Chapter 138: You Believe In The Feng Shui Array But Not In My Artifact Refining?
The badly damaged furnace in front of him was the roast duck stove his dad had built back in the day.
Before developing the Chen Clan tourism project, his dad had been very enterprising, tried many things, opened many shops, but none of them succeeded.
This roast duck furnace was something he built when he had planned to open a roast duck restaurant.
Because he had a friend who made money selling roast duck, he wanted to give it a try, but in the end the roast duck business never happened. Otherwise, he would not be the Chen Family Head now, but the young master of Chen roast duck.
Thinking this, Chen Han dialed his uncle, the Work Hall elder. When the call connected, he said, “Uncle, come over to my place for a bit, to the old roast duck furnace you and my dad built.”
“Over there? I’ll be right there.” Chen Lin’s response came through.
Chen Han hung up, and before long he saw his uncle arrive. Coming close, he asked, “Xiao Han, are you planning to restore this furnace?”
Chen Han nodded, then took out his mobile phone and started filming the half-collapsed roast duck furnace. “Due to the rampant demonic forces, the Chen Clan has suffered more and more attacks from demonic cult rogues. An odor-devouring fiend even attacked the clan’s Mountain Shaking Spirit Ox. Therefore, I, the family head, have ordered the Hall Elder of the Work Hall to repair the clan’s artifact refining furnace, intending to refine magical artifacts to enhance our strength and fight the demonic cult rogues!”
Chen Lin was already used to his nephew’s zero-frame openings, and in the past two days had already learned them. By the time his nephew stopped recording, Chen Lin had already raised his own phone and was filming the furnace. “Today, in accordance with the family head’s command, I will lead the experts of the Work Hall to repair this damaged artifact refining furnace and provide it to the family head for artifact refining to deal with the demonic cult rogues.”
Chen Han looked at his uncle in surprise. It seemed having his junior sister form a team and train his uncle and the others had really worked.
Chen Lin was very pleased to see the surprised look in his nephew’s eyes.
Previously, it had always been his nephew starting with a zero-frame shot, leaving them completely confused, but now he got to let his nephew experience it once.
As for repairing this furnace, it was actually quite simple. Chen Lin called three Work Hall members to help, then they started mixing clay, cutting bricks, measuring dimensions… and got to work.
Besides, the furnace was not very big. When they built it originally, it was only for experiments, roasting two or three ducks at most.
So before long, the furnace had been repaired, the damaged parts rebuilt with new bricks and sealed with cement.
Under normal circumstances, after such a repair, they would have to wait for the cement to dry completely before using the furnace again, so it would not crack from the heat of the fire.
This would usually take several days.
But in front of the game system, this was no issue. As soon as the furnace was repaired, a game prompt appeared:
【Through the efforts of the Hall Elder of the Work Hall leading the refinement experts of the Work Hall, after engraving profound and dense artifact refining runes on the artifact refining furnace, the artifact refining furnace has finally been repaired and is now capable of refining magical artifacts.
Prompt: As long as the required blank tool for artifact refining is placed into the clan’s artifact refining furnace for refinement, there is a chance to awaken the blank tool’s attribute, and, through the artifact refining spiritual markings on the furnace, grant it new attribute functions. If the refinement fails, the blank tool will be destroyed.!】
From the game prompt, Chen Han roughly understood how to use this artifact refining furnace. He had to first make a shaped blank tool, then put that blank into the furnace for refinement to produce the corresponding attribute.
This was very much like a game mechanic, just like in many xianxia games.
There was a Journey to the West game where, in a fixed place in a city, there was an artifact refining spot. Players took their blank tools or semi-finished magic treasures there, spent some game currency, and could randomly refine magic treasure attributes.
Now this had become the Chen Clan, and in the game system, this furnace was the clan’s fixed artifact refining furnace.
The key point, as in many games, was that if refinement failed, all materials would be gone.
Still, having a chance was better than having none.
Thinking that, he raised his phone to record. “The Hall Elder of the Work Hall has led the experts of the Work Hall to repair the artifact refining furnace and inscribed dense artifact refining spiritual markings, making rune light flicker across the whole furnace. Next, I, the family head, will begin refining magical artifacts.”
Chen Lin also started with a zero-frame shot, raising his phone. “I, this elder, have led the experts of the Work Hall to repair the artifact refining furnace and inscribed dense artifact refining spiritual markings, making rune light flicker across the whole furnace, thus fulfilling the family head’s command. I am quite looking forward to the family head refining magical artifacts.”
The Work Hall members immediately looked at Chen Lin with awkward expressions. Everyone in the clan knew the family head filmed abstract videos and were used to it.
But now their Work Hall boss was starting to go abstract too, and they were having trouble keeping a straight face.
Chen Lin was also new to playing this kind of abstract act in public. Seeing the looks from the younger members of the hall, his old face flushed red.
Fortunately, he saw his nephew already heading back to the courtyard, so he hurriedly told them to go back to their own tasks and quickly followed his nephew.
Chen Han naturally needed to continue gathering footage, namely the tools for making the fan and the Green Feather Pheasant plumage.
Filming with his phone, he said, “For the sake of refining magical artifacts, I, the family head, have prepared a number of Green Feather Pheasant plumes. The Green Feather Pheasant is a wind attribute demonic beast inhabiting the back of Green Luan Peak of the Chen Clan.”
“Their plumes carry the rule power of the wind attribute, and are absolutely excellent materials for refining a wind attribute fan-type magical artifact.”
When Chen Lin came in and saw the plumes, he was a bit surprised. From their appearance, they looked somewhat like pheasant feathers, but darker in color, and the plumes were larger.
“Uncle, I’m going to make a fan next. Help me hold the phone and film,” Chen Han said when he saw his uncle come in, passing the phone to him before continuing.
First, he took out an awl to pierce holes in the Green Feather Pheasant quills. “The quills of the Green Feather Pheasant plumes are extremely hard. An ordinary awl cannot pierce them. I had to borrow a millennium black-iron awl from one of the clan elders to break through.”
After drilling through the quill of one plume, he took a thread, passed it through, and attached it to the plumes he had already strung together. “To refine a magical artifact, the blank tool must be placed into the artifact refining furnace for quenching by Samadhi true fire. Therefore, the feather string is made of spiritual silkworm thread refined from century-old silkworm spirit silk. This thread, when tempered by Samadhi true fire in the artifact refining furnace, will become even tougher!”
Next to him, Chen Lin watched his nephew work while making up one abstract name and description after another, and his face was full of admiration.
How was his nephew’s brain built, to go abstract this quickly?
Chen Han’s hands-on ability was quite good, so as time passed, he quickly finished making a feather fan that looked fairly decent.
He gave it a few test waves. The breeze was cool, the wind force was strong, and it carried a hint of the style of a refined strategist.
Smiling, he said to his uncle, “Uncle, help me light the artifact refining furnace. Since we’re refining, the blank tool is ready and should be put into the furnace for refinement.”
“Mm.” Chen Lin nodded. Looking at the fan in his nephew’s hand, he did not think too much about it. After all, it was impossible that they would really throw the fan into the furnace; it would be burned up at once.
Unless his nephew threw the fan in only for the video, and if it burned, it burned. Then they could make another fan, wait for the furnace to cool down, put the new fan in, and take it out again.
With video editing, they could just claim the magical fan had been refined.
After his uncle went out, Chen Han stored the Green Feather Pheasant feather fan in the warehouse and saw the remark information:
【This is a magical artifact blank tool refined from the plumes of the Green Feather Pheasant clan on Green Luan Peak. Many fragments of wind attribute rule power remain on it. Place it into the artifact refining furnace for refinement to forge complete wind attribute rule power. Under the effect of the furnace’s spiritual markings, special functions may even arise!】
Seeing this, he took the fan back out from the warehouse and went over to the artifact refining furnace. His uncle had already put firewood inside and lit a blazing fire.
Coming closer, he turned the recording back on and filmed the furnace and the flames. “The Hall Elder of the Work Hall has already activated the artifact refining furnace, and Samadhi true fire is blazing inside the furnace. It is the perfect time for artifact refining.”
Looking at the burning wood, Chen Lin could not help but say with emotion, “Xiao Han, why is it that with our Chen Clan making such abstract videos, there are still so many people online watching, laughing, and enjoying them so much?”
Chen Han said with a smile, “Uncle, there is a lot of pressure in society now. People need a way to vent. Abstract and novel things can often help people release emotions and stress. Being an entertainer is the best way to vent, especially when it satisfies people’s curiosity.”
After thinking for a moment, he added, “And when, in a whole series of abstract acts, there is a bit of reality mixed in, it creates a subtle mentality in the audience. They start guessing, in our later abstract videos, which parts are real and which are fake.”
“Like before, you as the Hall Elder of the Work Hall were mocked by people, and Uncle Dagou and Uncle Shuisheng, those two experts, were seen as ridiculously abstract. But when people found out they could beat up dog thieves with just a couple of strikes, how many were shocked?”
Chen Lin nodded. That was indeed the case.
Chen Han had already stepped forward and hung the fan on a hook inside the furnace, the hook that was normally used to hang ducks.
Once it was in place, he instructed, “Uncle, build up a big fire and seal the furnace!”
Chen Lin nodded. Following the instructions, he sealed the furnace, then said to his nephew, “Xiao Han, I’ll keep an eye on this furnace. You should go make a new fan.”
“Uncle, why make a new fan?” Chen Han asked with a smile as he looked at the game system prompt:
【The artifact refining furnace is sealed, the Samadhi true fire is blazing, and the furnace is currently refining an artifact…】
Chen Lin asked, “Xiao Han, that fan is in the furnace. It must be burnt to a crisp by now. If you don’t make a new one, how are you going to film the next video segments?”
Chen Han understood his uncle’s point and asked with a smile, “Uncle, I already said I was refining a magical artifact. Why are you so sure that fan will be burned?”
“That is a feather fan. When it meets fire, of course it will burn,” Chen Lin said instinctively.
Chen Han smiled again and asked, “Uncle, you already believe in feng shui formations. Why don’t you believe that I am truly refining a magical artifact now?”
“Huh???” Hearing this, Chen Lin was stunned and instinctively looked at the furnace.
Could Xiao Han really be refining a magical artifact?
That was impossible, right?
This was clearly just an ordinary roast duck stove. Filming abstract videos was understandable, but actually using this furnace to refine magical artifacts?
Was abstract play really going this far?
The furnace fire burned on, sending up wisps of smoke.
But Chen Lin, influenced by his nephew’s words, became restless, staring fixedly at the furnace as if he wanted to see through the wall and find out what was happening inside.
Finally, Chen Han received another game prompt:
【Congratulations, you have successfully refined a magical artifact and obtained a Green Pheasant Fan. Because the fan’s plumes contained residual fragments of wind attribute power that were refined, the Green Pheasant Fan has gained special wind attribute power. By channeling true qi, you can use the skill: A Roll of Clear Wind!
When the Green Feather Pheasant faces an enemy, it uses wind attribute power to scatter feather dust from its plumes to make the enemy allergic, inflicting a negative sneezing state and seizing a moment to escape.
Because the main material of the Green Pheasant Fan is Green Feather Pheasant plume, and it was refined through the furnace’s spiritual markings, it has gained the special skill: Sneeze Wind!】
Chen Han was overjoyed at the game prompt.
Not failing and losing the blank tool was already good news.
Now this successfully refined magical artifact, the Green Pheasant Fan, even had two skills: A Roll of Clear Wind and Sneeze Wind.
How to put it? Just from the names alone, one was elegant, the other was Sneeze Wind.
From the remark information, he could roughly guess what Sneeze Wind did, but A Roll of Clear Wind was harder to figure out.
Still, since the artifact was successfully refined, there was no need to guess. He could just take it out and test it.
He immediately said to his uncle, “Uncle, the magical artifact has been successfully refined. You can put out the fire and take it out now.”
Chen Lin’s curiosity had long been hooked, and he could not wait. Hearing this instruction, he hurried to extinguish the fire in the furnace, and only after the flames were fully out did he open the sealed furnace door.
When the smoke cleared and he saw the intact feather fan hanging inside, his eyes went wide in shock. “Xiao Han, you were serious about refining an artifact?”
Seeing the fan unscathed after being under that fire, he knew it was definitely not ordinary.
Looking at the fan, Chen Han raised his phone and started recording again. “After undergoing refinement in the artifact refining furnace, the blank tool has been refined into a magical artifact, the Green Pheasant Fan.”
As he spoke, he reached in and took the Green Pheasant Fan out. Surprisingly, after being roasted in the furnace for so long, it was not hot at all, but carried a faint coolness.
With the naked eye, he could clearly see the feathers on the fan had become darker in color, and faint, subtle runes had appeared across the surface.
Chen Han even added a special effect to the fan. Honestly, once this video was posted, he figured the audience would never believe the fan had truly become a magical artifact; they would assume its intact state was just editing.
Seeing this, Chen Lin immediately pulled out his own phone and filmed Chen Han and the fan in his hand. “After refinement in the artifact refining furnace, the family head has obtained a powerful magical artifact, the Green Pheasant Fan.”
Hearing this, Chen Han smiled and said, “Uncle, now make sure you film carefully.”
As he spoke, he gripped the Green Pheasant Fan, circulated his true qi, and activated the skill: A Roll of Clear Wind.
Hearing his nephew, Chen Lin instantly aimed the lens at him, just in time to see his nephew lift the Green Pheasant Fan and gently wave it.
Then the miraculous scene that appeared made his eyes go completely wide.
