The weapon refiner is not doing her job properly

Chapter 166 Familiar Fragments

As soon as Su Ninglong arrived at the school warehouse entrance, she saw Xingyuan carrying a large stack of documents that almost blocked her view, hurrying out of the warehouse.

He looked up and saw Su Ninglong. "You've come at the right time. The school just notified us that they've arranged an important official interview for you. As the college's undisputed top representative, you're the key person they specifically requested to interview."

As he spoke, he carefully placed the pile of documents on the table next to him, and precisely pulled out a bound document from it and handed it to Su Ninglong. "This is a preliminary interview outline. The reporter will probably ask questions around these areas. You can familiarize yourself with the content first."

With psionicists becoming ubiquitous online celebrities, the Star Alliance, despite its deep-rooted heritage, is no longer the star it once was, attracting widespread attention and standing out from the crowd.

As the popularity of related fields has increased significantly, accepting official interviews that can positively showcase the college's strength and image has gradually become an inescapable responsibility.

Su Ninglong took the outline but didn't look at it immediately. Instead, she frowned slightly and asked with a hint of confusion, "Doesn't the inner courtyard gather more elites? Why choose me?"

Xingyuan sighed helplessly and explained, "This is the result of a private vote by all the students in the school. The students in the inner academy usually live in seclusion and are shrouded in mystery. Ordinary students know very little about them and lack a sense of closeness and resonance. As for the students in the outer academy..."

"Their strength and achievements are clearly not yet sufficient to represent the highest level of education cultivated by our Star Alliance. The school's requirements are very clear: the representatives who represent the school must be outstanding individuals who are exemplary in all aspects and have absolutely excellent comprehensive qualities. Only in this way can we fully demonstrate the school's excellence and safeguard the golden reputation of our century-old school. There can be no mistakes whatsoever."

Su Ninglong pondered for a moment and asked, "Should we conduct the interview on campus or somewhere else?"

"The venue was provided by the official media." Xingyuan asked tentatively, "Would you feel awkward or shy? If so, I'll help you decline it."

Su Ninglong twitched her lips: "They may have overestimated me. I just feel that it's impossible for things to go as smoothly as expected."

"It's okay," Xingyuan joked. "Just don't blame it on you after the building is blown up."

"Can't you come with me?" Su Ninglong feigned pitifulness.

Xingyuan immediately refused: "No, I have an appointment with Ms. Zou. You know that you have some investments in Gemini, and I need to go there to handle it."

Su Ninglong had no choice but to confirm, "When is the interview?"

"Tomorrow morning at ten o'clock."

Su Ninglong: "..."

As Xingyuan spoke, he pulled out a schedule from the pile of documents and handed it to her. "This is the main schedule for the week. Take a look." Su Ninglong quickly scanned the form, her gaze lingering on one line. It turned out that this week she needed to contact Master Su to deliver a batch of custom-made magical artifacts.
Disruption pointers are out of stock, 100,000 available!

Looking at the quantity, Su Ninglong inexplicably felt unwilling to work.

"My master must be asking me for help..."

Xingyuan interrupted, "After the interview, you can choose any contaminated area."

Xingyuan secured this opportunity for Su Ninglong. She had always wanted to enter a contaminated area of ​​level two or higher, but the school wouldn't allow her to enter, believing the risks were too great and fearing she might lose her life.

However, because of an interview, he agreed to her request, which shows how important this interview was.

"make a deal."

In the afternoon, Su Ninglong planned to go to Funi's research lab.

She is currently immersed in research on the history of the "Darkest Hour" and plans to travel to another planet during the upcoming long holiday to carry out an exploration mission related to this period.

As soon as I stepped out of the yard, I heard a familiar flapping sound overhead.

The next second, a round, almost ball-shaped white figure landed precisely on her shoulder, its heavy weight causing Su Ninglong to stop.

It was that greedy parrot, Cabbage.

The cabbage affectionately nuzzled her temple with its beak, its beady eyes gleaming with mischief as it lowered its voice and said mysteriously, "My dear Ninglong, would you like to hear some freshly baked secret news, exclusive to you!"

Su Ninglong didn't even lift her eyelids, and said calmly, "Save your breath. Nine times out of ten, your so-called 'secrets' are just trivial matters, very perfunctory."

And they're becoming increasingly perfunctory.

"This time it's definitely different! I swear on my food!" Cabbage protested eagerly. In order to help it lose weight, Su Ninglong and Yang Zhu had ruthlessly cut off its supply of snow cicadas for two months, which made it crave them. Now was the perfect opportunity to earn some treats in return.

Without further ado, it threw out a bait: "It's about Little Phoebe."

Su Ninglong tilted her head slightly, her gaze falling on the large white ball on her shoulder: "Him? Besides his petty thievery, what new secrets could he possibly have?"

"This time it's not just about that little bit of skill." Bai Cai puffed out her round chest, excitedly whispering, "I overheard him communicating with someone in the grove using his bracelet. He said his ability has evolved, and now he can 'targeted steal' keys. As long as he knows the exact location, style, and function of the target key, he can get it remotely. He even negotiated with them, saying that his only condition after it's done is—admission to the academy. That guy definitely wants to go to Star Glory Academy! Mmm..."

As Bai Cai was speaking animatedly, her mouth was suddenly clamped shut by two slender yet incredibly strong fingers, and the rest of her words turned into unintelligible sobs.

"I understand. I'll buy you half a pound of snow cicadas in a week."

The cabbage thrashed about angrily, not as it had planned, its sharp claws digging into Su Ninglong's clothes.

Su Ninglong remained calm. "Don't push your luck. Half a pound of snow cicadas, if you eat it over two weeks, don't you see how fat you've become? You can't even fly, you're a big green blob, you're very conspicuous wherever you go."

When asked about the problem of the large green blob, the cabbage turned away sadly.

As Su Ninglong released the bird's beak from the cabbage, a thought flashed through her mind like lightning: Did Little Phoebe want to steal the fortune-telling board?

Then she thought of Ziyue's grandfather's inheritance.

After the attack, Su Ninglong opened the wooden box, inside which was a divination board.

There was also a fragment of the Mysterious Order that exuded an indescribable, strange aura.

Su Ninglong was all too familiar with the scent of that fragment.

That was the fragment of the Mystic Token that she had personally modified with a special demon core.

Although it was an unintentional act, she couldn't possibly be mistaken about its strangeness. When Su Ninglong saw the fragment of the Secret Order that had fallen into her hands during the cultivation world era, instead of feeling a sense of clarity, she felt as if she had fallen deeper into an even thicker, suffocating fog of the unknown as a layer of mist was lifted.

The faintly emerging clues seem to point to a larger and more dangerous mystery.

But how did that fragment end up in Ziyue's grandfather's estate? The divination board, the fragment, Ziyue's grandfather, the Star Alliance... what is the connection between them?
The divination board and the fragment of the Mystic Token that exuded a strange aura had long been carefully hidden by Su Ninglong using special methods. The hiding place was exquisite, and apart from herself, probably no one else in the world could find it.

As for the group that hunted her down six years ago, she hasn't made any significant progress yet; they seem to have given up on attacking her.

They don't show up, and there's nothing she can do about them.

The evidence she has gathered is not yet enough to form a chain of proof, so she cannot act rashly.

We can only continuously accumulate strength to deal with any unexpected situation.

"This news..." Su Ninglong instructed Bai Cai, "Go and inform Principal Yan. Remember, make sure to tell him when he is alone in his office."

Looking at the round ball staring longingly at her, she offered a very tempting deal: "If you can successfully lose weight back to near your previous weight, I'll buy you two pounds of snow cicadas."

For cabbage, whose begging for food has become increasingly difficult, this request was like heavenly music. The enormous temptation of two pounds of snow cicadas instantly made it forget all its hardships.

"As ordered!"

It responded excitedly, its beady eyes sparkling with boundless longing for delicious food, completely unaware of the difficulties of dieting.

Su Ninglong slightly raised her beautifully shaped chin, watching as the round cabbage struggled to flap its wings in the air, flying crookedly towards the azure sky.

The person who named the foreign teacher must have been "ingenious," because whatever they raise will eventually grow into a pig-like size.

She secretly thought that it was time to go to the foreign teacher's ranch and pick out a few fat sheep to "process"; just thinking about it made her mouth water.

On her way to the Information Department, Su Ninglong encountered two more groups of enthusiastic students.

Their eyes shone with admiration as they crowded around her, hoping to take a photo with her or get her autograph.

Su Ninglong had no choice but to politely decline: "I'm sorry, I have urgent business to attend to right now."

As soon as she finished speaking, she lightly stepped onto the hoverboard, transformed into a streak of light, and quickly passed through the crowd, leaving only a gentle breeze and the students' slightly regretful sighs.

Upon arriving at Funi's studio and pushing open the door, one sees Funi and her two capable assistants intently focused on their work at the workbench.

Bathed in the soft light of the restoration lamps, the three men were focused, showing no impatience or complaints about the daily grind. They were meticulously piecing together fragments of the sacred artifacts recently unearthed by the archaeological team, restoring them to their original form.

This calmness and perseverance are themselves a form of respect for history.

Phoebe caught sight of Su Ninglong out of the corner of her eye, immediately put down her tools, and a joyful smile bloomed on her face as she quickly came to greet her: "Ninglong! You've come at the right time, look at this."

She carefully led Su Ninglong to a separate workbench and pointed to several fragments on the table that emitted faint energy fluctuations.

"These are the latest batch of fragments of the core components of the sacred artifact. It contains a faint self-repairing energy field, which means that as long as all the fragments can be accurately reassembled into their original positions and the energy field is activated, this sacred artifact can be revitalized."

The subtext is self-evident: Funi hopes that Su Ninglong can step in and use the "retrospection" technology she inherited from the mysterious "Master Su," which is considered a marvel of craftsmanship, to help restore the complete appearance and structure of this sacred artifact, laying the foundation for the subsequent activation of its energy field.

After all, accurate physical restoration is a key prerequisite for guiding energy to repair itself.

On the workbench next to him, the precious materials needed to cast the magic artifact imaging spell were already laid out.

Stardust shimmering with starlight, soul-nourishing leaves imbued with the aura of soul power, quasi-spirit stone powder that provides energy... everything was readily available, clearly indicating that Funi had already made preparations.

Funi turned around, clasped her hands together in front of her chest, and looked at Su Ninglong with bright eyes full of curiosity and expectation, pleading in a coquettish tone: "My dearest student, you will definitely help your teacher with this, right?"

Su Ninglong nodded reluctantly.

There was no way around it; Funi had helped her so much in historical research, especially in the area of ​​the "Darkest Hour," and she had to repay this debt of gratitude.

However, before she could begin repairing the sacred artifact, she had to unravel a question that had been buried deep in her heart for six years.

Choosing to ask at this time was the result of her careful consideration. By extending the timeline sufficiently, she could obscure the source of the information to the greatest extent possible and avoid causing unnecessary associations and investigations.

She's only asking now because she wants to stretch out the timeline and prevent people from knowing where she got the information.

"I'm happy to help, but before we begin, I have a question for the teacher about those divination boards you unearthed earlier..."

Almost reflexively, Funi raised a finger to warily interrupt her: "Stop! Everything about the divination board is confidential; you can't ask about it."

I can't ask in the current situation, and there are assistants around.

Su Ninglong smiled helplessly, "I didn't intend to inquire about it. What I wanted to ask was..." As she spoke, she quickly brought up the bracelet's drawing panel, her fingertips slid rapidly across the screen, using the built-in AI drawing tool to recreate a ferocious and majestic Taotie image, which was the ferocious beast totem carved on the fragment of the Secret Order in her memory.

"When you were excavating divination tablets or related artifacts, did you ever see an object with this kind of pattern engraved on it?"

The image of the Taotie on the screen instantly captured Funi's full attention.

She was clearly stunned, and the wariness in her eyes was replaced by intense curiosity.

She subconsciously adjusted her glasses, leaned forward slightly, and leaned closer to the screen, scrutinizing the details of the rugged, imposing beast in the image with almost greedy eyes, her fingers unconsciously tracing its outline in the air.

"This...this is?" Her voice was filled with a mixture of confusion and fascination.

Su Ninglong stared intently at every subtle expression on Funi's face, trying to catch a trace of familiarity.

Funi's face showed only the pure excitement and thirst for knowledge of a researcher seeing something new, with no sign of "recognition".

Su Ninglong's heart sank slightly, and she had no choice but to explain: "This is a legendary mythical beast totem, or more accurately, one of the ancient ferocious beasts. It is called Taotie. Unlike Bai Ze, which my master mentioned and which symbolizes auspiciousness, Taotie represents greed and gluttony, and is by no means benevolent. My master usually refers to it directly as an ancient ferocious beast."