Chapter 123: Feather Sheath Wings and the Nine-Row Skywing!
Compared to pharmacists, refiners are much easier to gather together.
The shape of medicinal pills basically limits the ability of pharmacists to gather for a rebellion. After all, how could you make a pill as big as a football or even larger? But refiners have a great deal of freedom in this area, allowing them to form more flexible groups.
When a few pharmacists get together, they might keep their formulas and refining methods secret.
But when a few refiners get together, it's a different story:
"Huh? You're good at engraving Dou Qi patterns?"
"Perfect! I'm good at spiritual forging with materials!"
"Count me in! I have some excellent divine materials!"
"Me, me, me! I have a great idea!"
The personal nature of medicinal pills makes alchemy a solitary pursuit, whereas the universal properties of Dou Qi devices forge a team mentality among refiners.
Of course, the main reason is that when multiple refiners work together to forge a new Dou Qi device, the device's blueprints are shared. Unlike alchemy, where failed formulas are discarded, a failed Dou Qi device often still has its materials that can be recycled and reused. Even the failed scraps can provide refiners with valuable experience, or even lead to the discovery of new alloys.
At the Tianzi Refining Arena, the seven-member refiner team worked together and found the best materials to match the performance of the Fourth-Grade Four-Leaf Feather Sheath Wings in just one day. At the same time, Yuan Bao also successfully learned the Feather Sheath and figured out the flying control performance of the Four-Leaf Feather Sheath Wings. He began providing flying data to the Fourth-Grade refiners, Ha Mo and Kle.
During this time, Hu Lei and Han Yu passed by and glanced silently at them, but they said nothing and quietly left.
"The atmosphere in the guild is quite rare," Han Yu said quietly as he followed Hu Lei down the corridor, heading towards the night.
"Jiang Lin's flying Dou Qi device control method and the Lan Eagle's behavior have similarities to the Tianyan Nine-Row Wings from the Falling Goose Empire. The only difference now is that Jiang Lin uses metal materials while the Falling Goose Empire uses biological wings," Hu Lei said softly.
"That kid's flying blueprint is very clear, and he has a complete system. The core of it, the Dou Qi engine, is a creative energy model, using the simplest Dou Qi technique model. It has room for future upgrades. In other words, Jiang Lin's Feather Sheath Wings might be average in the early stages, but as material research and energy layout experience improve, along with the upgrade of the Dou Qi engine, the technology will reach a certain level, and its upper limit might not be much worse than the Tianyan Nine-Row Wings from the Falling Goose Empire."
Hu Lei appreciated Jiang Lin's ideas on the Feather Sheath Wings and gave it an evaluation comparable to the Tianyan Nine-Row Wings.
"Your evaluation is quite high," Han Yu commented, clearly surprised. The Tianyan Nine-Row Wings were the pinnacle achievement of the Falling Goose Empire's flying Dou Qi technology. But now, Hu Lei thought that a young boy who hadn't even fully grown yet might possess the potential to catch up with one of the empire's greatest achievements.
"Is it too high? The main difference is that others prefer to focus on flying Dou Qi techniques, but the human meridian system is limited, which restricts the upper limit of flying Dou Qi. That's why most Dou Huang and above experts prefer to use spatial power. But a flying Dou Qi device can bypass the limits of the meridians, allowing it to carry more energy and achieve higher potential."
"The Tianyan Nine-Row Wings are actually a very special Dou Qi technique. In a sense, they are like a Dou Qi device, but due to their perfect grafting, the wings and body become one, thus transforming into a Dou Qi technique."
"If it were another refining project, we couldn't have gathered these refiners. Either they wouldn't have the level to participate, or they wouldn't be interested. But Jiang Lin brought a flying Dou Qi device and opened a new project for the guild. These refiners, who are not yet Dou Wang, are highly motivated. Furthermore, the current flying Dou Qi device is simple in construction, and there's no difficulty for these people to get started with."
"A perfect refining project like this deserves encouragement," Hu Lei said, turning to look at Jiang Lin and his team, his eyes full of appreciation.
"You certainly have a lot of confidence in them," Han Yu remarked with a sigh.
"Dou Ling suppressing Dou Wang in aerial combat? Only you would dare to imagine such a thing," Han Yu added with a wry smile.
"Confidence? Maybe just a little," Hu Lei said, as he led Han Yu to the top of the Refining Masters Guild building to look towards the imperial capital, a slight smile playing on his lips.
"By the way, there's one thing I don't understand. With the level of intelligence of that mutated Lan Eagle, it's not something that can be easily 'tamed,' is it?" It was already deep into the night, and countless torches were burning on the city walls of the Imperial Capital, making the city appear grand and majestic in the darkness.
Han Yu, though not experienced with magical beasts, knew that it was best to begin raising a beast when it was still in its ignorant stage, or at least when its intelligence had just begun to awaken, in order to form a deep bond. The two guardians of the Gama Imperial Family, Ji Xingtian and the Youhai Serpent Beast, were an example of this—both old friends with a bond and mutual interests.
The Lan Eagle's intelligence level, displayed so clearly, was not something that could be easily fooled, especially with its 'Mission Impossible'-like act of capturing Xiao Yi Xian. Han Yu, hearing this, found it unbelievable. How could a beast be so cunning? And a second-grade magical beast at that?
"Xiao Yi Xian didn't understand, but don't tell me you didn't get it either?" Hu Lei gave Han Yu a glare and explained, "Even the kid Jiang Lin, who just arrived, understood it. So when he said that the matters between juniors should be resolved by the juniors, and made it clear that the juniors were himself and Yuan Bao, he was guiding the situation to two bet matches, not just one."
"It was at that moment that I realized not only was the Lan Eagle playing everyone, but Jiang Lin was also playing everyone."
"Having one match to decide the outcome would have made the result too heavy, and Princess Xiao Yi Xian might not have accepted that. But with two matches, at least at that moment, Xiao Yi Xian also tacitly accepted Jiang Lin's request to 'raise the Lan Eagle together.'"
"As for that greedy little brat Jiang Lin, Yuan Bao will only showcase the flying control data of the Feather Sheath Wings against traditional Dou Wang aerial combat. But the Gama Imperial Family doesn't have many Dou Ling. So Jiang Lin needs to show the terrifying dominance of the Feather Sheath Wings against a traditional Grand Dou Shi. For the Gama Empire, Dou Shi are the central force."
"Yuan Bao shows the Feather Sheath Wings' extreme flying control data, and Jiang Lin shows the lower-level dominance. Now do you understand what that kid is up to?" Hu Lei asked Han Yu with a proud glint in his eyes.
Jiang Lin, his disciple, was spiritually gifted, insightful, and had a clear vision, exactly what Hu Lei liked. Of course, if Jiang Lin hadn't told him everything from the start, Hu Lei would have thought he was being too clever, but since Jiang Lin was upfront, Hu Lei had simply followed along and enjoyed the process of understanding Jiang Lin's "impromptu performance," which gave him a sense of camaraderie.
Han Yu fell silent, his expression complicated.
"I've investigated Jiang Lin. The story he told me matches the information I gathered," Hu Lei continued. He was aware that some mercenary groups might take matters into their own hands, so the Refining Masters Guild sent two mercenary teams. Yuan Bao sent one, and Hu Lei sent one. The weaker team arrived first and gathered basic information before returning to their group, while the stronger team continued to investigate further.
"He truly is a wild refiner, starting from nothing. He entered the refining world with just a refining notebook, and his talent is extremely rare."
"That guy is very cautious. After Peso attacked him, he's been hiding in the Magical Beast Mountain Range. This shows how insecure he is. A genius who lacks security will always hide."
"But a smart genius knows how to hold onto the right thighs. After revealing his talent in the Refining Masters Guild and hearing that I wanted to take him as a disciple, he knelt without hesitation," Hu Lei smiled as he said this.
Jiang Lin had suffered, spent a lot of time in the Magical Beast Mountain Range, eating hardships, and had no backer, which made things even harder for him.
"Look, not only does he want to hold onto my thigh, but he also wants to use that Lan Eagle to hold onto Ji Xingtian's thigh."
"One person, one eagle, working together with clear goals—one to hold the Refining Masters Guild's thigh, the other to hold the Gama Imperial Family's thigh. After so many years in Gama, I've never seen such an interesting master-servant duo. What do you think?" Hu Lei glanced at Han Yu, who nodded and couldn't help but smile and shake his head.
"A fun young man came to the guild," Han Yu laughed, praising him.
Three days later, the refining team led by Jiang Lin completed the model of the Fourth-Grade Double-Leaf Feather Sheath Wings, and their research speed exceeded Jiang Lin's expectations.
At the same time, Jiang Lin had completed the design for the improved Dou Qi engine. Initially, he had designed it so simply to save costs, but now that it was moving towards high-end Dou Qi devices, he had to come up with a better Dou Qi engine.
Of course, the Dou Qi Furnace was the power source for the Six-Leaf Feather Sheath Wings, and Jiang Lin had not had time to research that yet.
With the help of the six refining masters and one apprentice, they finished the design two days ahead of the agreed schedule and just needed to wait for Yuan Bao's final spirit forging before they could start assembling!
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