"Many people scoff at it, after all, handcrafting in the space age seems somewhat backward,"
"But those are laymen; you should understand the difference,"
Li Ming nodded, the assembly line had always been backward compatible, and it was difficult to achieve compatibility on the same level.
"The weapon you crafted today shows you have your own thoughts on artisanry and design; your level is not low," Professor Xia mused, seemingly pondering where to start.
Then, he stood up, asked Li Ming to wait here, and soon returned with something in his hand, a silver-blue short-handled mechanical hammer.
It appeared to be a short handle, but in Professor Xia’s hand, it unfolded layer by layer, becoming quite large.
And even more outrageous, this thing turned out to be a projector.
Li Ming gaped in astonishment, watching the hammerhead open, projecting a virtual hologram filled with dense data and movements.
"This is the ’Melting Furnace Refining Method.’" Professor Xia introduced.
"Refining Method?" Li Ming exclaimed, eagerly asking.
"Yes, precisely the refining method," Professor Xia seemed very pleased with Li Ming’s reaction, "Your gene seed can control the Fire Element, exactly meeting the requirements of this method; Wu Yanqing did a good thing indeed."
"This Melting Furnace Refining Method can enhance your control of fire, strengthen your physical condition, even with various auxiliary equipment and extensive data support, but controlling the heat is still of utmost importance,"
"After all, there are no surveillance probes inside flames, and during alloy fusion, it’s especially unpredictable,"
Li Ming took the short-handled hammer, his eyes immediately lit up—
[Melting Furnace Hammer – Consumable: Contains the Melting Furnace Refining Method
Control Conditions: Thirty thousand points of metal energy
Control Effect—Furnace: Consumes controlled objects, achieves 50% Fire Element control, 50% power amplification, 50% physical strength enhancement, as permanent enhancements.]
A consumable controlled object, directly forged? Permanent enhancements?
Li Ming had not expected the refining method to be of this form, but it made him even more excited, as it did not take up the time to develop his gene seed.
Just this hammer alone was worth the ticket price; it was worthwhile for him to come here.
Seeing the genuine joy in Li Ming’s eyes, Professor Xia couldn’t help but nod. He was really afraid that Li Ming’s interest was just a passing whim and would fade away in a few days.
But seeing Li Ming’s current reaction, he felt satisfied, even if this meant confronting Wu Yanqing, it was worth it.
"Thank you, Professor," Li Ming said solemnly.
"No matter," Professor Xia sighed, "This refining method is fundamentally sound; it’s just that you are still in the phase of needing to develop your gene seed, somewhat wasting time."
"Rest assured, I will practice diligently!" Li Ming promised, and then tentatively added, "Teacher, if there are any business opportunities, could you introduce me?"
"You cheeky kid, so you were aiming for my channels," Professor Xia laughed and scolded but didn’t mind:
"I see you’re getting the hang of crafting D-level weapons quite comfortably; where did you learn your forging skills, indeed as if straight from the assembly line."
"Actually, it was my father who taught me," Li Ming said somberly; "My father was a mechanical repairman, always saying to repair the old as old, the new as new."
"After repairing for someone, it should be like it just came off the assembly line; if you leave your own mark, would the user feel comfortable?"
Upon hearing this, Professor Xia showed his respects: "There really are hidden dragons and crouching tigers among the common folk; your father had such persistence, and you benefited a lot from following him since childhood."
"You need not mind Tienan’s words; coming off the assembly line alike, this is your essence," Professor Xia said meaningfully.
Li Ming felt bewildered; he really did not care about any essence or soul, as long as it made money.
But he cooperated, showing a contemplative expression, satisfying the professor’s desire to lecture.
As he left with the hammer, Ding Hui saw him out, but he didn’t see Huang Jijian; the latter had entrusted Ding Hui with transferring the money to him.
"Professor Xia gave you the Melting Furnace Refining Method?" Ding Hui said with a wry smile, "That thing needs to be refined in a high-temperature, high-pressure environment; among us, only Old Cheng practices up to par, quite staminaful indeed."
"Your primary focus should still be on developing your gene seed."
Evolution remains the mainstream path in space age, the most esteemed by all life forms.
Only when Luo Chuan came to pick him up did Ding Hui wave goodbye and return inside.
"Why would Professor Xia just give you a hammer? Doesn’t look much," Luo Chuan said, shaking his head as he saw Li Ming carrying the hammer into the car, "The sword last time was better."
Li Ming was speechless, "That thing is so precious; I’m already content with getting one for free, and you’re still not satisfied?"
Luo Chuan laughed and then said, "If you hadn’t come back soon, I was about to burst in and make a demand. The Yitelan embassy visited our lab today."
"The Yitelan people?" Li Ming said, puzzled, "What were they doing there?"
"Testing your development potential," Luo Chuan’s reply surprised Li Ming, who asked, "Junior, I’m quite curious too, how much development potential do you have after all?"
Li Ming pondered for a moment and countered, "Brother, what do you think it should be?"
"Ha..." Luo Chuan laughed, airily, "Never mind, we’ll know soon enough."
"Can’t avoid it?" Li Ming inquired.
"The Yitelan embassy, within the territory of the Blue Star Civilization, represents the Yitelan Civilization," Luo Chuan explained seriously; "With the tense confrontations between the Blue Star and Sela Civilizations, they never intervened."
"But once they step in, no one can ignore them."
Li Ming nodded, "I understand."
Luo Chuan added, "They probably want to see if your development potential exceeds level twenty, meeting their criteria."