With the addition of energy transformed from these ores and earth, the sphere of light floating in the handcraft shack slightly expanded.
–Wow!–
The people outside observed the harmoniously slow-rotating pattern within the sphere of light, and one exclaimed softly, –We’ve never seen such a stably rotating sphere of light before.–
–Rumor has it that the smoother and more naturally rotating the sphere of light, the higher the quality of the Shin Engine it gives birth to.–
–With such thorough preparations, I feel like we might actually succeed!–
–Number eight.–
As time ticked by, box after box was emptied.
Gasps rang out now and then across the wild, as the crowd watched the swirling sphere of light grow ever larger and more dazzling, its patterns shifting into visions of Yang Zicang digging pits, paving floors, and building walls.
A hundred meters away, a sleeping figure was roused by the intermittent cheers.
–Box No. 3.–
Zuo Feixian approached the lone, glowing tent on the desolate field step by step.
A shadow suddenly emerged from the dimness, startling the few nearby: –Zuo…–
–Shh.– Zuo Feixian raised a finger to his lips, motioning for silence so as not to disturb those inside.
He stared at the cluster of light, a mix of bewilderment, incredulity, and a sense of melancholic loss flickered across his face.
–Number Two.– Yang Zicang said from inside without looking back.
–We’re almost there, al-most there!– Qian Zhongsheng clenched his fists, growling excitedly in his throat.
The two carried in the stone box representing the topmost layer of the well’s opening. It was encased in yellow mud mixed with gravel, with a ring of neatly arranged blue stone blocks inside. Watching the blue stone dissolve into mist and blend into the light, all the unwillingness in Zuo Feixian’s expression dissipated.
The harmoniously flickering orb of light was so beautiful—all that remained in him was admiration.
An engine, the size of a fist, flickered into view within it from time to time.
In truth, the well was already complete now, but there was one last item marked with a Number One label.
Number One was not a box but a stone rim, fitted with an iron frame and crafted from blue stone with a wastewater-proof design.
–Heave ho!– Chin Mong stepped up with the other two, the three of them struggling to lift the wellhead.
–Let me help too.– Zuo Feixian rolled up his sleeves, exposing clean but heavily calloused hands as he spoke.
–Master Zuo, maybe you should just sit this one out.–
–Are you asking for death?– Zuo Feixian shot them a glare and scolded softly.
They exchanged a sneaky grin, and Master Zuo reached out, yanking Wang Chong, who was about to touch the wellhead, behind him before filling in the remaining corner himself.
Their shoulders bulged with muscle as they bent over and carried the wellhead into the shed. Yang Zicang, his back to everyone, flickered in and out of the chaotic glow, like a divine being.
He lightly tapped the bluestone wellhead with a finger shimmering with a radiant light, and it dissolved into the luminous mass.
–It should be done.– Yang Zicang used the Moxel to confirm the completion of this Shin Engine craft.
The light retracted into the crystallized, three-cylinder miniature engine. Deprived of its energy support, the engine fell from the air, and Yang Zicang caught it in one hand.
[I obtained a new Shin Engine. As a terrain-type engine, its pulse can only beat once.]
The chaotic glow faded, and Yang Zicang’s figure became clear.
Inside the engine in his hand, a scene slowly played out: clear water gushed from the bottom of a well. Just holding it, one felt a cool and refreshing comfort. Though the whole process left him as exhausted as if he had pulled an all-nighter, it was still filled with a great sense of achievement.
The others back at headquarters, watching in suspense, exclaimed excitedly:
{It worked, right?}
To them, the whole scene seemed so unreal, as if guiding a sorcerer in a fantasy world to complete a creation.
–It’s a success. It is perfect. This is the fruit of all our efforts.–
{Excellent, we need to remember today’s process.}
{Xiao Yang, next, I’ll prepare five sets for you—no, ten!}
{I really wish I could be there myself; that place is where I truly belong.}
Yang Zicang looked at the person before him and the crowd in Syn-Link:
–Thank you, I truly appreciate everyone’s efforts. This engine, born from our collaboration, can solve the drinking water problems of so many.–
In his heart, he whispered softly to the engine in his hand: And thank you, nameless creator.
The engine in his hand seemed to tremble slightly, as if sensing the thought in Yang Zicang’s mind, but upon careful examination, it felt like nothing more than an illusion.
Yang Zicang disconnected from Syn-Link and shifted his attention to the immediate surroundings.
–Wow, Yang—Jiazi Ge, we made it, right?–
–Hell yeah it worked! Hahaha, we can drink clean water now!–
Yang Zicang walked out and saw a new figure approaching.
–C-Can I take a look at it?– Zuo Feixian nervously stared at the young man before him. This was something he had tried long and hard to make but failed, only to have it brought to life by another.
–Of course.–
Yang Zicang could easily guess that this man, who had been tailing him for most of the day, was the legendary Master Zuo—–Famed by One Touch.–
Zuo Feixian felt the Shin Engine in his palm, certain it was a well capable of yielding the finest springs of water.
His eyes glanced at the empty boxes and various items scattered on the floor. Zuo Feixian could sense the meticulousness of their creator from the orderly labeling. It seemed that while he was asleep, these people had accomplished a great deal—a fact that filled him with a sense of shame.
–Responsible and professional—no wonder you succeeded so perfectly. Brother Jiazi Term, what do you plan to do with this well engine? Actually, Hubville doesn’t have much need for it. I know I have no right to say this, but I still hope… it can stay in this wasteland.–
–Why did Ning Yang choose you to build the well?–
–Huh?–
–You must have some extraordinary quality for him to let you control twenty or thirty Moxel, right? Besides, you were so… ‘careless,’ yet he still chose you.–
Yang Zicang bent down to pick up a box: –I believe he could see through your character.–
–Oh, you really are something.– A stiff smile cracked Zuo Feixian’s face. –Of course I do. I have ‘that hand,’ which is why Penglord treats me with such respect.–
He handed the engine to the eager group standing nearby, who immediately took it with joy, forming a circle to pass it around.
–What hand?–
–There’s a mound behind Peng Zone. Go check out what’s on it tomorrow—you’ll understand. That thing chose me.–
–Why wait till tomorrow?–
After placing the small Coldward Hearth accessory into Zuo Feixian’s stone hut, the man with disheveled hair, clad in a new gray-black cotton coat sent by Penglord, shoved his hands in his pockets and headed alone, with only Yang Zicang, toward a small patch of open ground behind the row of huts.
In the dim daylight, a brownish yellow oblong stone, encased in a shell of cobblestones, stood obliquely on a small mound. It was surrounded by a low fence, from which faded strips of cloth fluttered in the wind.
This stone—narrower than a stele yet broader than a pillar—bore a faint, resembling a human silhouette, though it was incredibly blurry.
Without the fence surrounding it, the thing would have been dismissed as worthless.
–A sculpture?– the young man muttered, eyeing the relief-like trace, wondering if it could be a kind of bloodline statue.
His mind still lingered on the legendary bloodline statue, which he had yet to obtain even in his dreams.
–Sculpture? No, it actually has life. Weird as it sounds, it once told me it was half of a ‘person’.–
–Half a person…– Yang Zicang scrutinized the stone with its blurred contours.
Yang Zicang examined the object more closely, its indistinct shape almost impossible to discern.
–Can I touch it?–
–Yeah, but be careful not to damage it, or you’ll bring bad luck upon yourself.–
He was not one to leave the marks of his claws on ancient ruins. Yang Zicang merely brushed it, yet sensed nothing.
Seizing the moment as Zuo Feixian turned away to blow his nose, he quietly activated the power of the Paleshade Wyrm, but even the stone showed no psychic reaction.
–You said you have ‘one hand,’ but I can’t see any outline of it.–
–Only the chosen ones can sense it. That’s why most people, who can’t perceive it, simply disregard it.– Zuo Feixian touched the stone as well. –It helps me craft successful engines more readily, even when materials are lacking, it still gives me a chance.–
–Really?– This unprepossessing thing turned out to be such a great treasure.
Master Zuo grinned roguishly, –You know I’ve built over thirty well engines in the last two years, right?–
–Legendary indeed.–
–Cut it out, you’re making fun of me. But for what it’s worth, each one of them was truly ‘successful’—it’s just that they didn’t produce spring water. Can you grasp what I’m saying?–
Master Zuo lifted his head with a hint of pride.
–Is that how you’ve been convincing yourself for the past two years?–
Naturally, Yang Zicang understood what he meant—if not for the obsession with drinking water, all those thirty-plus engines had indeed –succeeded.–
So that’s how it was; this rock certainly had some secrets to it.
–Something so remarkable—shouldn’t it be better protected?–
Zuo Feixian grinned mischievously: –I think so too. But it doesn’t look appealing—if I hadn’t brought you along, you probably wouldn’t have even noticed its existence, right? Though that’s not the most crucial reason.–
–Oh?–
–Because similar stone tablets… well, let’s call them stone tablets, actually exist in many places.–
He raised his hand, pointing to the various shantytowns surrounding this small clearing, their backs turned toward it.
–The reason everyone chose to gather here in the first place was because someone sensed the presence of this stone tablet, leading them to settle here. Across this vast land, traces of them can be found in many locations, and in those places, shantytowns tend to gather, forming settlements.–
–Hey, it’s this cool, and you still have the leisure to come stare at stones?–
From a small window on the second floor of a building a dozen meters away, Ning Yangpenglord’s head poked out.
Yang Zicang smiled and waved at Ning Yang: –We’re about to head off to rest.–
On the way back, –Please, wait a moment.– Passing through the narrow alley between two walls, Zuo Feixian stopped, blinking his dried-out eyes before turning his head to look back at the young man behind him.
Jiazi Term spread open her palm, holding out the delicate and compact engine she had been dragging, presenting it before her.
–What does this mean?–
–It’s a gift for you. Those chosen by divine objects must have something extraordinary about them, after all. I was originally planning to leave this engine here on this land anyway.–
Zuo Feixian stared blankly for three or four seconds before suddenly snatching it into his hand.
–I was meaning to be polite and refuse, you know.–
They paused for a moment, then both let out a few low, mischievous chuckles.
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