Under One Person, Engage in Black Technology

Chapter 170 Divine Craftsmanship
Village Chief Ma's words were very sincere, so Liu Ke naturally had no objections.

After hearing this, he simply shook his head indifferently and replied, "It's nothing. I'm actually quite curious about how far your furnace will eventually go."

"If it can really cure diseases like cancer, then it will be worth it no matter how much effort it takes."

After hearing this, Ma Xianhong nodded. Understanding the meaning, he took out a Devouring Pouch from his pocket and threw the small ball-shaped magic artifact directly at Liu Ke.

Although the two were not close, Liu Ke was an extraordinary person after all, so he had no problem catching such a 'street performance' as throwing objects. He reached out with one hand and caught the object.

Seeing Liu Ke looking at him, Old Ma stretched his body and said, "Although you haven't joined us, you're practically one. After all, this furnace is the core of Biyou Village."

"And as I said at the beginning, I don't like to keep things to myself. Since you have the talent for refining weapons, I will naturally teach you [Divine Refinement].

Upon hearing Ma Xianhong's words, Liu Ke raised an eyebrow, adjusted the 'focus' and 'amplifier' functions of his prosthetic eye, and then looked into the sac.

At first glance, he saw the secret manual contained in this 'spatial item'—"The Divine Refinement of Hundred Techniques".

Liu Ke's expression changed slightly, and then he couldn't help but chuckle, "You haven't even changed anything about this stove yet, and you're already paying the 'final payment' to me?"

"Village Chief Ma, aren't you... afraid I'll take the manual and run away?"

Upon hearing this, Ma Xianhong simply shook his head and replied, "The reason why my great-grandfather and the others created the Eight Extraordinary Techniques was naturally to seek the Dao."

"But we, as the inheritors, cannot simply regard the Eight Extraordinary Techniques as some kind of... unique magic."

“Once a spell is created, it should be used and passed on.”

After hearing this, Liu Ke nodded and said, "Okay, I'll accept the things. Thanks."

"One day. After I finish reading it, I will return the manual to you."

After hearing this, Ma Xianhong shook his head and said, "There's no need for that. The copy I gave you is a rubbing. The original is still there. You can take a look."

Liu Ke nodded and said, "Hmm... to be honest, I'm quite curious about how exactly this Divine Refinement works."

"Well... I'll go into seclusion for a while and study this manual properly. Call me when those two sorcerers you recruited arrive."

------

Beijing.

As for Zhang Chulan and Feng Baobao, since they had received an exorbitant commission, they naturally handled Wang Ye's matter perfectly, making sure that the idle men and mercenaries who were eyeing Wang Ye's house understood the situation clearly.

However, once there is one, there will be two. There are more than just Wang Ai and Chen Jinkui in the world who would covet magical arts.

Although things have calmed down for a while now that this incident is over, who can guarantee that no one else might have the same 'malicious intentions'?

As the saying goes, flies don't land on eggs without cracks. Although the Feng Hou Qi Men technique is a terrible method that can 'drown' all flies in the eggshell, it can't stop the flies from being ignorant and fearless, and there are enough of them.

Given this situation, and based on Zhang Chulan's heartfelt advice, Daoist Wang Ye chose the path of 'wandering the world,' taking away all the covetous eyes that were eyeing the [Feng Hou Qi Men], so as not to cause trouble for his family.

Of course, Master Wang wasn't stupid; his first stop on his trip was Tianjin. There were many reasons for choosing this place, but the most important one was that it provided a sense of connection both before and after his journey.

As for the 'former' one, Master Wang didn't know the strength of the flies swarming around his dung heap. If the goal was to avoid a disaster, Tianjin, where the North China regional company was located, was naturally the best choice.

After all, Master Wang considered himself to be quite skilled at escaping. If, during his travels, a martial arts expert were to suddenly attack him without warning, catching him off guard and forcing him to run for his life, he could simply head straight to the company headquarters for help.

This kind of thinking is like sleeping on the ground in front of a police station. Although there is still the risk of being 'robbed' or 'beaten', the strength, reputation and power of Na Du Tong are there. If idlers and mercenaries had the confidence to ignore Na Du Tong, why would they be so destitute as to do dirty work for others?
As for the 'later' one, Master Wang was still a little afraid. He was afraid that as soon as he left, some evil people who didn't follow the code of chivalry would kidnap his family.

Tianjin is close enough to Beijing that if something like this really happens, he can go back directly.

……

"Suck it..."

"Wow, this plain noodle soup... tastes really good, the soup is so flavorful for less than ten yuan."

"Boss? Could you please give me another bowl?"

Master Wang Ye is currently eating noodles in a tiny, unassuming noodle shop in a remote corner of Tianjin.

The reason he chose to eat noodles was not because he was short of money, but because Master Wang had been staying on Wudang Mountain for a long time and had become accustomed to light flavors. He usually ate thin porridge, steamed buns and pickled vegetables, and he would find oily food greasy.

When Master Wang slurped the noodles into his mouth, he realized that he hadn't made a mistake in choosing this place. The soup was exceptionally delicious, and the noodles were chewy, smooth, and springy. It was worth the long wait in line.

After finishing one bowl, Wang Ye estimated his appetite, patted his stomach, and asked the noodle shop owner to bring him another bowl of noodles.

After receiving the new bowl, Master Wang first drank a large gulp of soup, then slurped up a few mouthfuls of noodles and ate a few bites of pickled vegetables. He then shifted his posture, preparing to eat more heartily.

But just as he finished eating half of the bowl of noodles, he noticed a tall, burly man looking in his direction.

Master Wang had long been accustomed to being stared at by all sorts of people these days, so at this moment he only paid attention to what the person was looking at, picked up his chopsticks and ate two more mouthfuls of noodles.

But after he finished those two bites, he saw that person walking towards him in a very obvious way.

However, based on the idea that it's better to avoid trouble, he didn't think about stopping the other party. As the saying goes, "Those who come are not friendly, and those who are friendly don't come." In many cases, there's no point in asking questions; it's just a matter of fighting anyway.

When the squinty-eyed giant walked up to him and stared at him intently, he pretended to be stupid and asked directly, "You are...?"

Before Wang Ye could finish speaking, the burly man first frowned and glanced at Wang Ye's bowl of noodles, then pulled a letter from his pocket and handed it over.

"Let's see……"

After hearing this, Wang Ye raised his eyebrows and took the letter. As soon as he opened it, several photos fell out.

He picked it up and immediately noticed the problem. Every single shot in the photo was a bloody scene, with one or two people lying paralyzed in the center of the picture.

At a glance, Wang Ye realized that the group of people were located near his home.

However... he really didn't recognize the group of people bleeding and suffering in the photo. Judging from their attire and demeanor, they were quite similar to the group of idlers who had been 'keeping watch' over their house before.

After Wang finished looking through the photos, Jin Yong took out his phone again and handed it over.

"Answer the phone." Although Jin Yong's attitude seemed somewhat unreasonable, his appearance did not seem to have enough 'boss power', and at first glance, he did not seem like the kind of person who could be the mastermind behind the scenes.

Therefore, seeing this, Master Wang didn't bother to waste any more words with him. He simply took the phone and immediately asked, "Hello? Who are you? What is your purpose?"

To be honest, when Master Wang said that, he had already guessed what the other party would say.

In his mind, the other party's photos were nothing more than an attempt to 'help,' a way of playing the emotional card, and perhaps they were also after the [Feng Hou Qi Men].

But in reality, Wang Ye only heard a friendly voice from the phone first: "Master Wang, hello, we mean no harm."

“We should have been brothers.”

If Liu Ke were eating noodles with Master Wang here, he would definitely be able to recognize whose voice was on the phone.

He was Ma Xianhong, the village chief of Biyou Village and the leader of the "New Intercept" cult.

……

Village Chief Ma's phone call to recruit Wang Ye wasn't very long, but his words were concise and to the point. In just a few sentences, he clarified his own identity, Wang Ye's identity, and explained why he wanted to recruit Wang Ye.

Even with Wang Daoshi's intelligence, he couldn't discern anything wrong with Ma Xianhong's words; he could only sense the sincerity in Ma's recruitment.

However, Wang Ye truly had no intention of going to that wretched Biyou Village. In recent days, Master Wang's understanding of handling matters in the martial world had greatly improved; he no longer trusted any of the reputable sects, so why would he dare to casually visit a new sect that might be setting up a trap for him?

After a few minutes on the phone, he naturally remained silent, indicating his intention not to discuss the matter further.

Seeing that Master Wang wasn't particularly interested, Old Ma didn't mind. He simply told Wang to think it over some more.

He does need a sorcerer to activate the cultivation furnace. If he could get help from either Wang Ye or Zhuge Qing, two of the young talents from the Luo Tian Grand Ceremony, that would be the best. But if not, there are other options.

……

Seeing that Wang Ye had hung up the phone without explicitly stating that he was going, Jin Yong, who was standing nearby, roughly guessed the other party's choice.

He wasn't surprised, after all, unlike Liu Ke, who was interested in magical artifacts and divine mechanisms, Master Wang Ye was simply seeking to protect his family's safety.

Seeing this, Jin Yong took out another improved piece of paper with a clearer address and handed it to Wang Ye.

"The leader asked me to convey that regardless of whether you join us or not, he will consider you a fellow countryman."

"The cult leader will deal with those who harm you and your family. He will also deal with those who seem kind but approach you with ulterior motives."

After saying that, Jin Yong was about to turn around, but he paused halfway through, then turned back and said in a low voice:

"Wang Ye, one last piece of advice, though unrelated: I advise you not to eat noodles here. This noodle shop... probably has some kind of 'hidden ingredient' added."

Upon hearing this, Wang Ye, who had been wondering who the so-called "those with ulterior motives" were, suddenly shuddered, and the chopsticks he was holding tightly fell to the ground.

"Huh?...The shell? No, you saw it?"

------

The manual "Divine Craftsmanship" is not actually that thick. It has several hundred pages, and more than half of them are the "artistic ideas" of the old man Ma Benzai, that is, the exhibition of creative results.

When Liu Ke started learning, he discovered that the very first line of this manual was not some mysterious verse, but rather more straightforward than the common qi cultivation techniques distributed by the company.

"Those who are not proficient in weapon crafting and divine mechanisms will find it difficult to enter this path."

When Liu Ke saw this sentence, a smile crept onto his face; he found it quite amusing. But after reading a quarter of the book out of interest, he couldn't help but rub his temples for a long time.

It's not that the manual is particularly difficult, but rather that the writing style of Village Chief Ma's "Grandpa Benzai" is far too verbose.

Liu Kezu read about seventy or eighty pages, most of which were defining weapon crafting, divine mechanisms, and related methods, explaining their significance and value.

Among the vast number of 'definitions' and 'meanings,' there are mixed in the methods of conventional weapon crafting and divine mechanisms, but the techniques of [Divine Mechanism Hundred Refinements] are not mentioned at all.

This method of writing books reminded Liu Ke of some low-quality textbooks produced by domestic schools, which are full of anti-self-learning mechanisms due to their pretentious and empty content.

However, such an evaluation is somewhat biased, since Liu Ke, an outsider to this field, did learn some basic knowledge from it.

At least... after reading the basic chapters, Liu Ke learned how to forge weapons. And when he casually projected a small knife and tried to forge it using the basic weapon-forging methods, it did indeed work.

Through the projection's [inspection] ability, he saw that the ordinary-looking little iron knife was gradually becoming sharper than its material limitations due to his 'Qi' refining.

When he turned to page ninety-three, he discovered that after a long period of teaching, Master 'Benzai' had finally begun to explain the true application of the Divine Hundred Refinements.

"Zhuangzi, The Great Master... He borrows from different things, relies on the same body; he forgets his liver and gall, and abandons his ears and eyes; he goes back and forth from beginning to end, without knowing the beginning or end; he wanders aimlessly beyond the dust and grime, and is carefree in the work of non-action."

Liu Ke frowned as he looked at the opening sentence, which was considered a quotation, muttered it a few times, and then continued reading.

As he chanted the secret manual and continuously learned the incantations for circulating qi, his entire mind seemed to sink and fall into the vast sea of ​​consciousness.

When he came to his senses, he felt that the world had turned into black and white, and the waves beneath his feet were dark and turbid.

Before his thoughts could fully form, he saw the boundary of his sea of ​​consciousness descend like a blazing sun, burning away the turbid waves and merging heaven and earth into one.

"stove……"

"Divine strategist..."

"Hundred Refinements..."

For some reason, he felt as if his spirit and body were being scorched by fire, and all impurities were being expelled.

At the same time, a sentence began to echo uncontrollably in his ears.

"Human beings are the most exquisite 'divine mechanisms' in the universe."

(End of this chapter)