"They really were here. There just weren't enough of them."
Lin Ze carefully put away the five pieces of sea dragon jade, then continued searching the vast depths of the sea.
Another three days passed. Thanks to the natural advantages of his Azure Dragon Form, he found seven more pieces of [sea dragon jade] in varying sizes.
That brought the total to twelve.
Lin Ze made an estimate. According to the scroll, creating a standard artificial tailed beast shell required roughly eight to ten pieces of sea dragon jade to serve as its energy core and connecting hubs.
Twelve pieces were enough for one attempt, with a few even left over as spares.
"That's enough."
Lin Ze lingered no longer. His enormous dragon body swam toward the surface like an arrow loosed from a bow.
Breaking through the surface, he returned to human form. Standing atop the waves, Lin Ze checked his bearings, then sped toward Ascension Island.
Back in the underground laboratory on Ascension Island, Lin Ze did not immediately use the precious sea dragon jade.
First, he took out some substitute metals capable of conducting chakra, along with some specially prepared sealing ink, which he had purchased at a black market in the Land of Earth.
Unrolling a blank scroll, Lin Ze held his breath and focused, bringing himself into peak condition.
Then, with finely controlled chakra swirling around his fingertips, he began carefully inscribing the composite sealing jutsu formula recorded in the scroll onto a metal plate.
On his first attempt, when he had drawn a third of it, the chakra output at one node fluctuated ever so slightly. The entire formula structure instantly became unstable, its light turning erratic. Then, with a soft hiss, the markings on the metal plate dimmed, signaling failure.
Lin Ze's