Looking at the Six Strands in the Spiritual Space, particularly the panting Old Five and Sixth, Ji You had a sudden realization, feeling like she had overlooked something...
Could it be that her Spiritual Silks had been working too hard?
This guess shocked Ji You, making it almost unbelievable.
Why so? Because Ji You had also searched the Star Network for information about Soul Artifact Manufacturing, but the information on this topic was extremely scarce on the Star Network, mostly consisting of scattered phrases, and a lot of it was speculation by laymen...
In general, the art of Soul Artifact Manufacturing is very mysterious, and practical, reliable information can hardly be found on the Star Network. Also, this field has recently emerged only about two hundred years ago, so society hasn’t formally established a systematic discipline for it. To learn, one must be attached to a Soul Artifact Master’s laboratory. These laboratories are usually established by well-known personal Soul Artifact Masters, and the thresholds to get in are very high...
For example, Kong Zhe, a famous Soul Artifact Master of the Alliance, has established his own soul device laboratory, under which he has trained many students, among whom Lin Feng is the most talented. In less than 10 years, Lin Feng had become qualified.
The first low-level soul artifact that Ji You purchased on the Star Network for 1 million credit points was crafted by Lin Feng, a student of Master Kong Zhe.
Lin Feng himself has a high spiritual power, outstanding talent, and a strong understanding, which allowed him to become qualified in less than 10 years.
Even someone as talented as Lin Feng has so far only managed to make low-level soul artifacts, and he hasn’t even come close to touching upon the intermediate or high-level soul artifacts, let alone successfully create one.
Because, while low-level soul artifacts are common, high-level soul artifacts are hard to come by.
Moreover, the formation of intermediate and high-level soul artifacts requires very stringent conditions, and even Master Kong Zhe cannot guarantee success.
Ji You once found a piece of gossip on the Star Network that said a large part of the reason for the failure in soul artifact production was the insufficiency of the maker’s spiritual power. Whether it is a low-level, intermediate, or high-level soul artifact, a sufficient amount of spiritual power is needed during its formation to turn the Array Diagram on the soul artifact into a complete, sustainable system, allowing the maker’s spiritual power preserved in the Array Diagram to circulate independently, maintaining the stability of the soul artifact...
Thus, Ji You today had her Six Strands fully cooperate with herself in the manufacturing process.
That the gossip she saw on the Star Network was unreliable?
Could the repeated failures be because the engraved Array Diagram and the Mithril couldn’t withstand so much spiritual power?
With this thought flashing through her mind, Ji You could no longer ignore it; after all, practice is the only way to reveal the truth!
Ji You decided to act immediately!
She turned her head to the enthusiastically tail-wagging Boss, Second, and Third, who were ready to get back to work: "I have a new idea, Second and Third, you two wait a moment, only Boss using a single strand."
Second and Third, upon hearing they could take a break, instantly had their lazy sides take over, they quickly nodded, and enthusiastically wagged their tails: [We’ll listen to the Master!]
Ji You turned to Boss and encouraged: "Boss, it’s all on you later, you must give it your all."
Previously all six strands were engaged together, but now it’s only Boss alone. Ji You worried about not having enough spiritual power and also that Boss might slack off, so she gave a firm reminder.
Fortunately, Boss, after all, was the Boss, it had a bit of responsibility, and it wagged its tail indicating: [Master, rest assured! Guaranteed to complete the task!]
Ji You says do it and she does it. However, this time in order to save costs, she dared not use Mithril again. Instead, she decided to practice using some of the useless Companion Stones left from material class.
The batch of excess Companion Stones from material class were all pink, just like rose quartz, very beautiful, totaling 12 pieces. Ji You polished all 12 Companion Stones into the shape of clovers in one go.
Actually, just from their appearance alone, they were already pleasing to the eye, but in the interstellar era where people are pragmatic focussing solely on utility without an artistic bone in their bodies, they don’t understand or appreciate such beauty.
Don’t mention it then!
Ji You picked up the engraving pen and started to draw the Array Diagram. With a complete clover pattern in her mind, she completed it in one go. The moment the pen touched the paper, Boss immediately sprung out, jumping into the Array Diagram through the tip of the pen...
After making a smooth round inside, the Boss, who came out again, had its chubby body slightly reduced, and its glossy skin had also dimmed a bit...
Seeing this, Ji You knew that Boss had given it his all, and she felt very satisfied and relieved.
She dared not relax and immediately turned towards the pink clover stone on the workbench...
Ji You was speechless!
Was the guess wrong? Or did Boss exert too much force just now?
Ji You, with a stern face, said, "Again! This time, Second, you go. And don’t use full strength, use 90% of your power, got it?"
Second stood upright, looking blankly at Ji You.
Taking a deep breath, Ji You held her head in frustration and had no choice but to turn to Fourth, the clever ghost, saying, "Fourth! Your turn!"
Fourth, who was hiding and afraid of being noticed by the Master, suddenly looked up: [Ah!!!]
Ji You, with a grave voice: "This task is best suited for you! Use only 90% of your strength, understand?"
Upon hearing this, Fourth knew he could not escape, and quickly started being clever: [Understood! Don’t worry, Master! Fourth is the most obedient and clever, and will definitely try hard to complete the task without letting Master be disappointed or sad again!]
What a thoughtful little clever ghost.
If Ji You didn’t know Fourth’s annoying habits, she would have been deeply moved.
Ji You continued to engrave the Array Diagram—
Fourth seized the opportunity and jumped in at the right time. Then, under Ji You’s tense and anxious anticipation, suddenly heard Fourth say: [Master! Master! Should I really use 90% power? If I do... it will shatter!]
Ji You abruptly opened her eyes: "What did you say?"
Fourth screamed: [Ah! I couldn’t hold back!]
After a clear, crisp sound, the newly formed Companion Stone shattered.
But Ji You could not afford to be disappointed; she wished she could shake Fourth and interrogate: "What were you saying just now? Can you sense how much power is needed?"
What a surprise discovery!!!
If it’s really—Ji You was ecstatic in her heart, her eyes brimming with tender feelings as she looked at Fourth: "Fourth! Quickly tell me!"
Fourth, feeling like he was being devoured by his owner’s intense gaze—no! Eaten alive, felt really scared inside, twisting his neck and turning his head, whispered timidly: [It... it’s not really, it’s just—]
Ji You loudly: "Just what! Speak up!"
Scared... scared Sixth to death.