Chapter 169

Wen Jing is currently trapped with half of her body inside the Spacetime Amber, so her primary goal is naturally to find a way to escape.

That Light of Stasis was mysterious and unpredictable, its mechanism unknown, and it was difficult to resist using conventional methods.

There may indeed be a way to control it, but once it's triggered, it will become a trap, and Wen Jing simply doesn't have enough opportunities to try and fail right now.

This Consciousness Diversion ability she evolved can only be used once; she cannot split her current self into two 'quarter- Wen Jing ' again.

Previous experience has confirmed that the panel is not affected by the anchoring of the Spacetime Amber.

Therefore, the most reliable approach is still to start with the panel. Whether it's continuing to evolve Consciousness Diversion or other abilities, the key is to acquire more Skill Points.

Therefore, after ten days of recuperation, Wen Jing prepared to travel to the Chime Bells World again.

Having experienced the shadow cast by the Spacetime Amber, her thinking changed.

While the 'natural Ancient Wilderness ' may seem relatively safe at first glance, as exploration deepens, it will encounter many unknowns, and it's uncertain whether danger or opportunity will come.

Even though ancient civilizations are fraught with danger, there are still patterns to be found in them.

Wen Jing still has the 'cultural advantage' from his previous life; while he might not have a complete strategy, he at least has an advantage.

Exploring the Ancient Wilderness at night is a dangerous activity that cannot be done through the registration center.

Not to mention that she was in a 'seriously injured' state in everyone's eyes.

Only Wen Jing himself knew that the injury was irreversible because half of his body was missing.

If she could free the other half of her body, her strength would increase just as much as her current comprehension, far more than a simple matter of one plus one equals two.

"If only that body could move, it could explore the Ancient Wilderness Ancient Wilderness while attending classes. Even if there were a deadly crisis there, it wouldn't actually die."

"We could even send two Clone into the Ancient Wilderness simultaneously. One clone could be used to search for worlds worth exploring in depth and leave coordinates, while the other would be responsible for the actual exploration. This would definitely greatly improve efficiency..."

As Wen Jing pondered these thoughts, he walked into the villa's underground training area and took off the smart terminal he was wearing.

"We should be more cautious in Azure Jade."

Next, she created a false mass singularity in place by distorting gravity, making it appear as if she were still there—no need to create a physical form, because everyone knew about her 'talent'.

Although the possibility is very small, if Azure Jade's villa really does have some kind of hidden detection door, what they would find is Wen Jing secretly cultivating in the training ground.

Immediately afterwards, the real Wen Jing disappeared into the material universe.

*

At the same time, inside the mysterious palace.

"When..."

The chimes standing on either side of the wall rang out, and Wen Jing appeared on the chessboard, in the position where he had previously defeated the wolf-headed chess piece.

There were more strange bronze chess pieces ahead, seemingly waiting for her to continue the game she had started last time.

"Let's see what's behind the door..."

Having basically grasped the rules of this world, Wen Jing chose to move forward between the gates in front and behind him.

After all, judging from the layout of the chessboard, the pieces facing her are like barriers guarding the front door, while the back door is more like the entrance.

As for the chime bells on both sides, they are clearly outside the chessboard, separated by a distance, and would obviously be blocked by the space-time divisions.

Having determined the direction, Wen Jing took a step forward.

"Whoosh--"

Immediately afterwards, the sound of chess pieces scraping against the ground rang out again, and a wolf-headed chess piece holding a shield came forward.

Having experience, she didn't waste any time and went straight to the chess piece.

The moment she touched the chess piece, the world changed again, and the werewolf-headed man charged at her with a shield.

After smashing two wolf-headed pieces in succession, the piece blocking Wen Jing's path this time was another monkey-headed piece wielding a hammer.

Will there be any difference?

The moment the chess pieces 'clashed,' the world that appeared before her this time was no longer the boundless stone platform of the previous three battles.

A heatwave swept in, flames burned beneath the ceramic crucible, next to rows of identical ceramic molds.

Before Wen Jing was an ancient weapon-forging production line, with a monkey-headed man holding a hammer standing on the line.

After she appeared, the monkey-headed man moved.

Instead of attacking her, it used the hammer in its hand to purposefully smash pieces of metal of different compositions off the mountainside behind it.

Wen Jing seemed to sense something, and chose to observe the situation quietly.

The monkey-headed man melted the metal blocks in a crucible according to a specific ratio. The smoke from the crucible changed color continuously, from black to yellow, and then to bluish-white. He then tilted the crucible and poured the smoke into a mold next to him.

During the injection molding step, the cooling rate becomes exceptionally fast.

Before long, a newly forged, golden, and gleaming bronze sword was completed.

The monkey-headed man held the newly forged bronze sword in both hands and raised it towards Wen Jing, as if inviting her to try it out.

"The wolf-headed people compete in strength, this is a competition of skill?"

"But... what if we don't follow the rules?"

Wen Jing's figure flashed, and a slash landed on the newly forged bronze sword.

The next moment, the bronze sword was cleanly severed in the middle, breaking into two pieces.

However, before the broken sword fragment hit the ground, time seemed to reverse, and the bronze sword held by the monkey-headed man instantly returned to its original state.

Wen Jing then tried other methods to break the bronze sword, and even tried to kill the monkey-headed man in front of him, but the result was the same.

It's worth mentioning that she also chewed on a bronze sword once.

They still didn't get to eat any real food, just like with the werewolf-headed man before; it's probably because the rules here are in effect.

"It seems that only the artisan's method can bring victory."

Wen Jing looked at his forelimbs and couldn't help but marvel at how human hands had evolved specifically for using tools.

If it were another Awakened who didn't possess the ability to cultivate their power, they might have been stuck at this hurdle.

But this certainly won't stump her.

Wen Jing walked to the front of the mine. His sharp forelimbs were like mining chisels, much faster than the hammer of the monkey-headed man. With two quick 'swish' moves, he cut off a large amount of ore.

Then the ore floated up and, under her scrutiny, fell one by one into the crucible.

Gravitational Field manipulation is the most stable tool. Like casting a spell, she perfectly replicated the monkey-headed man's previous actions one-to-one without having to lift a finger.

Proportioning, smelting, casting...

With Wen Jing's incredible perception and memory, what she called a perfect replica was a perfect replica indeed. Not only were the temperature controls and the timing of the casting perfect, but even the size and shape of the ore she cut off were exactly the same as the monkey-headed man's.

Soon, another bronze sword was forged.

She picked up the bronze sword she had forged herself and struck the bronze sword forged by the monkey-headed man.

"When!"

The two swords clashed, producing a crisp sound, and both bronze swords broke in two simultaneously at the point of impact.

A perfect replica, so its strength is naturally the same.

At the moment of the break, a notification appeared in Wen Jing's consciousness.

[Master ' Casting - Bronze Sword ', Skill Points +1]

"Hmm? There's been an unexpected bonus." Wen Jing's eyes lit up.

Even if you don't have many Skill Points, every little bit helps.

Suddenly, her gaze towards the monkey-headed man softened considerably: While both were inedible, the wolf-headed man was utterly useless, but the monkey-headed man had truly taught her something!

In that case, she should probably avoid the useless wolf-headed people and try to encounter monkey-headed people instead.

And what about the rarest type of chess piece, the Deer Head?

However, in the next moment, the bronze sword in the monkey-headed man's hand returned to its original state, while the broken sword in Wen Jing's hand simply disappeared.

She paused for a moment, then realized, "It has to be made better than it."

Wen Jing then turned his attention to the production line.

She knew little about bronze casting in her previous life, let alone in this one. If she hadn't witnessed the casting process of the monkey head, she would have thought that bronze making involved forging and quenching like ironwork.

"This smelting method can probably only be optimized in terms of material purification, proportions, and temperature..."

Before returning to the production line, she reasoned based on common sense. "The problem is I don't know the correct data, and experimenting myself would be too time-consuming. It's better to find the data directly in the material universe."

However, just as she was about to return, the monkey-headed man, who had been making no other move, slashed at her with his sword.

Wen Jing instantly killed him with a single counterattack.

However, just like before, the monkey-headed man who was killed returned to his original form.

"Aren't you letting me leave yet!"

Her gaze towards him softened, turning sharp again: Annoying fellow, not even as good as a werewolf-headed man!

"Alright, let's use a more direct method then."

Wen Jing walked back to the production line and once again selected the ore using the same method as the monkey-headed man.

However, this time, after putting the minerals into the crucible, she shaved off a small piece of her forelimb's shell from the molten metal.

"I can say that I'm following the example of the ancients, forging the sword with my own body."

As she complained, she shattered the small piece of the outer shell into powder with her energy, and threw it into the metal, where it fused with the copper and tin that were undergoing an alloying reaction inside.

Besides optimizing various technical processes, there is another method that can be used to improve the strength of materials.

This is actually the reason for the rapid advancements in the application of materials science worldwide.

The addition of high-dimensional materials from the Ancient Wilderness has led to the creation of all sorts of incredible new materials.

After so much growth and evolution, Wen Jing's exoskeleton is now made of a super material with a variety of powerful properties.

Adding just a little bit during the casting process can transform the bronze sword.