Rongcheng Steel Plant, ultra-clean operation room.
A Magic Breaking Sword lay on the operation table, taking the place of the former heavy machine gun barrel.
Jiang Ding maneuvered the mechanical arm, carefully engraving a First-Order Great Sun Spirit Gathering Array and a Special Sharp Gold Array onto this Magic Breaking Sword that had been with him for a long time.
In the melting pool was not the mass-produced molten metal with only a small amount of spirit metal added by the factory.
Instead, it was the Spirit Iron he extracted from a Spirit Iron Mine obtained from Jindaobieyuan after consulting many master craftsmen and adding some auxiliary materials.
In the steel plant, there was no shortage of other things, and finding small equipment for processing ore was simple.
Furthermore, students on internships do have certain permissions to use a small amount of materials for personal use, so this was not against the rules.
Twenty minutes later,
The Magic Breaking Sword fell onto the testing conveyor belt, and a green light lit up.
"Success, it's not difficult, what is difficult is the making of a true magic tool."
Jiang Ding picked up the Magic Breaking Sword, which now had more complex patterns, and channeled his Eaglet Internal Force into it.
A dot on the blade lit up with Array Patterns, instantly spreading across the entire sword body. The Eaglet Internal Force he had poured in transformed into Sword Qi that was both blazing and sharp. It could extend to a maximum of two Zhang, about six meters.
"Not bad, it can be considered the pinnacle among semi-magic tools, and could be comparable to many lower-grade magic tools with outdated refinement techniques,"
Jiang Ding concluded after a moment of contemplation.
It far surpassed so-called "inheritance weapons" of people like Patriarch Jin Dao Wei Tu, which was why Jiang Ding never cared to seize their weapons in battle.
"It's a pity, there aren't many opportunities for close combat now."
Sheathing the sword, Jiang Ding remembered a recent incident.
A few days ago, his request to the Array Spirit to take home the top-grade special magic tool—anti-material sniper rifle and its magazines—for study was outright rejected by the Cultivation Room Array Spirit for not following the correct procedures.
An anti-material sniper rifle, given the right opportunity, could silently kill a cultivator in the later stages of Qi practicing with a high probability, posing a severe risk in the city, which is why the Array Spirit would not allow a minor to touch it outside of the supervised area.
As for the other option, his request for the Type 89 semi-magic tool heavy machine gun was approved.
Lin Wanqiu was initially against it; she did not want to keep such a dangerous item at home.
But Jiang Ding persisted, grinding her down over three days until she reluctantly agreed to order a Type 89 semi-magic tool heavy machine gun in her name online.
The delivery time would be about half a month, which should arrive before school starts.
It was not that there were no ready-made items needing rushed production, but rather various licenses were required, like firearm and collection certificates, which took time to process.
His phone lit up; it was Engineer Zhou Xiuyun calling for him.
"You've been making faster progress in your studies than planned, so now you can start learning to refine magic tools. Fortunately, First-Order Refining Master Wu Chengzhong, who is responsible for intern guidance, is currently available. Come with me,"
After the three of them gathered, Zhou Xiuyun said briefly, leading them to another area.
Following her steps, they passed through a large number of factory buildings and reached another Magic Tool Array Engraving Operation Room, which seemed to be of a higher standard.
"Master Wu Chengzhong's son is studying at No.7 High School and needs a lot of resources, so he has been working a lot of overtime recently," Zhou Xiuyun whispered to the three of them, gossiping quietly.
"Right, Master Wu's son is Wu Jinqian, close to achieving Internal Qi Perfection, and likely to condense the Dao Body Embryo. He's also a senior in high school like you guys. Do you know him?"
Being an Eaglet Innate, he had a much brighter future than many cultivators with a Quadruple Spiritual Root.
Because the Dao Body Embryo can continue to be cultivated, while Qi Practitioners, due to their excessively powerful mana, experience interference and have a much harder time condensing the Dao Body Embryo than warriors.
"Wu Jinqian from No.7 High School?"
Hua Bing and Wu Tianli turned their gazes toward Jiang Ding in unison.
In the cold weapon exam, Wu Jinqian had his throat sealed, his brain shattered, and in the practical combat exam, he was taken by someone from Liyun Sect with many Taoist Soldiers' flying swords cutting him into pieces.
These were his doing.
"I don't recognize him."
Jiang Ding acted as if he hadn't heard anything.
"Hello, fellow students!"
In the control room, a middle-aged man with a scraggly beard and unkempt appearance, looking very tired, greeted them. His mana fluctuated around the level of Qi Practicing Level 8.
"Hello, Engineer Wu!"
The three of them answered in unison.
"Well, time is life. You only have four hours of internship per day, so let's make the most of it." Wu Chengzhong had the style of a science and engineering professional and did not waste time on pleasantries.
"What do you think is the biggest difference between a half magic tool and a magic tool in your minds? Is it the degree of enhancement to magic? Is it the amount of spiritual materials used?"
He began with a question.
Jiang Ding and the others fell deep into thought.
"It's the array pattern."
After a while, Hua Bing was the first to speak, "My father once said that the array pattern in a magic tool is three-dimensional, while the array pattern in a half magic tool is flat. With the same formation method and spiritual materials, the use of Heavenly Earth Spiritual Qi is far inferior to that of a three-dimensional formation method."
Jiang Ding, too, pondered carefully and was just about to grasp it when enlightenment suddenly dawned on him.
Isn't this the situation between a talisman sword and a wooden sword?
A talisman sword is drawn with a talisman pen on the flat surface of talisman paper, while the array pattern in a wooden sword penetrates deeply into every part of the sword, no longer vulnerable to common substances like black dog blood or violent physical collisions that could damage the array pattern.
Does that mean the wooden sword is now in a magic tool state?
"Yes, that's right. Elder Hua Zhentian is truly one of the rare foundation building great masters in Rong City. With just a few words, you've gotten to the core," praised Wu Chengzhong after listening to the answers from the other two.
He picked up a half magic tool shaped like a little mountain from beside him, channeled mana into it, and it quickly grew to several meters tall. The flickering spiritual light and array patterns were clearly visible.
"This is the 'Small Earth-Traveling Mountain,' a middle-grade magic tool commonly used by Xianmen cultivators, refined from the inferior Huangyuan Stone ore of the first-order earth attribute that Outer Realm cultivators disdain. It's a unified offensive and defensive tool that became damaged in battle and cannot be repaired. I have turned it into a teaching aid."
"This is the Thick Earth Formation pattern, this is the Thick Earth Shield Formation pattern, this is the variable size at will formation pattern..."
Wu Chengzhong used a pointer to point out various parts on the half-shaped small mountain magic tool, explaining their functions and how to use the Second-Order Optical Formation Engraving Machine to inscribe three-dimensional formations in detail.
Jiang Ding and the others could clearly see multiple array patterns intertwined like webs or silk, spreading across the entire little mountain and not just on the surface. The array patterns had become one with the spiritual materials.
"Compared to our counterparts in the Outer Realm, we only need to specialize in inscription of formations. The steps like crafting the tool's embryo and others will be completed by Refining Masters who specialize in those areas. In this respect, the Xianmen has an absolute advantage in competition with the Nine Great Immortal Sects. Many high-level cultivators from our ally, the Five Elements Heavenly Sect, like to have Xianmen customize their tool embryos..."
Amidst the explanations, Wu Chengzhong occasionally interspersed the lecture with other interesting stories, making them vivid and understandable as much as possible.
Time flew by, and more than three hours had passed unknowingly.
"All right, that's the time. That's pretty much everything on the inscriptions of magic tool array patterns, just understand it," Wu Chengzhong concluded, and glancing at his watch, he said, "Go back and ponder over it, read more Refining Master literature in the library, and if there's anything you really don't understand, jot it down and ask me tomorrow."
"You've worked hard, Engineer Wu. See you tomorrow."
Jiang Ding and his companions stood up and watched Engineer Wu Chengzhong end the class.