"Oh, I see!"Now Lu Li understood why the Chief paid special attention to him and asked about him. Luckily, Patriarch Gu covered for him and the Chief did not press him with more questions. He just told Patriarch Gu to investigate secretly.
Lu Li nodded. "Yes, Master. I have an Enchanted Soul to protect me. I came by it by change."
"You sure have many secrets."
A rare smile climbed to Patriarch Gu"s face. "You have just ascended but you can obtain such a rare Enchanted Soul. Do you have a big connection in the Divinity? You have to know that Enchanted Souls are precious."
"No…"
Lu Li forced a smile. "Master, do you think I would be hunted down if I had some connections here in the Divinity? Why would I escape to the Chamber of Relics on my own?"
Lu Li added after some thoughts, "I have a sister. She should be a disciple of a major force in the Divinity. By chance, she went to our mortal world and was adopted by my father. This Enchanted Soul belonged to her. Now, my sister has been brought back to the Divinity. I do not know which force she is in. I only know that in the name of her family or force, there is this word "Ni"."
"Ni?"
Patriarch Gu frowned. "Many forces in the Divinity has the word "Ni" in their names. There are two such forces among the 72. One is the Ni in the Deities and the other is League of Heavenly Ni. I remember some other hidden forces have this word in their name as well."
"What?"
Lu Li"s eyes glowed. He took out a portrait at once and handed it over to Patriarch Gu. "Master, can you check for me? I really want to find my sister. I don"t have to do anything. I just want to locate her and make sure that she is living a good life."
"That is easy!"
Patriarch Gu put away the portrait and nodded. "I can send someone to the Cabinet of Mystery later. Basically, there is nothing that the Cabinet of Mystery cannot find out in the world as long as you give them enough Divine Sources. They can collect a lot of information. Ling Wanjian must have hired the Cabinet of Mystery to know that you are the one that killed Ling Feidu. Too bad that we have no proof against him about the matter at Brown Blood Mountain or else Ling Wanjian would be punished with death."
"Thank you, Master!"
Lu Li clasped his fists. He was grateful. Cabinet of Cloud was one of the 72 sects. He was not surprised that they could find out his ident.i.ty. He did not mind this. Ling Wanjian could not kill his way into the Valley of Relics. Lu Li could just stay here under Patriarch Gu"s protection.
What he worried about was the att.i.tude of the Chief. "Master, about the Chief…" He said with concern.
"Relax. I will take care of it."
Patriarch Gu waved his hand. "The Chief and I are like brothers. I can persuade him. You just focus on cultivation. For the time being, read the books and ask me if something escapes your understanding. You can practice in the Hall of Production with Qian Huanhan when you are free. First, you need to learn how to make prototypes. We will talk about future steps when you can make perfect prototypes."
"Yes!"
Lu Li clasped his hands and left. He went back toward his own room. Before he could step inside, Qian Huanhan dragged Lu Li into his room. Inside, Qian Huanhan asked, in confusion, "Brother Li, have I really become Patriarch Gu"s private student? How come I think this is a dream?"
"Ha, ha!"
Lu Li was happy that Qian Huanhan was still nice to him and would call him Brother Li even after he had become Patriarch Gu"s private student.
Lu Li nodded, "Yes. But if you think this is a dream, how about… I slap some sense into you?"
"Well… I"d rather not. The Patriarch slaps me every day. If you slap me, I will become a fool."
Qian Huanhan said bitterly and added another question, "Why did the Patriarch… no, the Master summoned you? Why didn"t he get me over there to teach me?"
Lu Li broke into laughter. Patriarch Gu probably did not care about Qian Huanhan at all. He was Lu Li"s cover. Why would Patriarch Gu be patient with Qian Huanhan?
Lu Li took out the books patriarch Gu gave him and said, "Han, Patriarch Gu will teach us his experience in forging artifacts. I will copy the notes here and then give them to you."
Lu Li liked Qian Huanhan as well. He believed that if Qian Huanhan was too bad in forging artifacts, n.o.body would believe that he was Patriarch Gu"s private student. In that case, Qian Huanhan would lose the value of being a cover.
"Okay, thank you!"
Qian Huanhan was thrilled. But he was not stupid. "Why didn"t the Master give them to me in person? Why did he have you do this?" He asked, puzzled.
Theoretically speaking, with something so important, Patriarch Gu should hand them to Qian Huanhan in person? Lu Li was the registered disciple. How come he could study the notes as well?
"Ha, ha!"
Lu Li made something up. "Patriarch Gu says that he recognizes your talent in forging artifacts but does not want to comment on your EQ. He says that he wants to slap you every time he sees you… So, in case he regrets taking you as his private student, he decides not to see you anytime soon just so that he will not be crossed with you…"
"Eh!"
Qian Huanhan touched his nose in embarra.s.sment. "I don"t know why but the Master just does not like me. He hits me so often. I don"t think I"ve done anything wrong…"
"Well, just focus on forging artifacts!"
Lu Li patted Qian Huanhan"s shoulder. "When you can make fast progress, the Patriarch will be kinder to you."
Lu Li took out some pens and paper to copy the notes and gave the original to Qian Huanhan when he finished. Then, Lu Li went to the backyard to report his action to Patriarch Gu. After all, he did take the liberty to give Patriarch Gu"s notes to Qian Huanhan.
Patriarch Gu did not mind. He praised that Lu Li had done the right thing. Since Qian Huanhan had become the private student, if his ability in forging artifacts was poor, Patriarch Gu would feel disgraced.
Lu Li closed his door to study as soon as he came back. He read the notes from Patriarch Gu. Those notes were all about Patriarch Gu"s experience and thinking on forging artifacts. The detailed steps of forging artifacts were recorded in an organized way. Profound theories were explained in simple languages. It was easy to understand.
Lu Li read through the notes in several days. Now, he had a systematic understanding of forging artifacts.
The first step was to make the prototype which was the simplest step. Usually, the disciples could master this skill after a period of practice.
The second step was to install Inhibition Formations. Why would the Relics be so powerful? The reason was that there were Inhibition Formations inside. The more advanced the Inhibition Formations were, the more powerful the Relics would be.
The third step was to seal in the artifact spirit. Many Relics had spirits whose major function was to control the Inhibition Formations inside, balance the powers and enhance the effects.
The final step and also the most critical one was to finalize the artifact, to make it stable. If a Relic was unstable, then it would be a piece of waste. For example, if a Relic armor went wrong all of a sudden, then it would be no different from a regular iron armor. A warrior could die from a faulty armor.
The stabilization also had much to do with the grade of a Relic. If the stabilizer could not be conducted well, then even a super-grade Relic by design could fall to the inferior-grade. Therefore, it was not necessary that one could make a super-grade Relic even when the prototype, Inhibition Formations, and the spirit were all fine.
Of course, the Inhibition Formations were key as well. If one could not install powerful Inhibition Formations, then one could never make a high-grade Relic. Inhibition Formations were the foundation!
"Well, well~"
Lu Li put away the notes. He had made up his mind that he would become a craftsman and be able to forge a Relic within a year.
Then, he would strike to become a skilled craftsman in three to five years. Once that happened, he shall no longer be in need of Divine Sources. His ultimate goal was to become a master craftsman and a patriarch of the Chamber of Relics. By that time, he could walk into the Cabinet of Cloud and n.o.body could do anything about him.