A Flawed Immortal Artifact

What the hell? Of course I'll accept a quest.

"Collect a Great Luo Golden Immortal Remnant Soul: Craftsman God Lu Ban asks you to collect one Great Luo Golden Immortal Remnant Soul. Upon success, he will craft a Divine Puppet Artisan for you free of charge. If you collect any additional remnant souls, you may receive extra rewards and earn Lu Ban's friendship. Time limit: one year. Failure penalty: Lu Ban's suspicion."

Shen Bing's eyes widened. There was a penalty?

He wanted to grab a kitchen knife and chop off his own hand.

That'll teach you to click without thinking!

Fortunately, the system had shown some mercy. It hadn't imposed a penalty like killing its host for failing, or who would he cry to?

He would have to think twice before accepting a quest next time.

But what was this business about Lu Ban's suspicion?

Suspect my ass! If it comes to that, we'll part ways. I won't play along.

Shen Bing paid the penalty no more mind.

Since there was no way to get that damned Great Luo Golden Immortal Remnant Soul, Shen Bing turned his attention back to the Self-Propelled Immortal Carriage.

After all, he still hadn't received his reward for this quest.

Before long, Shen Bing saw the Self-Propelled Immortal Carriage Lu Ban had made.

The sight stunned him. It really was worthy of being called an Immortal Carriage!

Its sheer style was off the charts.

The body had sleek lines, measured about five meters long, and bore exquisite patterns.

Four wheels sat beneath it, forged from some unknown metal that shimmered with color.

According to Lu Ban, the thing could not only drive on the ground but fly through the sky. It didn't fly by moving fast enough to escape gravity, of course. It flew because of the Immortal Array inside it.

By now, Shen Bing was used to such things.

In the Immortal Realm, entire islands could float. Why not a car?

The Immortal Carriage was grand, imposing, and, most importantly, perfect for showing off.

Bring this thing to Earth, and it would turn heads twice over.

"Your Excellency, you've been a tremendous help to me. I don't have much else to offer in thanks, so please accept the first Immortal Carriage I've made. I hope you won't find it lacking." Lu Ban sounded polite but a little proud. This was, after all, the first Self-Propelled Immortal Carriage in the Immortal Realm.

I find it very lacking! You should give me a Divine Puppet Artisan.

But he kept that to himself. Judging by that rotten quest, Lu Ban was probably stingy and suspicious, so it was best not to offend him.

"Thank you for the generous gift, Immortal Friend."

Shen Bing didn't see Lu Ban do anything, but the five-meter-long Immortal Carriage instantly shrank into a toy car. It flew neatly into Lu Ban's hand, and he passed it to Shen Bing.

"Lu Ban wishes to trade with you. Accept?"

"Accept."

Then a notification announced that the quest was complete, and Shen Bing was forcibly teleported away, leaving Lu Ban standing there dumbfounded.

Why did His Excellency vanish without a word?

Two quests were now highlighted on the Gate to the Immortal Realm's quest panel: the depressed Plague God and the collection of a Great Luo Golden Immortal Remnant Soul.

To Shen Bing, quests were beside the point now. He had no Teleportation Talismans left.

The new Immortal Carriage, though, had him itching to try it.

"Immortal Artifact has no owner or name. Inspection and other operations are unavailable!"

What the— It's an Immortal Artifact? Did I just hit the jackpot?

Having already claimed Little Doudou as his own, Shen Bing knew the routine and promptly named the Immortal Carriage.

"Old Ban."

That was right, Old Ban—the Ban from Ban Shu.

Shen Bing could finally see Old Ban's attributes.

"Old Ban (Immortal Carriage, flawed Immortal Artifact): An Immortal Carriage crafted by Lu Ban. Its exterior size can be changed at will. Maximum speed: 2,000 kilometers per hour. As it lacks an Artifact Spirit, this Immortal Artifact is flawed. Discover its specific functions yourself."

Well, it was a defective product.

But defective or not, it was still an Immortal Artifact, wasn't it? Shen Bing was already satisfied.

Best of all, he could change its size and shape at will. If he transferred it out and made it look like a Rolls-Royce, wouldn't that be awesome?

Only he would come up with that: discard the Immortal Carriage's incredible appearance in favor of something so mundane.

But Shen Bing had his reasons. If he actually drove an Immortal Carriage down the street, he wouldn't look cool. He'd look insane.

"Analyze! Let's see what useful technology I can get."

"Sorry. This item contains technology beyond the system's current level and cannot be fully analyzed. Forced analysis has a small chance of yielding incomplete technology."

Damn. Level one really is for beginners. It can't even analyze a flawed Immortal Artifact.

"Force analysis."

"Analysis failed... Warning: Forced analysis can be attempted no more than three times. Continuing to analyze the item after that will destroy it."

That taught Shen Bing something else.

First, an item could be analyzed multiple times. If the fourth attempt failed, he would lose the item.

Fine. Simple enough.

"Analyze it again!"

"Analysis failed!"

Oh, come on! A small chance really does mean a small chance...

"Analyze it again!" Shen Bing gritted his teeth. Even if this attempt failed, the item wouldn't disappear. At worst, he could wait until his level was high enough and try again.

"Congratulations. Analysis successful. Super Titanium Alloy Smelting Technology obtained."

The notification was music to Shen Bing's ears. But why hadn't it extracted the engine technology?

Titanium Alloy? Did that count as high technology?

Well, probably. All kinds of industries used it nowadays, especially aerospace. And with "super" in the name, this alloy had to be something special.

After all, a man was as ordinary as they came. A Superman was another matter.

He could work with this.

"Transfer the technology." It was only a metallurgical process, not some cutting-edge marvel. Surely it wouldn't overload his brain.

"Transferring Super Titanium Alloy Smelting Technology requires 10 Immortal Jade. Current balance insufficient. Add funds?"

Add funds, my ass!

Ten Immortal Jade? Why don't you just rob me?

And this was technology from an incomplete analysis. If he fully analyzed the Old Ban-brand Immortal Carriage, would it cost 1,000 Immortal Jade?

Shen Bing tried transferring the Immortal Carriage and, unsurprisingly, failed.

That was how he learned the price of transferring it: 1,000 Immortal Jade.

Not expensive. Only a billion yuan.

Only...

A billion...

Forget it. There was no point dwelling on it. He couldn't fight the system's rules; he could only follow them.

He had spent half the day on this and had nothing to show for it. Naturally, Shen Bing was frustrated.

His inventory contained a new technology and an Immortal Artifact, but he could see them without being able to use them. They were just there to torment him.

Shen Bing went out with frustration burning inside him. Someone had called his phone, saying they wanted to discuss something with him concerning Dream Glass.

That was right. Everyone who knew about the glass had independently settled on the same name for it: Dream Glass.

The person who wanted to speak with Shen Bing had been sent by Lin Zijian. The caller had mentioned the Good Fortune Glass Factory.

To the Illusion Immortal Glass Factory as it stood, the Good Fortune Glass Factory was a giant. One had an annual output value of zero; the other's was nearly 200 million yuan. There was no comparison.

It was no wonder Lin Zijian couldn't sit still. Word of Dream Glass had spread throughout Rongcheng and had even reached other provinces.

In the age of social media, that was hardly surprising.

At least eighty thousand people passed the restroom on Financial Street every day, perhaps even a hundred thousand. If just one percent of them took a photo and posted it to their social feeds, word would spread fast.

The glass's breathtaking appearance was guaranteed to catch people's eyes.

To keep anyone else from getting involved, Lin Zijian sent someone over without giving the matter much thought. His instructions were clear: they had to secure the technology for producing this glass.