Master of Kaidan
Chapter 50 Preparing for Action

Chapter 50: Chapter 50 Preparing for Action

As the day of the great purge approached, the tense atmosphere in the landfill area gradually eased, and it appeared as though the people from the Cross Sword Union had given up, with significantly fewer minions surrounding Feng Xue’s original residence.

However, Feng Xue understood clearly that the Cross Sword Union hadn’t given up, but had instead adopted a more covert strategy of search, such as having Appraisers conceal their professions and wander around the streets without any identifying tags.

This discovery had come about after Feng Xue had encountered an Appraiser he recognized who wasn’t wearing a label.

But this was not a problem for Feng Xue, as he had already planned to seclude himself for Artifact Refining during this time.

...

"I’ve finished reading!" Looking at the Bu Tiange Secret Manual that Chen Xiyao had handed back, Feng Xue raised an eyebrow and asked,

"Did you learn it?"

"Yes, do you really not have any similar math textbooks?" Chen Xiyao asked somewhat reluctantly. Though it was a bit more troublesome than the disc that taught Skills through a sound effect on the forehead, it was still quite powerful to be able to learn by reading it once.

"I really don’t have that," Feng Xue shook his head, but didn’t immediately roll up the Bu Tiange Secret Manual, instead saying,

"Copy this manual, focusing mainly on the latter content, and try to retain the original format as much as possible, understand?"

"The latter part... the fragments that are unreadable?" Although Feng Xue had said to just read the outlines, how could Chen Xiyao resist looking further?

However, aside from the outline, the contents of the Bu Tiange Secret Manual were incomplete; understanding about ten percent of the text in the latter part was already quite good.

"This manual is full of illustrations. Your foundation in Astronomy is too weak, so you couldn’t see it. Copy the contents according to the format. When you go back, you can combine it with external astronomical knowledge and try to complete it. Then you’ll be able to produce a complete manual."

"Can I really go back?" Chen Xiyao had asked this question before, but this time, she felt somewhat confident.

"Yes, the Cross Sword lowered their defenses slightly to find you, but this also presents an opportunity. We will attack using the Mist Field, and as long as you can touch that door, you can go back."

Feng Xue stated this expressionlessly, as if talking about something trivial, while simultaneously breaking down cards, pulling out pages, creating strange mirages, or continuously adding more, until the pages collapsed into a Black Ball.

When the useless mirages had accumulated to a certain number, he would pull out the Indescribable Stick from his pocket and subject them to the harshest divine punishment—

This was a method of recycling mirages that he had inadvertently discovered recently. As long as a mirage with sufficient destructive power destroyed them, the mirages would lose their unrefinable property. After refining the debris, there was a chance to recycle some elements.

As for how he had discovered this...

Well, this began with him returning home yesterday and losing control of his emotions after producing a "True·Indescribable Stick," and thus smashing it with a crowbar.

In short, although this method was quite wasteful, it was at least a way to mitigate losses.

Feng Xue’s indifferent attitude actually set Chen Xiyao’s mind at ease considerably. Without any superfluous words, she immediately picked five pages with the fewest characters and began transcribing them. The paper used for pirated books was generally of poor quality, but it was also very thin and transparent, which turned out to be an advantage for copying the incomplete pages. Chen Xiyao held a charcoal pencil and continuously traced the visible words on the fragmented pages, then using a technique of filling with black and leaving spaces, she represented those parts stained or washed away by water.

At that moment, Chen Xiyao was grateful for the first time in her life for the Chinese painting classes her parents had enrolled her in as a child. Although her skills were mediocre, she was able to depict at least some part of what could be considered the "artistic conception" of the pictures in the Secret Manual.

Even a little was better than nothing.

"Darn, I should’ve brought my smartphone with me! If I had a camera right now, it would be so much better!" Chen Xiyao complained inwardly, but she soon gathered her thoughts again, trying to grasp the shape of the fragments. The initial positive emotions from when she first traveled had long since worn thin. Now, the mere thought of home brought her to the brink of tears.

"Huh?!"

Just as Chen Xiyao was about to discreetly wipe away her tears, a strange cry immediately shifted her focus.

She had heard these kinds of sounds many times these days, and without thinking much, she knew that guy must have created some weird contraption again.

What could it be this time?

Chen Xiyao turned her head but didn’t see any of the strange toys that had either embarrassed or made her blush before. Instead, it was...

A mirror?

No, that wasn’t right either, it looked more like a lens of some sort...

"What is this?" Chen Xiyao, who was accustomed to speaking her mind, immediately asked out of curiosity. However, Feng Xue’s expression was very odd. He just raised his hand and tucked the mirror into his Storage Bag without giving a direct answer, only indifferently remarking,

"It’s nothing useful."

"If you won’t tell, then don’t." Chen Xiyao responded with a pout, bending down again to continue copying the Bu Tiange Secret Manual, while Feng Xue temporarily set aside his idea of concocting weird items and gathered his previous inspiration.

He realized that he seemed to have put together an incredible combo...

"No, this jester-like gadget probably isn’t that strong, I still need to test it." Feng Xue resolved and decided to use some ominous signs to experiment tonight; then he took out one Item after another, continuing his work of reforging.

This routine continued for three whole days until Feng Xue had transformed over eight hundred pages of paper into Illusions, "Identity" spheres, and Black Balls. Only then did he finally stop this tedious yet thrilling task.

Honestly, Feng Xue felt that reforging was quite similar to drawing cards in mobile games or opening boxes in online games—if you had few Lottery Tickets, every draw was filled with tension and excitement. But if you decided to open a few hundred boxes or a few thousand draws, apart from the moment of actual extraction, what remained was a calm devoid of sadness or joy.

Not to mention, Feng Xue couldn’t skip through the boxing process with a single click, continuing nonstop for three days, which left him somewhat numb. But when he finally laid out a dozen or so Illusion Items in a row, he suddenly realized—wow, when did he accumulate so many?

However, perhaps limited by the baseline or due to the elements involved, this batch of Illusion Items had awkward effects. They weren’t completely useless, but none were particularly impressive.

"Yet it’s enough!" Feng Xue evaluated his plan once more, ensuring there were no issues, before finally standing up and saying to Chen Xiyao:

"Are you ready? Tonight, I’ll take you home."