Above The Sky
Chapter 1021 - 1021 111 The Deep Waters of the Terra Universe 5400 asking for monthly pass at month's end!_2

1021: Chapter 111: The Deep Waters of the Terra Universe (5400, asking for monthly pass at month’s end!)_2 1021: Chapter 111: The Deep Waters of the Terra Universe (5400, asking for monthly pass at month’s end!)_2 Everyone knows that the vast majority of rockets are disposable!

And now, Ian had finally set his eyes on the Ether Furnace Core of Conquest Ripple.

Taking up the “heart and spine” of the Aether Armament, the Ether Furnace Core resembled a transparent crystal ball encased in multiple layers of pentagonal metal latticework.

At the very heart of the crystal lay an Elemental Crystal shaped into a perfect pentagonal solid.

Once activated, the Elemental Crystal would ignite, releasing Pure Origin.

This Origin would trigger a siphoning effect, drawing in Natural Spirit Energy from the surrounding space-time, condensing it into “Primal Aether” within the crystal ball, thereby initiating a chain reaction.

Before the Elemental Crystal was depleted, the energy output of the Ether Furnace Core was essentially infinite.

This allowed the Aether Armament to burn through Origin with abandon, unleashing devastating wide-range attacks that humans could scarcely use with any frequency—its firepower was potent enough to suppress an entire army.

This was a fairly standard Ether Furnace Core, equipped with twelve ports, capable of powering twelve Advanced Sublimation Modules simultaneously.

However, this didn’t mean it could support twelve “Abyssal Sea Pressure” modules at once—the module Viscount Grant used to unleash city-leveling tidal waves.

Such high-tier modules required at least three ports each.

More advanced Ether Furnace Cores might only need a single port to power an Abyssal Sea Pressure module, or might have even more ports available.

At a glance, Ian immediately noticed a flaw in Conquest Ripple’s Ether Furnace Core: its inscribed Origin transmission channels were damaged, which reduced both its operating time and energy transfer efficiency by over a third.

Even though Elder Pude had stabilized its output, all he had managed was restoring its operational time to just below normal levels.

Conquest Ripple still struggled to utilize mid to high-tier Third Energy Level techniques effectively.

As for repairs, it wouldn’t be too difficult.

Ian deliberated whether to use Mithril for crafting a reinforced pipeline to replace the damaged channel, or to crudely patch it up with Morien Steel—the former would strengthen Conquest Ripple significantly, while the latter would only maintain its current state.

Given how amiably Viscount Grant had collaborated with him, without eliciting any suspicion, Ian didn’t bother asking which option the Viscount wanted.

He simply informed him directly: he would use Mithril to repair Conquest Ripple’s pipeline.

Viscount Grant wasted no time and spoke with equal decisiveness.

Summoning Lamar, he ordered the retrieval of the family’s secret vault, personally handing Ian a piece of high-purity Mithril—the only one of its kind in all of Harrison Port.

“I won’t let you down.”

Seeing that the Viscount hadn’t uttered a single superfluous word, Ian smiled and nodded.

He picked up his specialized inscription repair tools—a cherished set provided by Yisen Gard—and began the repair work on the Ether Furnace Core.

The specifics of the repair process didn’t warrant much detail.

Fundamentally, it was no different from laying mortar at a construction site—except it demanded an astronomical level of precision.

But for Ian, it was hardly a challenge.

When Ian finally raised his photolithography pen, trails of luminous lines began to radiate across the Ether Furnace Core.

Starting from the central crystal ball, the patterns spread in all directions.

Soon after, surging streams of Origin flowed outward, filling the repair chamber with a spectral blue-green radiance.

Thick Water Element Origin materialized around them, transforming the space into a simulated undersea abyss, with the Ether Furnace Core glowing like the sun in deep waters.

Its brilliance illuminated Ian’s face and the ecstatic expression of Viscount Grant.

“Yes, that’s it!”

The Viscount strode forward quickly, his face brimming with astonishment, tinged with a trace of nostalgia.

His eyes fixated on the Ether Furnace Core glowing before Ian.

Viscount Grant studied this ancestral Aether Armament left by his forebears.

Although it had undergone extensive repairs and replacements over the years—down to its Ether Furnace Core—it still stood as the ultimate symbol of past glory for the Grant Family.

It was the most distinguished heritage and martial legacy of this land.

Yet, this monumental treasure had gathered dust under his stewardship.

The damage to the Ether Furnace Core wasn’t the real disgrace; it was no rarity for noble families to lack the expertise needed to repair Ether Furnace Cores.

Many noble houses had no choice but to hire external experts for repairs, which explained the high regard for Alchemy Masters.

The true shame lay in the Grant Family’s prolonged detachment from the Imperial Center—so much so that they couldn’t even secure the appropriate expertise to fix their own Ether Furnace Core.

But now…

things were different.

The Viscount turned his head to look at Ian, who was also smiling, now inspecting his finished work.

—He had trained a future Alchemy Master…

no, Ian was already an Alchemy Master.

To repair the Ether Furnace Core’s damage so effortlessly, and in less than an afternoon’s time, completing it all in one go—even Master Gossay couldn’t pull off such a feat.

At the very least, Gossay would need to go over the repair process mentally, contemplate it for a day or so, before daring to begin.

But Ian started right away and finished in one attempt… this could only mean one thing.

“That damn kid, along with that old codger Pude, are hiding something again,”

the Viscount cursed in his heart with a wry smile.

He figured it out—the White Folks had a habit of keeping secrets to themselves.

Be it strength, inheritance, or now even alchemical skills, they concealed it all.

But soon, the Viscount sensed something amiss—if Ian had truly been holding back some hidden skills, why show them now?

Could it be…

“Ian.”

He tentatively inquired, “Do you know that repairing an Ether Furnace Core usually takes at least a full day?”