"What is this?" The old man asked, his face filled with puzzlement as he looked at the Voidshift Stone ring in Lin Tian's hand. Yet he knew well that his disciple would never try to deceive him with an ordinary piece of Voidshift Stone.
"Master, try channeling some spiritual energy into it," Lin Tian said calmly.
With a tentative mindset, the old man slowly infused his spiritual energy into the ring. Almost at once, a beam of light flared from the Voidshift Stone. In the next instant, the Mortal Cannon was directly retrieved.
"This… what is this?" The old man was utterly stunned, scarcely able to believe what he was seeing.
Though he was not from the Artifact Peak, he was still familiar with Voidshift Stone. He had never imagined it could be used in such a way.
"Good disciple, what on earth is going on here?" the old man asked, staring blankly at the ring, completely dumbfounded.
"This is a Voidshift Stone ring I forged—also known as a spatial ring," Lin Tian said, a faint smile gradually appearing on his lips. "Voidshift Stone naturally contains its own spatial domain, but that space is extremely unstable. So I used spatial formations to stabilize the internal space. Once stabilized, the space inside can be used to store items."
"Moreover, because Voidshift Stone can absorb spiritual energy, I arranged a Spirit-Gathering Formation within it. That formation sustains the spiritual energy needed to maintain the spatial array, allowing the ring to remain completely stable," Lin Tian explained.
"However, my current cultivation is limited. I can only barely make use of raw Voidshift Stone. If I were able to refine it into Voidshift Crystal, the internal space of the spatial ring could expand dozens of times. At that point, it could store far more items."
"So that's why you called me here—to help you refine Voidshift Crystal?" The old man finally understood Lin Tian's purpose.
"Exactly. With Voidshift Crystal, I'm confident I can create spatial rings with much larger internal space," Lin Tian said excitedly, his hopes riding high on the success of this experiment.
"By the way, disciple—can this item be mass-produced?" The old man blinked, fixing his gaze on Lin Tian.
"As long as there is enough Voidshift Stone, mass production is certainly possible," Lin Tian answered honestly.
"Then have you considered mass-producing it?" A subtle curve appeared at the corner of the old man's mouth. Clearly, he had already spotted immense commercial potential in the spatial ring.
"Master, are you suggesting we sell spatial rings?" Lin Tian's smile widened as he spoke.
"Precisely. If you can mass-produce and sell these spatial rings, the profits would be astronomical. At such a young age, you could rival entire nations in wealth," the old man said, growing increasingly animated as he spoke, evidently seeing tremendous opportunity.
"I must admit, Master, your idea is worth pursuing," Lin Tian replied after some careful thought. It seemed he truly ought to put this plan into action.
"Still, your current forging techniques are rather immature. There are details that must be thoroughly tested," the old man said, taking the Voidshift Stone into his hand as artifact flame burst forth. "Let us perfect it over the next few days before even considering selling it."
Even the Voidshift Stone Lin Tian had previously wasted was gathered up by the old man and refined anew.
Two full hours later, a fist-sized piece of Voidshift Crystal finally appeared in the old man's hand. With a gentle release of spiritual energy, a tiny fragment was cut away.
At once, streams of sigils flew from Lin Tian's fingers, landing precisely upon the Voidshift Crystal.
Watching this sequence of actions, the old man was completely stunned. Though he was aware of his disciple's abilities, he now realized he had vastly underestimated him. To compress formation sigils to such a fine scale, inscribe them onto Voidshift Crystal, and still ensure the formation's proper operation—this level of mastery was extraordinary.
Even within the Formation Peak, very few could achieve such precision. Were it not for Lin Tian's insufficient cultivation, even the inner disciples of the Formation Peak might not compare to him.
After completing the stabilizing formation, Lin Tian expressionlessly set up the Spirit-Gathering Formation once more. Compared to raw Voidshift Stone, the Voidshift Crystal possessed a much larger internal space, requiring a formation that could absorb even greater amounts of spiritual energy.
The demands on the sigils were far more exacting. Yet Lin Tian worked without the slightest hesitation, as though everything were effortless and instinctive.
"Good disciple… how is your attainment in formations so astonishingly high?" the old man finally asked, eyes wide with disbelief as he looked at Lin Tian.
"It's nothing more than carving a few formations," Lin Tian replied modestly. For fifteen straight days, he had labored without sleep, failing countless times while inscribing sigils. That he could now succeed was only natural.
"Master, this spatial ring is for you," Lin Tian said, handing it over. "I've also infused it with a trace of sentience. Once you form a contract with it, the ring will recognize you as its master."
"What did you say? Are you telling me this ring even has an artifact spirit?" The old man froze, utterly stunned, unable to believe Lin Tian had placed an artifact spirit within the ring as well.
"That's right. A spatial ring allows anyone to store and retrieve items simply by infusing spiritual energy, which makes it inherently insecure. By adding an artifact spirit, the ring can recognize a single master, greatly enhancing its security," Lin Tian explained.
At this, the old man was completely speechless.