very strange. He merely raised his hand and put the mirror into his Storage Bag, without giving a direct answer, just perfunctorily saying, "It's a useless thing."

"Fine if you won't say," Chen Xiyao pouted at this and bent down again to copy the Butian Ge. Feng Xue, meanwhile, temporarily suppressed the thought of having created something strange and gathered his previous inspiration.

He realized he seemed to have put together some incredible combo...

"No, an item like this, which seems like a comedian, might not have that strong a function. I still need to test it." Feng Xue made up his mind. Tonight, he would use those Omens to test its capabilities. Then, he took out items one by one and continued his reforging work.

This continued for a full three days, until Feng Xue had converted over eight hundred pages into Phantoms, [Knowledge], and black spheres. Only then did he finally stop this tedious yet surprising work.

Honestly, Feng Xue felt that reforging was quite similar to gacha pulls in mobile games or loot box openings in online games. If you had very few draw tickets, every pull was filled with tension and surprise. But if you were determined to open hundreds of boxes and make thousands of pulls, then apart from the moment of getting the item, the rest was just calm indifference.

Not to mention that Feng Xue's opening process couldn't be skipped with one click. After three consecutive days of this, he felt numb. But when he finally lined up the dozen or so Phantoms he had kept, he suddenly realized, "Whoa! When did I accumulate so many?!"

However, perhaps limited by the base material, or due to the composition of the Elements, the effects of this batch of Phantoms were all rather awkward. It wasn't that they were completely useless, but none of them could be described as eye-catching.

"But it's enough!" Feng Xue reviewed his plan again, confirmed there were no problems, and finally stood up and said to Chen Xiyao, "Are you ready? Tonight, I'll send you home."