Immortals Stuck in Their Ways

"Which immortal friend has come to visit? Ban Shu failed to welcome you from afar. Please forgive the discourtesy!" As the voice fell silent, a middle-aged man with a face full of Beard appeared before Shen Bing.

He had none of an immortal's ethereal bearing. He looked more like a craftsman who did odd jobs.

Weathered eyes, a face full of Beard, broad, rough hands...

This was Craftsman God Lu Ban, no question.

"I am Mist-Ethereal Adept. Greetings, Immortal Friend Ban Shu. I heard an edict from the Jade Emperor has been giving you a headache lately, so I came to help you find a solution."

"Oh?" The weathered man's face lit up. "Your timing is perfect, Adept! Tell me, how do I make an Immortal Carriage that moves on its own?"

"Uh..." Shen Bing suddenly remembered the Mechanism Beasts he had seen earlier, and most of his confidence vanished.

This man could build monsters that huge. How could he possibly be unable to make an Immortal Carriage move on its own? Was there some obstacle Shen Bing hadn't thought of?

If so, he was out of luck.

"Why don't we start with the problem you're having?"

Lu Ban suspected nothing and said miserably, "Look at the Divine Puppets, Mechanism Beasts, and Mechanism Birds I've made. They can travel a thousand miles in an instant, and even ordinary Heavenly Soldiers and Generals are no match for them. Making an Immortal Carriage pulled by a Mechanism Beast would be simple. It could even ride the clouds without trouble. But the Jade Emperor's demand is rather strange. He says I can't use a Mechanism Beast to pull it. How is that supposed to work? How could a carriage body and a few wheels move on their own? I could use an Immortal Teleportation Array to move it directly, but that has nothing to do with traveling slowly! Impossible. Impossible."

Shen Bing's forehead twitched. What kind of problem was that?

A carriage couldn't move unless something pulled it? What kind of logic was that? Had he never seen a bicycle, a motorcycle, or a car?

Uh... This Craftsman God probably hadn't.

Shen Bing finally understood the crux of the problem. Lu Ban was stuck in his ways, bound by the old idea of horse-drawn carriages. He assumed a carriage had to be pulled.

Now that Shen Bing knew the cause, he started selling his idea.

There was something deeply satisfying about fooling an immortal. When he had fooled the Plague God before, he hadn't known the man was a real immortal, so he hadn't gotten the full experience. Now he had another chance.

"Immortal Friend Ban Shu, you're mistaken. You say an Immortal Carriage moves because a Mechanism Beast, an Immortal Beast, or an Immortal Bird pulls it from the front. But the real reason it moves is that the wheels turn. Think about it. If you could make the wheels turn on their own, wouldn't the Immortal Carriage move on its own?"

"How would the wheels turn without an Immortal Beast pulling from the front?"

"How do the Mechanism Beasts you make move?"

"Mechanism Beasts mimic the way Immortal Beasts move. Immortal Stones provide the power, while Immortal Arrays serve as pathways that control the movement of their limbs." Lu Ban explained it with ease.

"Exactly," Shen Bing said. "Imagine attaching a Mechanism Beast to the wheels and having it turn them. You don't need to build its four limbs. All you need is one arm to supply power and turn the wheels."

Put simply, he was telling Lu Ban to install an engine inside.

As for how an engine worked in the Immortal Realm, that was Lu Ban's problem. Shen Bing didn't even know what Immortal Stones or Immortal Arrays were, so he couldn't offer any advice.

"But without an Immortal Beast in front, how could a carriage stay stable on just two wheels?"

Shen Bing was speechless. Just how stuck in his ways was this man?

"Are you an idiot? Why not use four wheels?"

The moment he sent that, Shen Bing regretted it. He had just insulted a god! If Lu Ban flew into a rage, wouldn't he get killed and sent back again?

He looked closely at Lu Ban's expression. There wasn't a trace of anger. Instead, the man sank into thought, then his eyes widened. "Your wisdom truly knows no bounds, Adept! You even thought of such a brilliant design. I'm unworthy of the Craftsman God Position. It would suit you better."

Was this man planning to offer the Craftsman God Position as a reward?

Who wanted his Craftsman God Position? Judging by the way things looked, it carried no status in the Immortal Realm.

Shen Bing refused to take the bait. "You jest, Immortal Friend Ban Shu. I'm just a wanderer with no ties. I'm not fit for the Craftsman God Position."

Come on, the problem's solved. Give me something good! Do I have to ask for it myself?

Wouldn't that ruin my image as an immortal who wants for nothing?

But Lu Ban seemed oblivious. He said respectfully, "How foolish of me. Given your abilities, Adept, the Craftsman God Position would be beneath you. I'll make the Immortal Carriage according to your guidance at once. I hope you can stay on the island for a few days so I can learn more from you."

Stay here, my ass! I'm here to do a quest! What am I supposed to do stuck on this island?

But Shen Bing didn't dare say he was leaving. More importantly, he still hadn't received a system notification saying the quest was complete.

What a scam!

Don't tell me the quest won't count as complete until Lu Ban finishes the Immortal Carriage. That would be hell.

And if this turns into one of those "one day in the Immortal Realm is one year in the mortal world" situations, I'll really be screwed.

He would wait, then. Shen Bing had no other choice. Even if he wanted to leave, he had no Teleportation Talisman.

After Shen Bing agreed, Lu Ban said excitedly, "Feel free to look around the island, Adept. I've already informed the Divine Puppets and Mechanism Beasts here. They won't attack you."

With that, Lu Ban vanished on the spot.

There was no competing with an immortal's speed.

Shen Bing stared at the spot where Lu Ban had disappeared, then found himself at a loose end.

What was there to explore on this island? He could see the whole place just by changing the camera angle.

Then he remembered something he had never had a chance to test. Now was his chance.

He exited the game... then entered it again.

He was still on the damned Craftsman God Island. Shen Bing relaxed.

Next, Shen Bing steered his character to the edge of Craftsman God Island. It wasn't a Floating Island, but one surrounded by a vast sea, with dense immortal mist hanging above it. The water in that sea had to be Immortal Water, right?

Unfortunately, Shen Bing had no way to put any into his Storage Space. Otherwise, bringing some into the real world would be incredible.

Shen Bing set his phone aside, leaving his character staring blankly out at the sea. He turned on his computer and started looking up information.

A day passed in a flash. Shen Bing charged his phone several times and kept the Gate to the Immortal Realm open the whole time, afraid he would miss Lu Ban's return.

But the entire day went by without so much as a glimpse of Lu Ban.

The next day, a phone call woke Shen Bing. He squinted at the time. It was almost ten. He had stayed up late the night before, checking the screen every so often because he was afraid of missing the reward Lu Ban might give him.

The call was from Wei Changjia. Shen Bing answered.

"Boss, I've got an idea!" Wei Changjia's voice boomed so loudly that Shen Bing pulled the phone away from his ear.

"What idea?" Still groggy, Shen Bing didn't catch on.

"The glass curtain wall! The exterior wall project for the Nancy Building." Wei Changjia sounded breathless.

Shen Bing sat bolt upright. "What's your idea?"

"I found out something," Wei Changjia said. "They need to build a Public Toilet on the street corner outside Nancy Group headquarters."

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