The Incomplete Immortal Artifact

What the hell? Of course I'm accepting a quest.

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

Shen Bing's eyes widened. There was even 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 was merciful enough not to impose some penalty that would wipe out its host if he failed. Otherwise, who could he cry to?

He would have to be more careful the next time he clicked to accept a quest.

But what was "Lu Ban's suspicion" supposed to mean?

Suspect my ass! Worst comes to worst, we go our separate ways. I won't play along.

Shen Bing didn't take the penalty to heart.

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

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

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

It stunned him. Now this was worthy of being called an Immortal Carriage!

Its sheer magnificence was off the charts.

The vehicle had a streamlined body about five meters long, engraved with exquisite patterns.

Four wheels sat beneath it. Shen Bing had no idea what metal they were made of, but they shimmered with color.

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

By now, Shen Bing was hardly surprised.

If an entire island could float in the Immortal Realm, why couldn't a car?

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

If he brought it to Earth, it would turn heads more than two hundred percent of the time.

"Exalted One, you've done me a tremendous favor. I have little else to offer in thanks, so please accept the first Immortal Carriage I've made. I hope you won't find it lacking." There was a hint of pride beneath Lu Ban's polite words. This was the Immortal Realm's first Self-Propelled Immortal Carriage.

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

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

"Thank you for the gift, my 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 steadily into Lu Ban's hand, and he passed it to Shen Bing.

Lu Ban wishes to trade with you. Accept?

Accepted.

Then came the notification that the quest was complete. Shen Bing was forcibly teleported away, leaving Lu Ban staring after him in bewilderment.

Why did the Exalted One vanish without a word?

At that moment, two quests were highlighted on the Gate to the Immortal Realm's quest panel: The Depressed Plague God and Collect the Remnant Soul of a Great Luo Golden Immortal.

As far as Shen Bing was concerned, quests were out of reach. He had no Teleportation Talismans left.

The Immortal Carriage he had just received, however, made him itch to try it out.

Immortal Artifact has not been bound to an owner or named. Inspection and other operations are unavailable.

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

Having already bound Little Doudou to himself, Shen Bing knew the drill. He promptly named the Immortal Carriage.

"Old Ban."

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

Now Shen Bing could finally see Old Ban's attributes.

Old Ban (Immortal Carriage, incomplete Immortal Artifact): An Immortal Carriage made by Lu Ban. Its exterior can change size at will, and its maximum speed is 2,000 kilometers per hour. As it lacks an Artifact Spirit, this Immortal Artifact is incomplete. Explore its specific functions yourself.

Well, it turned out to be an incomplete product.

Still, incomplete or not, it was an Immortal Artifact. Shen Bing was already satisfied.

The best part was that it could change its size and shape at will. If he teleported it out and made it look like a Rolls-Royce, wouldn't that be amazing?

Only Shen Bing would think of that. He had an Immortal Carriage with such a spectacular appearance, yet he wanted to make it look like some mundane luxury car.

But Shen Bing had his reasons. If he really drove an Immortal Carriage around on the streets, people would think he was crazy, not cool.

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

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

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

"Force the analysis."

Analysis failed... Warning: Forced analysis can be attempted no more than three times. Further attempts will damage the item.

That taught Shen Bing something else.

An item could be analyzed multiple times, but if the fourth attempt failed, he would lose it.

Fair enough. The rule was simple.

"Analyze it again!"

Analysis failed!

You've got to be kidding me. A small chance really is small...

"Again!" Shen Bing gritted his teeth. Even if this attempt failed, the item wouldn't disappear. At worst, he could analyze it once his level was high enough.

Congratulations! Analysis successful. You have obtained Super Titanium Alloy Smelting Technology.

The notification sounded like heavenly music to Shen Bing, though why hadn't it extracted the engine technology instead?

Titanium Alloy? Did that even count as high technology?

Well, he supposed it did. All sorts of industries used it nowadays, especially aerospace. Besides, this one had "Super" in its name. It had to be impressive, right?

It was like the difference between an ordinary man and a superman.

He could work with that.

"Transfer the technology." It was only a metallurgical technique, not some advanced technology. It shouldn't overload his brain.

Transferring Super Titanium Alloy Smelting Technology requires 10 Immortal Jade. Your current balance is insufficient. Would you like to top up?

Top up, my ass!

Ten Immortal Jade? Why didn't it just rob him?

And that was for technology obtained from an incomplete analysis. If he managed to analyze the Old Ban Immortal Carriage fully, would it cost a thousand Immortal Jade?

Shen Bing tried to teleport the Immortal Carriage out. Unsurprisingly, he failed.

He did, however, learn the price of teleporting it: 1,000 Immortal Jade.

Not expensive. Just a billion yuan.

Just...

A billion...

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

After working at it for half the day, Shen Bing still had nothing to show for it. Naturally, he was frustrated.

True, his inventory now held a technology and an Immortal Artifact. But he could see them without being able to use them, which only made it more aggravating.

Shen Bing went out seething because someone had called his phone, saying they wanted to talk to him about Dream Glass.

That was right. Everyone who knew about this type of glass had independently started calling it Dream Glass.

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

Compared with Illusion Immortal Glass Factory, Good Fortune Glass Factory was a giant. One had zero annual output; the other had nearly two hundred million yuan's worth. There was no comparison.

It was no wonder Lin Zijian couldn't sit still. Word of Dream Glass had spread throughout Rongcheng and even beyond the province.

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

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

Its breathtaking appearance was guaranteed to catch people's attention.

To keep anyone else from getting involved, Lin Zijian had sent someone over without taking time to think it through. His orders were clear: they had to secure the production technology for that glass.